A Girl-y Craftie: Flower Pens




These sweet little pens, I made as cheery gifts for a few girls that I love.... A few handed out on Easter, and a few will be presented later.  I rarely think of cool ideas on my own, but I am pretty great at improvising and working towards a vision that I got from someone else!  I first saw this about 22 years ago, and have made them a couple times since.  Easy and cheap.  This is what you need:

1) wire cutters
2) simple writing pens
3) silk flower stems
4) floral tape

I bought pens that cost pennies each.  The floral tape cost under two bucks and I only used a fraction of it.  The silk flowers I bought for less than a dollar with 10 or 12 stems or blooms!  Cheap and fun!

Use the wire cutters to cut the blooms per stem.  You want the bloom stem to be a little shorter than the pen.

Align the stem with the pen, bloom on top where you want it, and use the floral tape to affix and wrap in a snug spiral around the pen and stem together.  You will find that snug and tight is key, and rubbing and pressing the layers of the spiral together as you go, is key to making it "stick."

Yes, the floral tape is a bit tacky or sticky in and of itself, but personally, I have never been offended by this unusual property and I have never seen anyone have an aversion to using the pen because of this.  Exposed to oxygen and natural oils from the skin, the outside of the pen does seem to loose stickiness.

I believe that I have made these both ways: starting the floral tape at the top, and starting it at the bottom.  Right now I can not say that I have a strong preference of which is the best place to start.   After you attach your flower, you can adorn with more ribbons and bows as you wish.

I would encourage you to try making these for any lady-girl-gift, or party, and you decide for yourself which way you prefer to make them (starting the tape at top or bottom of pen).  If you have any questions I will try to answer.

Love and hugs,
Tammy




Comments