Garden Flowers

Based on Garden Flowers by Crispina Ffrench
Flower Variations:
- Make many small flowers using 24-gauge wire and wrap them all onto one stem to create spire-shaped hyacinths or delphinium blooms. Wrap the small stems together using an additional length of 24-gauge wire. Finish the stem with a wrap of ribbon or green cloth strips, as above.

- Cut leaf shapes and add them to one side of the wire before you twist the stem. To give leaves more body, they can be made with a wire support "stitched" into each leaf's center line. Use a folded length of 24-gauge wire inserted into the leaf by accordion-folding the fabric and poking the points through.

-Make tall stamens. Using fine wire, thread a button on to each of three or four 4" - 6" lengths folded in half. Twist each thin wire a few times by hand, keeping the twist right next to the button. When the twist reaches about 1" in length, spin all the stamens into one bunch. Snip off excess wire. Or begin with a single 24" length of 20-gauge wire and use the tall stamen component rather than the button stack as suggested above.

- Incorporate other materials into your flowers. Decorative paper, leather scraps, bottle caps, brightly colored candy wrappers, and other sorts of fabric can add an element of enchantment.

- Make a garland of flowers. These are easiest to make like an actual daisy chain. Make the first flower with a looped stem. The second flower stem hooks into that loop, the third flower hooks into the loop of the second flower stem, and so on.

- Change the scale of the flowers, making them smaller with finer wire and smalier bits of fabric. Larger flowers can be quite complicated, requiring strong wire armature to keep the petals from looking wilted, but they can be amazing in super-huge size for parades or fairy parties.