Thursday, April 30, 2009

Spring Fling



I am not a girl with favorites, but I have to admit that Spring is one of my absolute favorite seasons. There is nothing better than seeing the tulips pushing their way out of the ground. It is then that I know that winter is finally saying goodbye. One of my particular favorites, are these beautiful purple tulips that continue to multiply year after year. I used to have a single tulip, but nature is working her magic and they continue to spread.

I was so thrilled to be able to work them into my design today. Nichole asked us to create a project with our favorite thing about Spring as our inspiration. My inspiration actually came from one of my past issues of Martha Stewart Living. I spied these gorgeous boxes using real flowers and knew that I wanted to try something similar. You will definitely want to check out the rest of the Spring Fling projects that the other girls have made: Lisa Johnson,Michelle Wooderson,

Becky Oehlers ,Heather Nichols, Lauren Meader. I started out with one of Papertrey ink's trendy tubes. I removed the lid and turned it upside down and used an eyelet hole punch and hammered a hole into the lid. Once I was finished with the lid, I filled the tube 3/4 full of water.



















You can see from the photo how nicely the tulip fits inside the hole.

Once that is done, you can decorate your box as desired. For my box, I used the same template that I shared the other day. You can check it out at the bottom of this post. I started out making the base from Plum Pudding cardstock. I added some polka dot basics and friends til the end pattern paper. I really like the color combination. I never would have put these all together unless I had made this project. I used one of papertrey ink's must have sets "Boards and Beams". I Love all of the beautiful and useful sentiments that are included as well as all of the fun accents you can add to the houses. My space was limited, so I opted for a few topiaries and a stone path. The very top of the home is attached with foam squares so that the home will come up, but the path and topiaries will stay put. I added a tag using the "Welcome home" sentiment. I thought it was fun to add a little bit of *home* with this little gift. In order to get the blooms inside the box and down into the tube, I made a slightly larger hole in the top of the box so that the stems would fit in nicely. The directions from Martha Stewart are a little different.


You may be wondering how all of this works together. Here are the steps I used;

step one: prepare tube and add water.

step two: create box
step three: place tube in box, add candies to anchor it in place.

step four: place stems through the lid and carefully replace the lid, lowering the stems into the tube.

Wouldn't these be fun to make for party favors or place settings? I can't wait to try more! Thanks for fluttering by!

Stamps: Boards and Beams
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic and Prismacolor Markers
Paper: Plum Pudding, White, Friends til the end and bitty polka dot basics pattern paper
Accessories: Trendy Tube, Aqua Mist Buttons, Sponge, fresh flowers, eyelet hole punch, mat and hammer, water, linen thread, plum pudding satin ribbon

21 comments:

Tanya said...

Wow!!! that is seriously cool with that tulip in the box! Love the house coloring and the flowers on top and everything!!

Lisa johnson said...

Such a brilliant way to package a tulip!!! Beautiful project Kelly!

Erica said...

What a beautiful and original use of this template.

Debbie Olson said...

Kelly--this is perfect for Spring--great job!

Jenn said...

Kelly, this is such a great use of the Trendy Tube! Fantastic project!!

Carol R said...

Love what you have created to give to a special someone. The idea for the tube is great!

Regan said...

totally gorgeous!

Paula Barin said...

What a great idea. The Boards and Beams is one of my favourite sets.
Beautiful!

Deborah Saaranen said...

How sweet is this?!? I love Spring flowers as well, and what a fabulous way to feature them in a project! (love that Boards and Beams set too!)

Beth said...

FANTASTIC Kelly!!!!

Babies-Beth said...

Wow! That's amazing! It would be a great welcome to a new neighbor, too!!

Becky said...

This is a stunning project Kelly! Just swooning here! :) Welcome to our team girl!

Julia Aston said...

This is a wonderful project Kelly! I copied the tutorial for your box the other day - and here is another wonderful use for it! I just love that house PTI set too - super color choices for your box! and I love your creative way to include a living flower!

~Lori Roop said...

This is a fabulous idea! I love fresh flowers!

Anne said...

So lovely. What a great use for the tube. You've added them to my shopping cart!

BethieJ said...

This is so PRETTY! Love the tulip in the box! What a fun idea!!

Amy Rohl said...

Wow, another beautiful presentation, Kelly! You are unbelievable Ü

This would make such a great housewarming gift or hostess gift...I just love it!

BTW, thanks again for your cone directions and help! I still can't find that post on your blog and wanted to link to it, but I gave up. Hoping I'll have time to look later.

Hugs,
Amy

Tamara said...

This is an amazing gift. I love the idea of using real flowers for decorations. You are really rocking these templates!

Christi Flores said...

Wow! What an amazing gift!!!

Karen said...

What a fabulous way to give a flower as a gift! Your project is Beautiful! :>

Heidi Kilgore said...

Kelly,
Beautiful project! It would be great for Mother's day,("There's no place like HOME") house-warming or welcoming a new neighbor. I can see so many uses! Love the fresh flowers, what a special touch! Hugs,

Heidi kilgore