This is a graduation gift special! A super-fun gift to make and an even more amazing gift to receive. Of course, as always this DIY is extremely versatile so you could easily replace the clay flowers for silk of even crepe paper/fabric flowers or you could use the air dry clay recipe to make other vibrant toppers like a miniature Starbucks coffee mug or some clay high heels to go on top of your pencils/pens. The possibilities are endless!
This DIY Pen Bouquet features some big colorful blooms and since I was topping my pens with florals, I decided to make a whole bouquet of them.
When your sweet grad girl runs out of ink over time, she could just use them as beautiful decor or even discard the pens and use just the flowers as keepsakes. Probably if she is a crafty soul like you, she may even figure a way to upcycle them!
I just used a glass vase I'd modpodged with glitter to add some classy glamour and popped the pens in. For an extra realistic effect I stuffed in some leaves spilling out of the jar's rim.
Here's how you can make your own:
Materials:
-A set of pens. I used a pack of six.
-For small quantities of air dry clay:
Cornstarch &Glue (The Elmer's school glue kind) in 1:1 ratio
A few tesaspoons of baby oil to reduce cracking
A microwavable container and a stirrer
Some lotion
Stir up all the ingredients in the container and microwave it with breaks in between; keep stirring the clay so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Keep heating up until it no longer sticks to the sides/bottom and becomes smooth. Knead it by smoothing on some lotion onto your hands till the temperature reduces back to normal and store in clingwrap because air will dry it out if you keep it out in the open. Don't store in moist places to prevent mould!
For larger quantities:
Simply buy some, or maybe you already have some on hand?
-Acrylic paints
-Green electric tape or floral tape
-A jar or a ribbon to tie up the bouquet
How-to:
1.Once you have your clay ready, simply have a sample (or a photograph) of the flower you want to simulate and mold it accordingly. I used this and this picture to inspire me throughout. I also had one of my fake flowers in front of me while I was molding just to keep track.
2 For each petal, start off with a mini ball then flatten it out into the shape of a petal. For the bud at the center, cover the pen's cap top completely and then move outwards with the petals making the flower larger as you make the petal curl outwards. Scrape of the excess clay accumulated around the cap (at the flower's base) after finishing the rose making sure you leave behind a very thin but smoothly merged layer so that individual petals don't crack and fall off later.
3.The result? A super natural-looking rose!
5. Air dry clay takes around 12-24 hours to dry depending on the size. So leave it out for a day!
6.Paint it any color you like. I suggest using different colors of the same family and adding a hint of yellow to give a little contrast.
Try experimenting with a variety of flowers
7. Dress up the pens (and any peeking gaps on the cap which you should be having unless your flower is enormous) with green tape .
8, Finish off with a pretty bow and a gift tag or pop it in a cute mason jar or the likes for even more fresh effects!
Enjoy! The best part of the DIY is with the exploring and painting. You can never get enough of the combinations you'll get!
Even easier to create with a bunch of friends! You'll create a bouquet in no time!
This photograph is my mum's personal favorite. No.Idea.Why.
Zooming in on the other types of flowers I made. Was so fun to fashion flowers out of clay I didn't even know the name of. And now I made myself look like an idiot on the world wide web.
..........
If you liked this DIY, make sure you pin it so other peeps can benefit from it too! (cuz' sharing is hot!)
Subscribe to Craft A Doodle Doo ( in the sidebar) or join me on Pinterest/Facebook for endless more wacky DIY ideas and fab eateries!
Check out all my other fantastic DIY ideas in my DIY Gallery!
Wishing all the grads a great future,
Love you all,
Nash
This DIY Pen Bouquet features some big colorful blooms and since I was topping my pens with florals, I decided to make a whole bouquet of them.
When your sweet grad girl runs out of ink over time, she could just use them as beautiful decor or even discard the pens and use just the flowers as keepsakes. Probably if she is a crafty soul like you, she may even figure a way to upcycle them!
I just used a glass vase I'd modpodged with glitter to add some classy glamour and popped the pens in. For an extra realistic effect I stuffed in some leaves spilling out of the jar's rim.
Here's how you can make your own:
Materials:
-A set of pens. I used a pack of six.
-For small quantities of air dry clay:
Cornstarch &Glue (The Elmer's school glue kind) in 1:1 ratio
A few tesaspoons of baby oil to reduce cracking
A microwavable container and a stirrer
Some lotion
Stir up all the ingredients in the container and microwave it with breaks in between; keep stirring the clay so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Keep heating up until it no longer sticks to the sides/bottom and becomes smooth. Knead it by smoothing on some lotion onto your hands till the temperature reduces back to normal and store in clingwrap because air will dry it out if you keep it out in the open. Don't store in moist places to prevent mould!
For larger quantities:
Simply buy some, or maybe you already have some on hand?
-Acrylic paints
-Green electric tape or floral tape
-A jar or a ribbon to tie up the bouquet
How-to:
1.Once you have your clay ready, simply have a sample (or a photograph) of the flower you want to simulate and mold it accordingly. I used this and this picture to inspire me throughout. I also had one of my fake flowers in front of me while I was molding just to keep track.
2 For each petal, start off with a mini ball then flatten it out into the shape of a petal. For the bud at the center, cover the pen's cap top completely and then move outwards with the petals making the flower larger as you make the petal curl outwards. Scrape of the excess clay accumulated around the cap (at the flower's base) after finishing the rose making sure you leave behind a very thin but smoothly merged layer so that individual petals don't crack and fall off later.
3.The result? A super natural-looking rose!
5. Air dry clay takes around 12-24 hours to dry depending on the size. So leave it out for a day!
6.Paint it any color you like. I suggest using different colors of the same family and adding a hint of yellow to give a little contrast.
Try experimenting with a variety of flowers
7. Dress up the pens (and any peeking gaps on the cap which you should be having unless your flower is enormous) with green tape .
8, Finish off with a pretty bow and a gift tag or pop it in a cute mason jar or the likes for even more fresh effects!
Enjoy! The best part of the DIY is with the exploring and painting. You can never get enough of the combinations you'll get!
Even easier to create with a bunch of friends! You'll create a bouquet in no time!
This photograph is my mum's personal favorite. No.Idea.Why.
Zooming in on the other types of flowers I made. Was so fun to fashion flowers out of clay I didn't even know the name of. And now I made myself look like an idiot on the world wide web.
..........
If you liked this DIY, make sure you pin it so other peeps can benefit from it too! (cuz' sharing is hot!)
Subscribe to Craft A Doodle Doo ( in the sidebar) or join me on Pinterest/Facebook for endless more wacky DIY ideas and fab eateries!
Check out all my other fantastic DIY ideas in my DIY Gallery!
Wishing all the grads a great future,
Love you all,
Nash
