Fall Pen Bouquet


Last week I posted about making some ombre painted terra cotta pots.  In a quest to find something useful to use them for (since they are kinda small for putting plants in for any length of time), I decided to make a pen bouquet. I have made these in the past.  They make great gifts for administrative assistants, receptionists, or anyone who works someplace where people steal your pens, but they are so cute, inexpensive, and easy to make, that you can easily make one for your own desk at home too.


You'll need:
silk flowers
a wire snipper
stick pens with caps removed
green floral tape
a pot
gems or river rocks

Start by cutting your silk flowers off of their bunches. I used a pliers that had a wire cutter built in, but anything capable of cutting wire should work. Leave a stem (at least a couple of inches long, but no longer than your pens) and if they have leaves, remove them or push them up to the flower's base. My flowers had the kind of leaves that could be slid up the stem, so I slid them up to the base of the flower.


If you've never used floral tape before, it takes a bit of getting used to, but it's nifty stuff.  You can buy it pretty much anywhere that sells craft supplies and it's usually pretty inexpensive.  Floral tape sticks to itself and it stretches, so to use it, start by wrapping a loop around the top of your pen and the stem of your flower with the tape tacky side out (yeah, counterintuitive I know). I say tacky because the tape isn't really sticky.  But as soon as it starts sticking to itself, you're good to go.  You can wind it up to the top edge of your pen and then just overlap it and stretch it as you go down the length of your pen. 


When you get to the writing tip of your pen, cut off about an inch extra and stretch it and stick it back onto itself to create a clean finished edge. Rub the edge down a bit and you're good to go. The stem is now secured to the pen and the pen now looks like a stem--handy.


When the pens and flowers are all attached, then you can arrange them in your flower pot.  My pot was pretty small, so I made 6 small fall colored mum pens and then stuck them in the pot filled with glass gems to keep them in place.  Now I have fun flower pens that no one will steal.




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