sunflowers – Decor Craft Design

I have been saving some pistachio shells for quite sometimes, at first I want to make some lavenders but the spring has past before I get a chance to make one, and now it’s summer! Yes, sunflowers as the flower of summer is as easy as making lavender from pistachio shells. I promise you, making this DIY Pistachio Shells Sunflower is as simple as it looks.

I try to make a very simple and not too close to realistic sunflowers as I prefer to have a little abstract interpretation of the flower. That is why I did not make any leaves on the sunflowers either. The sunflowers can be slip in on some flower pots or as decoration in pencil holders, or anything.

Things To Prepare

I did not make the pistachio shells sunflower with leaves, as I wanted to make it in more abstract than the realistic. That’s why I leave it that way. In that case, you won’t need that many supplies for this summer diy. Here are the things which you need to prepare:

Pistachio shells
Jute rope
Yellow acrylic paint
Flower stem wire
Hot glue

How To Make

It was only took me less than half an hour to make this pistachio sunflowers. And most of time spent was only to wait for the drying process of the hot glue and paint. Just follow these easy steps for DIY pistachio shells sunflower and I’m sure you will do an excellent job making it.

First thing to do is to select the pistachio shells. Pick the flawless ones and separate them into the bigger ones and the smaller ones. Big ones are for the bottom petal and the small ones are for the top petals.
Arrange the bottom petals of six and glue it with hot glue gun around the inner circle. Then add the top bottom petal one by one while the glue is still hot.
Apply more hot glue to the inner sunflower. Take the jute rope and make a little swirl. Attach the swirled jute rope to center of the sunflowers. It would look like a disc flower of the sunflower.
Wait until it’s dry. By the way, use a smooth surface as a base to do this gluing work, maybe on a marble or granite base. After it’s dried, take off the sunflower and attach the back of it with a flower stem wire. Let dry and firm.
Next is to do some painting job to the sunflower petals. Use lemon yellow acrylic paint to get a vibrant looking yellow. Paint the petals evenly and let it dry. Finished!

Okay, easy to make as I’ve promised right? Cute sunflowers from pistachio shells is great for your summer decoration. And I think I nee to make a cute pot for these cute sunflowers. Well, we’ll see about that, just wait for my next idea!

For more of my future Summer posts, please follow me! And if you wanted to add my creations to your Pinterest boards, please follow me on Pinterest! Also find me on Instagram and Twitter!

For creative fellow bloggers, don’t forget to join “You’re The Star” Blog Hop ! Link your inspiring posts (anything, from recipes, home decor, DIYs, crafts, family, health to gardening) every Monday and get a change to be featured! I’m one of the co-host of the blog hop for Creative Week and will choose the creative posts to be featured on Creative Features week. Please come and join the blog hop and I would love to see you there! Join and share the news!

See you!

Stay at Home and Stay Creative!

Mel

Sunflower Oil Painting – Home Decoration

Inspired by this summer blooms… I painted Sunflowers in a vase with oil paint. My husband bought me some sunflower seeds because I love flowers and he likes sunflowers. But until now, I haven’t grown any of the seeds, I just don’t have enough space for the spot to grow a one big sunflower plant. So, as usual, if I could not have it, I will paint it 😀

I started it with a sketch of pencil on 30 cm x 30 cm canvas to have an order of the composition. Well, this is my second attempt of painting using oil paint. The first oil painting I made was the Hydrangea Oil Painting. This time I have more confident than the first time.

I started to paint the background, then the sunflowers. After that I painted the vase and the leaves which I continued in the next day. I wanted this sunflowers painting to be bright and cheerful, so I chose the background with the light blue color which faded into white then darker mixed colors. And the vase is also yellow, but darker.

It was quite tricky when I came to the part of painting the sunflower’s petals. I have to show how the petals in individuals, the shape of the petals, the twisting petals. How to separate each bloom but still as one arrangement is also a challenge to me.

The oil paint colors I used:

Primary Cadmium Yellow
Ultramarine Blue
Yellow Ochre
Sap Green
Burnt Umber
Cadmium Light Red
Ivory Black
Titanium White

I’m quite happy with my sunflowers oil painting, I can add it to my home decoration collection of paintings and drawings. This is just a great flower for representing summer, as it is has a look of sunshine. And also, this painting is a thought for my fellow blogger who also loves sunflowers, Our Little Red House.

By the way, I entered a lot of challenge for this Sunflowers painting. Somehow, challenges motivates you to create and be creative due to its challenge theme. And the best part is when you got picked for top 3, top 5 , winner, favourite, any category, that will surely give you more motivation to create more and brighten up your day. Plus the badges you earned that you can display it proudly in your page. So, check all of this wonderful challenge sites I’ve entered:

Country View Challenge – Summer Garden
That’s Crafty – A Summer Day
Inspirational –
Craftaholics – Sunshine
Sparkles Monthly – Let’s Be Pretty
Creative Moments – Anything Goes / Summer Fun
Crafty Gals Corner – Anything Goes
Altered Eclectics – Anything Goes
Mixed It Up – Anything Goes + optional twist of Mixed Media (use more than 1 medium)
Love To Craft – Anything Goes

So, that’s it for today, I hope you enjoy my Sunflowers Oil Painting. Or maybe inspired to paint one yourself or even making a great craft out of the inspiration of my painting. It will be a great piece for your home decorations.

See you again!

Be brightly creative!

Mel