Rainbow Flowers!

Rainbows = happiness. From the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow to Pride to the magic of seeing one after a rainstorm...you probably can't help but smile at a rainbow. And creating rainbow flowers is something that is asked about a lot so here is a quick and easy way to make them and keep spreading that happiness!

What You'll Need:

Here is what I used for these flowers:

• Craft acrylic paint in primary colors (red, yellow, blue)
• Water and glycerin to mix with the paint
• Sola wood flowers from Oh You're Lovely

Confession time! When I was first getting prepped to create this blog, I mixed 7 paint/water/glycerin containers to recreate the ROYGBIV color spectrum. I was spooning each color onto the flower and needed to wait between the colors so the flowers weren't damp (which would allow the colors to blend into one another). That's when it hit me - we WANT the colors to blend together to create a rainbow effect! Mother Nature can do the gradient work (and hard work) for us!

So to start, mix your paint and water (2 ounces of paint, 2 ounces of water) and add a splash of glycerin.

Start with Yellow!

Once your colors are ready, start by dipping half of your flower into the yellow paint mixture. Since we will be dipping the flower into the other colors while the flower is still wet, you want to first use your lightest color so there is less transfer/impact in your other paints.

After dipping, try to get rid of as much excess paint as possible. You need to dip into the next color while the flower is very damp but not dripping. To help speed up the process, you can place your flower face down on a paper towel to absorb any running paint.

Red is Next!

Here is where the exciting stuff starts!

Rotate your flower approximately 90 degrees so the yellow half is either on the right or left side of the flower. Now dip the flower into your red paint mixture and cover around 1/3 to half of the flower. You'll see that where the red and yellow paints meet, you now have your orange slice!

Once again, you want to get rid of the excess paint before moving to the next color. One big thing to note - this is a messy process! Your hands will get paint all over them. When handling the flower, you should clean/dry your hands after every time you touch wet paint. If you don't, the paint could transfer between sections or onto the raw part (which will affect the colors you are trying to achieve).

Finish the Rainbow with Blue!

Rotate the flower again before dipping into your blue paint. Make sure you cover the raw part of the flower as well as some of the yellow (to create green) and some of the red (to create purple).

Honestly, this is the easiest way I have ever been able to make a rainbow flower and hope you find it simple to recreate as well!

Rainbow from the Bottom Up!

For this effect, you will need a spoon for the yellow paint.

This is a trickier method but first thing, spoon yellow paint onto the middle section of the flower, all the way around. Remember that you will be getting the orange and green sections from this so you want to leave only about 1/4 of each end of the flower raw/unpainted. To get any excess paint off the flower, you want to dab it with a paper towel. Letting it drip down the flower by holding it upright or upside down would mean the yellow paint will get on the raw sections.

Dip Both Ends in Red!

Dip the flower top in red paint and turn it upside down to get rid of the extra paint. In order to create the purple section, you also want to dip the bottom of the flower in red.

The Last Dip!

The last step is to dip the bottom of the flower in blue paint, making sure you cover some of the yellow. My blue paint container was not that deep which is why my green section is a little splotchy.

That said, how fun is this little zingiber flower?!

And there you have it! A fun and easy (albeit messy) way to create rainbow flowers!