We get The New York Times delivered to our apartment every morning. And every night, it goes into the recycling bin. I wanted to find a way to use some of that newsprint! Here's what you'll need:
- Newspaper (Note: If you’re using these on something more permanent, like a scrapbook page, use pages from an old book because newspaper is NOT acid free.)
- Scissors
- Crop-o-Dile or Big Bite (i.e. hole punch)
- Brad
- Watercolor Paints
- Paint Brush & Water
- Heat Gun & Heat Resistant Surface (I use a teflon craft sheet.)
- Ink (I use brown.)
- Ink Blending Tool
STEP ONE
Cut a series of graduated circles from the newspaper. Use scissors. The idea is for them to be a bit wonky and uneven.
Cut more than you think you need.
STEP TWO
Stack them together from smallest to largest (top to bottom).
STEP THREE
Punch a hole through the center of the entire stack with a Crop-O-Dile.
STEP FOUR
Place a brad through the hole.
STEP FIVE
Paint the flower with watercolor paints.
Work from light to dark as you paint.
You can see that I added some paint splatters to the center.
STEP SIX
Immediately dry with a heat gun. This should make the petals curl up a bit.
You can see the slight curling here:
STEP SEVEN
Using an ink blending tool, color the edges of the petals by pushing them towards the center of the flower.
This will also help curl the petals. You can the result here:
STEP EIGHT
This is the most important step. Spin the layers (separating them from each other) in order to reveal some of the unpainted newsprint. It makes an enormous difference in the "look" of the flower. And here's your finished product:
And a side view:
Cutting the circles is the most time consuming part. The rest of it takes less than two minutes. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
Thanks for stopping by!
