Comic Book Rose Wedding Bouquet

On Tuesday, I shared how to make paper roses, using measuring spoons to form each petal. Today, I am sharing how to turn those roses into a unique and beautiful bridal bouquet -- Dr. Who style!

To create the bouquet, I ordered a couple of Sonic Screwdrivers from Amazon, and bought a couple of Styrofoam spheres from a local craft store. I bought two sizes of each item, because I wasn't sure which would work best. After some experimentation, and consulting with the bride, I chose the larger Sonic Screwdriver and the six inch diameter Styrofoam sphere. The "screwdriver" would be the bouquet's handle, and the sphere would be the base of the bouquet.

The comic book page roses would be adhered to the base, using hot glue.

I started by flattening one side of the styrofoam base. This was done by carefully pressing one side of the sphere against a hard flat surface. Next, I took a steak knife and "drilled" out a hole for the top of the "screwdriver." Since the screwdriver actually opens up and lights up, I was careful to insert the handle so that the part that opened could open, and the part that lighted up could be seen from the top of the bouquet.

Next, the roses were attached to the styrofoam, starting at the bottom, and working up.

The bride wanted plain blue roses interspersed with the comic roses, so those were added, as well.

I was careful to use all predominately orange petals, or all blue petals, etc, when making each rose, and was mindful of how the colors were distributed throughout the bouquet.

After all the flowers were in place, the bottom of the bouquet needed to be addressed, as flattened Styrofoam is not terribly attractive.

I cut wide grosgrain and satin ribbon into six inch lengths and glued them into loops, as shown above.

These loops were then glued to the bottom of the bouquet, in alternating layers. To give the piece a nice finished look, I punched a large scalloped circle from a piece of the blue paper and cut a circle out of the center of the punched paper the same diameter as the collar of the screwdriver. A slit was cut into one side of the circle, so it could be slipped over the collar. This piece was then glued into place to cover the raw edges of the ribbon.

The bride loved her bouquet.

There were even enough extra petals to make the groom a matching boutonniere!

The wedding was beautiful, and the happy couple, a year and a half later, are the proud parents of a sweet baby boy!

This lovely couple may not live in the pages of a graphic novel, in their day to day life....

But they are definitely living their happily ever after.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy this post about how to make a flower garland.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have scheduled. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's post to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda

FREE Sugar Skull Embellishment Printable!

Wow! Can this really be the last of the sugar skull printable series?

Throughout October, we've been publishing sugar skull coloring sheet printables. We've introduced Rose and Daisy and Hibiscus and Zinnia and Frida. These printables are perfect for your Day of the Dead decor!

Each coloring sheet came with a skull and several embellishments. Today, we're offering a FREE extra embellishment printable sheet.

All of the skulls and embellishments are coordinated, so you can mix and match embellishments to customize your sugar skulls.

Get your FREE printable coloring sheet of sugar skull embellishments by clicking HERE.

For another (not so) spooky project, try this lace applique owl!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have scheduled. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on daily on Instagram. Feel free to link today's post to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Amanda

FREE Zinnia Sugar Skull Coloring Sheet!

Hello Friends! Today we're sharing the last of five FREE sugar skull printables, with a sugar skull embellishment printable still to come.

These printables were designed just for you, and are available to print for FREE throughout the month of October. Keep checking back, because I will be posting a full page of floral sugar skull embellishments in a couple of days -- also FREE!

So far, we've met Daisy and Rose and Frida and Mr Hibiscus. Today, we're meeting Zinnia. Zinnia is the olive green smiling friend shown below. Well, mine is olive green.

Yours can be colored any way you prefer, of course. I just thought the olive green made him look moldy and creepy.

Each sugar skull printable coloring template comes with lots of extra embellishments, so you can customize your decorations.

All the embellishments on the different coloring sheets can be mixed and matched, as the floral motifs are coordinated in this series.

I hope you enjoy coloring and assembling your sugar skull friends as much as I did!  Thanks you for following along, and be sure to check back for the extra embellishment printable.

Get your Zinnia Sugar Skull printable here.

You may also enjoy this post about how to make Christmas ornaments from dollar store supplies.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on throughout week on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to your favorite social media sites.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Amanda

Fabulous Free Stuff for Your Home (REALLY)!

Continuing with our Fabulous Free Stuff posts, I've found a few more things on my local Craigslist that would be totally worth grabbing for your home. We all want to have beautiful and functional homes, but furnishing and decorating a home is expensive. Here are some fun ideas for using free stuff to transform your home.

The desk shown below is huge and solid and made by Hooker, but most importantly -- it's FREE! Personally, I think it's beautiful as it is, but if were painted in a chippy farmhouse finish it would look amazing.

Check out those TWO huge framed mirrors! Someone put these items in their driveway for folks to take for free.

A similarly sized mirror from Restoration Hardware would cost over one thousand dollars!

Leaning against the wall in your entry or bedroom, a gorgeous standing mirror would be functional and have great visual impact.

Never underestimate the power of paint! The FREE bed shown above looks a little dated and tired, but a couple of coats of light blue paint, like on the Maine Cottage bed below,  will make you think you're sleeping at the beach.

I'm not usually a fan of free sofas, because they are often dirty or broken, but every now and then, you find a sofa that is clean and in perfect condition. This sofa is a nice neutral color, so it will work in just about any decor.

I love trays!  They are great for corralling books and remote controls and newspapers, etc. Use them on coffee tables or ottomans, hang them on the wall, or keep toiletries organized with them.

The inlaid bone tray shown below is gorgeous, but it's also $598 from Serena and Lily. The red tray, show above, is free. A stencil and some craft paint applied to the free tray could yield the same effect as the Serena and Lily tray, and you would still be able to pay the rent afterward.

Authentic mid century furniture is usually very well made, from good quality woods. Can you believe someone was giving this piece away?

Mid century shelf and desk units are all the rage right now. West Elm makes a retro version that sells for over a thousand dollars.

This old teacher's desk has already been given a set a sturdy industrial wheels.

A good cleaning and some paint is all it needs to be converted into a beautiful and functional kitchen island, like this one from This Old House.

The wing chair below is tired and looking a little ragged, but the lines are amazing.

Betty, over at Oh Everything Handmade, shares how she transformed a dated, but classic, wing chair into a modern farmhouse focal point.

Good dressers are some of the most functional storage pieces you can own. Vintage dressers are almost always better made than newer ones. Check for signs of a quality piece by looking for dovetailed drawers and dust panels between the drawers. The piece should not "wobble" at all, and the drawers should close nicely (unless you are handy, and comfortable making repairs). Avoid anything made from particle board. The waterfall style dresser below has great lines, and lovely hardware.

Use your dresser to create a welcoming entry, or at the end of a hallway, to create a moment of beauty in your home. I use dressers to store everything from vintage silverware to extra sheets. The dresser below was found online for free, and given a quick coat of paint. After some light distressing, it was ready to display a painting found at a German flea market, a woven ball my father-in-law picked up when he was in Vietnam, a carved Polish trinket box, a Polish pottery bowl, and a carved box from Thailand. Dressers are a great way to display family mementos.

This wood filing cabinet only needs a coat of chippy farmhouse paint to give you extra storage in a bathroom or kitchen (they're not just for files, anymore). Use one next to a pedestal sink to store extra toiletries.

I hope this post inspires you to look a little more closely at the "free" stuff being offered up online. Most of this stuff is headed for the landfill, if no one claims it, so it's great it we can divert it by giving it a new lease on life.

You may also enjoy this painted bed makeover post. 

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on throughout week on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to your favorite social media sites.

For another FREE template, click here.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda

Free Hibiscus Sugar Skull Printable!

It's time! As promised, we are providing FREE printable templates throughout the month of October for these fun coloring page sugar skull templates.

Last week, we shared Rose and Daisy.

This week, we are sharing Mister Hibiscus. He's the green fellow in the picture below.

As with the previous printable pages, the hibiscus sugar skull printable also comes with lots of extra flowers and medallions for embellishing your skulls. 

To create your sugar skulls, go to the link below and print your sugar skull coloring sheet. Color your page as using the media you prefer and cut out the skull and extra embellishments.

Assemble as desired. I like to mix and match my embellishments. You can glue your sugar skulls onto cord or yarn, to create a bunting, or use them in card making or however your prefer. Enjoy!

Get your free Hibiscus Sugar Skull printable here!

You may also like this post on how to make a woven star from vintage book pages.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to House Revivals in the sidebar, so you won't miss the fun projects we have planned. Find us on Facebook, too, so you can catch all the "in between" stuff, and see what I'm working on throughout week on Instagram. Feel free to link today's project to your favorite social media sites.

For another FREE template, click here.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Amanda