If you're like me, you love anything plant and flower related but have a black thumb! Succulents are supposed to be a little easier to work with but I still have trouble getting them to flourish. Because of this, I have found a few ways to create succulents using wood flowers and paint. They're happy, I'm happy...win win!
What You'll Need:
Here's a list of some of the items you'll find helpful to use:
- Sola wood flowers
- Paint*: Shades of greens for the base coat colors. Shades of pinks, purples, blues and reds for the accent colors.
- Bowls to hold paint/water mixture
- Spray bottle with water
- Paint brushes
*There are so, so many different types and colors of succulents. Do a quick Google or Pinterest search and find the color story you love most! Then buy paints in that palette.
Let's get a base coat going!
After selecting the flowers you want to use (I lean towards flowers with either really pointy or really rounded petals or flowers with bulbous petals), it is time to get the base coat green paints ready.
Add equal parts room temperature (or warmer) water and paint into a bowl. Using a fork or spoon, stir thoroughly until all paint has been mixed in. The ideal consistency of the mixture should be that of milk.
Dip the entire flower in one of the color mixtures and set aside to start drying.
Pro tip: save these green paint/water mixtures for the hand painting step. You can use them as additional accent colors!
Are We Done?!
You could be done after the base coat step!
The flowers in the above picture are what we call bark flowers because they have bark from the plant still on sections of the petals. The bark creates a fun texture to the flower AND...it repels most of the paint. Now you have a multi-dimensional flower that resembles a succulent (with only one step!).
Want More Color?
There are a few techniques to bring in more color and to create those really vibrant succulents. I'll show them individually but first - let's prep the paint!
For the two colors in the bowls, I mixed the paint with water (just like for the base coat). I also prepared a plate to pour just a little paint from each of the other colors. A little goes a long way with the accent paint.
Style 1 - Blended Tips
I prefer to do this method while the flower is still damp from when you added the base coat paint - it makes the blending much easier!
Dip your paintbrush in your paint/water accent color mixture and apply the paint to the edges of the flower. For the Miss Ivy flower above, I painted just inside the petal.
Once you have the edges/petals painted, spritz the flower with water using your spray bottle. You will start to see the accent color blend into the base color. Shake off the excess water and there you go! First succulent is in the books!
Style 2 - Petal Edges
Similarly to the blended tips technique, you will want your flowers to be damp and you will need a paint brush and paint/water mixture. You will not need a spray bottle for this succulent version.
Dip your paintbrush in the paint/water accent color mixture and apply to some of the edges of you flowers. You want that base coat coming through so you do not have to make sure every petal edge has the accent color on it.
Style 3 - Painted Tips! (no water)
This technique is for when you want the accent colors to be bold and not blended into the base coat!
Pour a little paint from the bottle onto a plate (or bowl) and do not add water. Take your paintbrush, dip directly into the paint and dab the accent color onto the tips or edges of the flower.
Style 4 - Painted Tips! (with water blending)
Follow the same steps from Style 3 but this time, use your spray bottle and spritz with water! If you want the accent color to blend in even more, you can use a paint/water mixture to apply to the tips of the petals and then spritz.
Style 5 - The Spin!
Take your flower, turn it on its side, dip in the paint/water mixture and spin until every side has some paint on it but the center has only the original color.
Video Recap of these techniques! (click on the image below to be taken to our youtube channel)
If you give wood flower succulents a try, please share it with us in the comments! Happy painting!
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