Our Christmas bouquet makes a lovely mistletoe or centerpiece hanging from a chandelier, over a table, in a hallway or in a window.
Materials:
#15-0200 Armour Etch Glass Etching Cream.
#29-2462 Clear Thick bevel diamond ornament
#21-1611 Over N Over stencil- Christmas
#20-0482 Rub n Etch stencil- Noel Holidays
#61-3329 Rub n Buff
#08-9606 Brushes
#08-9999 Gloves
#08-9415 Masking tape
#08-9777 Scissors
3" or 4" Round Styrofoam ball
Pine sprigs, wired pine cones, poinsettias, berry picks and gold filler picks
Red velvet ribbon-1 inch wide
Gold mesh ribbon- 1 inches wide
Gold cord-18"
White cotton wrapped floral wire #20 or 22 (sturdy by pliable fine gauge)-18 inch
Low temp hot glue gun
Pliers w/ wire cutters
Green floral tape
Paper clips of floral pins
Long skewer, chopstick or shisha bob stick
Directions:
- Apply Over N Over Snowman stencil to the middle of the ornament, leaving enough room at the top for the "Happy Holidays" stencil.
- Cut out the " Happy Holidays" stencil from the stencil sheet. Place right over the snowman and secure with a piece of masking tape.
- Rub down the Happy Holidays stencil with the popsicle stick according to the package instructions.
- Cover all exposed glass on both sides of the face of the ornament with overlapping strips of masking tape
- PAT the etch cream onto the stencils until about 1/4" thick. Wait 3 minutes and rinse under very warm water until visible etch cream is gone, Remove stencils and rinse again
- Assembling the ball: Carefully drive the skewer through the center of the styrofoam ball.
- Fold one 18 inch strand of wire in half. Feed one end of the wire through the hole in the ornament and slide the ornament down to the fold in the center of the wire. Twist the 2 pieces of wire together several times leaving a gap of about 1/2 inch so the ornament swings freely inside the loop.
- Thread the ends of the wire through the hole in the styrofoam ball. At the top of the ball, take one end of wire and fold it over in half forming a loop. Twist the wire together to tie it to itself. Take the other strand of wire and wrap it around the twisted part of the loop several times to secure the two strands together. Squeeze a bit of hot glue at each end of the ball where the wire protrudes to secure it to the styrofoam
- Assemble mini bundles of bouquets. Start by wrapping the stem of a poinsettia with floral tape. Add a pine cone, sprig of greenery, berries, etc wrapping each stem or wire with floral tape between them. Also assemble mini bundles of ribbon and mesh by cutting 8 inch strips of each ribbon, and mesh. Take each piece and crisscross the ends over the center. Layer one strip of each type of trim on top of the other forming bows. Lay a strip of wire over the center and twist the ends together on the backside and cut off the wire close to the twist. Flatten the end of the wire against the backside of the ribbon
- Take the gold cord and thread one end through the wire loop at the top of the ball. Even up the ends of the cord and tie a firm knot.
- If you do not have floral pins, open up some paper clips so they are U shaped. Trim with wire cutters so the ends are even.
- Starting at the top of the ball, take the floral bundle and twist to form a pick. Apply some hot glue and push into the ball.
- Now take a ribbon bundle and straddle a floral pin or paper clip over the center of the bow from the front side. Squeeze a dab of hot glue on the back side, Cool a few seconds. Hold the bundle between your forefinger and middle finger with the ends of the paperclip dangling down between them. Place your thumb over the center of the bow and push the ends of the paperclip firmly into the ball until the bundle makes contact.
- Alternate the floral bundle and ribbon into a pleasing arrangement and until the entire ball is covered. Fill any small gaps with loose stems of flowers or more ribbon .
- Wrap a small piece of soft paper towel around your finger and squeeze a small dab of Rub N Buff to the tip of the towel. Smear the Rub n Buff over the etching. It will look messy, but thats ok. Keep your finger rubbing over the etching while the RNB is still wet and as it sets up, the RNB will start to clean up off the shiny parts of the glass and stick only to the etching. Once most of the excess RBN has been removed, take a clean piece of paper towel buff to a luster.
