Table of contents:

Do-it-yourself napkin topiary
Do-it-yourself napkin topiary
Anonim

Initially, the art of topiary is the curly cutting of bushes and trees, which decorated the gardens of high-ranking persons. This technique has been known since ancient Rome, but today this term is used by needlewomen, creating amazing beauty and amazing variety of artificial trees to decorate a home, office or halls for special occasions.

What Topiary is made of

To make a topiary, you can use any available materials: shells, flowers, grains, beads, seeds, artificial buds, cones, ribbons, fabric scraps and much more. The most ordinary napkins can be the basis for creating a small tree. And from this cheap and affordable material you can make a variety of forms. It can be buds resembling carnations, dandelions, various roses. Thus, topiary from napkins can be very different. And make themnot difficult at all.

Topiary from napkins
Topiary from napkins

Materials for work

To make a topiary from napkins, you need to prepare the necessary materials in advance. Depending on the complexity of the process and the allocated time, the work can take from one to three evenings. To create a do-it-yourself topiary from napkins, you will need the following materials: napkins of the desired color, a base ball, a glue gun, a stapler, a pot for a tree, a twig for a trunk, gypsum and decorative elements.

Almost all the materials needed to create a do-it-yourself napkin topiary can be replaced with others, which makes the creation process even more creative. So, the glue gun needed for gluing flower blanks to the base can be replaced with thick PVA or any transparent building glue.

do-it-yourself topiary from napkins
do-it-yourself topiary from napkins

In most cases, the basis of the topiary is a ball. Stores sell ready-made foam blanks for work. But you can easily do without them. From two or three sheets of newspaper, you can crumple a dense ball of the desired diameter (about 8 cm or more if you need a large ball). Wrap the workpiece with threads, like a ball, giving a rounded strong shape. To simplify the work, you can moisten your hands with water so that the edges of the paper wrinkle more easily. It is recommended to paste over the finished ball with a napkin.

Instead of a ball, you can use a blank in the form of a heart, letters or numbers. You can make them from improvised materials: thick cardboard or papier-mâché.

Do-it-yourself topiary for beginners from napkinsdone on the trunk or without it. As a trunk, you can use a strong twig, thick wire, a plastic stick, even an ordinary pencil. It can be wrapped with satin ribbons, lace, twine or covered with polymer clay, depending on the idea and wishes. You can fix the finished flower ball in a pot. You can do without a trunk, and without dishes, hanging the topiary on a ribbon loop.

Capacity for a small tree also needs a small size. You can take a flower pot and decorate it as desired. On sale there are small pots that are suitable for this work. Other containers can also be used, such as beautiful tea cups, a teapot or an original sugar bowl. It all depends on the flight of the master's imagination.

Flowers from napkins

To make a topiary from napkins, you need to prepare flowers. Their number depends on the size of the base and the volume of flowers. So, for a ball with a diameter of 8 cm, at least 40 flowers must be made. There are many options for making buds from napkins. Here are the simplest ones.

In the bud options described below, regular napkins are used. If made from serving napkins, then the dense edge must be cut off, otherwise it will spoil the appearance of the finished product.

topiary from napkins photo
topiary from napkins photo

3D carnations

A regular paper napkin, without unfolding, fold in half and in half again. Get a square. It needs to be fastened in the center with a stapler, making the bartacks crosswise. After this endcut the square into a circle. You need to cut a minimum of napkins. The edges of the circle can be tinted with a felt-tip pen or a marker that matches the color to give contrast. Carefully hook the top layer of napkins with your fingers and lift it up, fix it. Then lift each subsequent layer separately. This will turn out a voluminous flower resembling a carnation.

You can take napkins in three shades of the same color. Cut out squares of the desired size and fold a stack of napkins, moving from a more saturated color to a lighter one. Take two leaves of each shade. Then everything is done in the same way. This approach gives liveliness to the flower, creating smooth color transitions.

do-it-yourself topiary from napkins
do-it-yourself topiary from napkins

Dandelions

You can make dandelions using the same technique. Fold the napkin into a square and secure the center with a stapler. After cutting out the circle, it is necessary to make notches along the edge at a distance of 2-3 mm from each other and to a depth of about 2 mm. Further, all actions will be similar to the manufacture of the previous flower. This technique allows you to make the flowers not only voluminous, but also fluffy, give them liveliness. Yellow dandelions look very natural, although other colors are not excluded.

Roses

The queen of the garden rose can be made from napkins in many ways. The simplest one is shown below. Cut the napkin in half to make a rectangle. Spread the half on the table, wide edge towards you. Using a long needle or other similar stick, twist the roller, not reaching the end of 2 cm. Carefully pick up at both endsroller and remove the needle. Holding the untwisted edge, roll the napkin around the axis, forming a rose. Drop glue on the bottom edge to fix the flower.

You can make roses by cutting out individual squares from paper and twisting the top edges of each piece into a petal shape. Twist one petal at a time, giving the desired shape of the bud. This process is more complicated than the previous one, but the flower turns out just like a real one.

Pack all flower blanks for topiary from napkins into a wide box so that they do not deform.

do-it-yourself topiary from napkins
do-it-yourself topiary from napkins

Fluffy trees

To make the topiary from napkins, a step-by-step guide for making which is given in this article, turned out to be original, it is not at all necessary to make flowers. You can cut the napkin into equal squares with a side of 3-4 cm. Apply PVA glue to a small area of the base ball. Take one square, put a non-pointed pencil in its center and lift the edges. Attach the center to the area covered with glue. Glue the next square in close proximity to the previous one at a distance of 2-3 mm. Thus, the entire surface of the workpiece is covered. Topiary is fluffy and tender. In this way, you can create original patterns on the crown of a tree using different colors of napkins.

Assembling the tree

When all the elements of the tree are ready, you can start assembling. First you need to connect the base ball to the barrel. If this is done after gluing the flowers, then the composition can be wrinkled. Insert the decorated stick into the balland fix with glue. If a hanging composition is being made, then it is necessary to fasten a ribbon or loop.

napkin topiary for beginners
napkin topiary for beginners

Flowers are glued one at a time, starting from the top edge. Glue is applied to the base of the bud, and the workpiece is fixed on the base. The elements are glued close to each other so that there are no gaps.

You can cut out leaves from green paper and decorate the crown with them. Or use other decorative elements: beads, sequins, ladybugs or butterflies, bows and more.

In a separate container, dilute gypsum or alabaster to the density of sour cream. Carefully pour the solution into the pot. Set the decorated topiary in the center and fix it so that it stands straight. Leave until completely dry. Then you can lay out the top layer with decorative pebbles, shells, glass beads, sisal or other materials.

Do-it-yourself napkin topiary, the step-by-step process of creating which is described, will not be difficult even for beginner craftswomen. Even schoolchildren can cope with simple views.

Care

Topiary made of napkins is a rather fragile and delicate item. A place in the interior for it needs to be chosen so that direct sunlight does not fall on the tree, from which delicate colors will burn out. In addition, they are afraid of moisture, from which they can be deformed.

topiary photo
topiary photo

To remove dust, you can periodically blow the topiary with a non-hot jet from a hair dryer at low speed. Subject to these simple rules, the napkin topiary willplease more than one year. In addition, their production is not a laborious and financially costly process, and you can create a new masterpiece at any time.

Topiary from napkins for beginners is an ideal needlework option. It gives scope for imagination, because there are many manufacturing options. As a basis, you can take not only the ball. It can be a heart cut out of cardboard, or numbers and letters that can be used to decorate a wedding hall or a birthday room.

Topiary of napkins, photos of which can be helpful in creating a new original decoration for the interior. An artificial tree can be a great gift for any occasion. This is an original and stylish interior decoration.

Recommended: