So I saw this on my Tumblr around March 20, 2014, and I just couldn't get the image out of my head, of Yukimura with a crown of flowers and a bright smile. So during 2 separate days, I did about 4 different photoshoots with Nendoroid Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune. (I couldn't decide on which faceplates to use, so I used a variety.)
I went out and did a second-day photoshoot of this “flower garland on Yukimura” idea, because in retrospect, I really liked Yukimura looking right at the camera (but still believably at Masamune). Also, I had to re-do with Yukimura’s original faceplace, for more sunlight the next day. Yesterday, the waning light put this big shadow on Yukimura’s nose that just made his faceplate look less adorable, than I knew it could be. He looked cute using faceplates from female Nendoroids, but I just had to prove that his original male faceplate looked cute too.
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| You can tell this is day 2's photoshoot, because the garland popped open & had to be re-twisted. |
And that was all after the 2-3 days I spent trying to make a mini paper flower garland. Maybe it wouldn't have taken so long, if my only flower die cutter didn't break, half-way through my project. (No more lever-shaped die cutters for me! Especially fro Provo Craft.) And maybe if I didn't also waste so much time looking for my mom's flower-shaped die cutter...that turned out to not even be the right size I needed.
Fortunately, I was able to take my sun-shaped die cutter, and paste 2 punches together to make pretty convincing daisies. It was even better than my actual flower-shaped die cutter. Through all my experimenting, I had to junk my first 2 flower garlands, since these new daisies just blew them out of the water. Plus, being without leaf-shaped die cutters, those first garlands had diamond-shaped leaves...which turned out to not be as effective as successive garlands' leaves punched from lip-shaped die cutters. Experimentation made something as "simple" as mini paper flower garlands, take way too long, but after perfecting my processes (which die cutters, details in making the daisies, how to alternate the elements on the vine, etc.), I think the result was really worthwhile.
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| flower garland: design draft 1 |
Fortunately, I was able to take my sun-shaped die cutter, and paste 2 punches together to make pretty convincing daisies. It was even better than my actual flower-shaped die cutter. Through all my experimenting, I had to junk my first 2 flower garlands, since these new daisies just blew them out of the water. Plus, being without leaf-shaped die cutters, those first garlands had diamond-shaped leaves...which turned out to not be as effective as successive garlands' leaves punched from lip-shaped die cutters. Experimentation made something as "simple" as mini paper flower garlands, take way too long, but after perfecting my processes (which die cutters, details in making the daisies, how to alternate the elements on the vine, etc.), I think the result was really worthwhile.
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| flower garland: design draft 2 |
Other than the construction paper, there wasn't any special paper used for the flower garlands. The vine is actually just twisted wax paper, that was first colored green with a Copic marker. (You can use any permanent or alcohol ink marker.) When I realized I'd have to twist paper into a vine, the first thing I thought of was crepe paper, like my craft books often advised when I was a kid. But I never had any of that, and just used tissue paper instead. Now it's come to a point where even tissue paper is too nice to waste on experimental crafts I haven't tried before. But wax paper was not only equally malleable to crepe or tissue paper, but it felt stronger too.
 Cut a stirp of wax paper, around 2cm wide. |
 Lay some scrap paper over your work area, then color the wax paper green with a permanent or alcohol ink marker. |
 Lightly crease the wax paper in half. |
 Begin an upturned fold at one end. |
 Fold that "triangle" in half. |
 Continue folding upturned paper into halves. |
 After it gets thin... |
 Grasp the thin end, and gently continue thin folds down the paper strip. |
 Gently turn the folding into rolling. |
 Gently turn the rolling into twisting. Don't worry if it rips! Just roll over the tear. |
 This vine will be the base of the flower garland. |
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| Here's an iris made from 3 fleur de lis die cuts. It's too complex for my garland, but just thought I'd show my other experiments. |
 I used a sun-shaped die cutter to make daisies. |
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Paste 2 suns together. Ensure their spirals are moving in opposite directions. Use regular glue here instead of hot glue, so there is leeway to shift the suns around if necessary. Ensure that the rays of 1 sun fill the gaps between rays in the other sun. |
 Add a yellow dot to the center of 2 pasted suns. In retrospect, the daisies look better when the dot is small. |
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Make leaves from a lips-shaped die cutter and green paper.
Tape down the ends of the previously made vine.
Warm-up a hot glue gun.
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Whichever side of a leaf/flower that is glued to the vine, has its flaws hidden. So for parts of daisies with too many gaps between petals, have that side glued to the vine. The left-top curve of a green lip is glued to the vine, in order to hide its lips shape. The valley between the top lip's curves can be hidden by the vine as well, to make a more convincing leaf shape.
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After one side is full, remove the tape, and scrape the vine off your desk. The hot glue will invariably have had some spillage onto your desk. Use a pallet knife, spackling tool, or even a plastic credit card, to scrape the vine off.
I guess if you need to protect your work surface, get a sheet of acrylic or even metal roofing shingle. Paper used to protect your desk, will only be glued to the underside of your vine, and that would look bad. Even if you tear off the scrap paper from the back of the vine, not all will come off, and that "back" will actually be turned into another "front". Both sides of the vine must be presentable.
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Flip over the vine.
Tape it back down at both ends.
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Repeat the process of hot-gluing, alternating daisies & leaves to one side of the vine.
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After the vine is full of leaves & flowers, remove tape, and scrape off desk.
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When vine is long enough, bend it into a circle and gently twist the ends together, to create the garland.
