Find out how I created this impactful flower installation for my home!
“...create this wow-factor piece in a few simple steps!”
On my travels around London in late spring, I often find myself saddened by all of the gorgeous hydrangea flower heads going brown on the plants. When you know how beautiful they would remain if they were cut at the right time and dried properly, it always seems such a waste doesn't it?
If you feel the same, stop right here and read on! For today we mark the end of the wasted hydrangeas era!
Repurpose those flowers and create this wow-factor piece for your house in a few simple steps!
One of my neighbours has a huge hydrangea bush, and I could see the flowers getting more and more deteriorated in the rain, so one day I gave in and rang her bell to see if I could have some (I had no idea what I would do with them at the time), her response was: "Take as much as you want we will chop it all down eventually!". Oh boy, what had she started!? I went back and took about 50 heads!
Materials you will need:
tape measurer
thick wire
wire cutter
floral wire
spray paint in hot pink (optional)
1. COLLECT HYDRANGEA FLOWERS
You may have a hydrangea bush at home, if so, once it has finished flowering and you can see the first flowers turning brown, harvest them all and tie them in bunches of 4-5 heads together.
TOP TIP: If like me you haven't got a hydrangea bush, do what I did and kindly ask a neighbour whether you could cut a few heads off theirs, chances are they'll be delighted you're doing their gardening for them!
2. HANG THEM TO DRY
Hang them in bunches upside-down in your kitchen or dining-room for a few weeks, they look so pretty. It will create a first feel for the hydrangea vibe in the home.
3. MEASURE THE WIDTH
With a tape measurer take the width you want your cloud to be, you could hang it from a ceiling pendant like mine, but it could also hang from a mantlepiece or along the bannister of a staircase.
4. THICK WIRE
Measure a piece of thick wire of about 3 times the width of the space the cloud is going into.
5. AND CUT!
Use a wire cutter if you have a or small pliers.
6. FOLD & TIE
create the main frame of the cloud by folding the thick wire in 3 equal lengths and tying the ends together.
7. TWIST AGAIN!
Twist the wire on itself 3 times every 5inches (hand's width) distance. Go along the whole wire.
8. ATTACH THE FLOWERS
Put 1/3 of the flower heads aside.
Tie a small length of thin floral wire to a flower stem and then fasten it securely to your thick wire frame.
Repeat until you've used all of your flower heads. Space them evenly apart to cover the width.
9. SPRAY!
Sometimes hydrangeas have a lovely natural blush of pink on one side which looks so pretty. I decided to accentuate that here and lightly sprayed the other 1/3 of the flower heads with hot pink spray paint (go gentle!).
Once they've dried, tie those to the cloud intermittently as nice finishing touches.
10. HANG IT!
When you're ready attach your cloud to your ceiling pendant (or else).
You can see on this picture here, that for ease, I attached my cloud 2/3 finished, then added the final 1/3 of the flower heads on once it was hung. But it is up to you.
TAH-DAH!
Find the full step-by-step video over on my Instagram @thepurplestylist!
Look for the "Hydrangea Cloud" Story in my highlights.
