Its amazing how beautiful things can be made for your home without spending much money. Whether you have to be thrifty, or you just love making elegant things on a budget, you can create plenty of new and impressive things for the home. One such thing is a hanging flower basket with a unique shape. Most hanging flowers are in round pots, but when you use a Styrofoam cone, youll create a shape unlike other flowers youve seen hanging. Group them together and create an eye-grabbing corner arrangement for any room in your home.
Styrofoam cones are inexpensive and come in different sizes. Purchase one cone, different size cones, or several of the same cones to make the hanging flower baskets. There are many ways to decorate the cones to create the look you want. Check craft stores for special paints that will give the cones a brass look, marble look or other finish. Make sure the finish you decide on is appropriate for use with Styrofoam.
Paint the cone with the finish youve chosen. To make this easier stick a long dowel, a pencil, or even a fork handle into the center of the cone. Now you can hold and turn the cone any way you want. Apply the finish to the complete cone including the flat end. Place the dowel or pencil into a cup or glass to hold the cone up until it dries. A different way to cover the cone is to push in dozens of decorative pins, glue on fake jewels, or paint the cone with glue and roll in glitter. Create a totally different look by tearing up pieces of construction paper, gluing the small pieces all over the cone, then allowing to dry. Polish the paper with shoe polish to get a shiny appearance that no longer looks like paper. Styrofoam makes it easy to add wire to the design. Cut a length of pliable wire, shape it into a half circle, then stick the ends in the sides of the cone just above the flat bottom. Make sure the wire ends are exactly opposite each other, on each side. This will create the hanger for the flower basket. The cone will hang with the flat side at the top and the pointed end at the bottom. Add a wire basket holder, shaped like a cone, by cutting lengths of wire and sticking it into the Styrofoam. Measure from the flat edge of the cone, to the point, and back to the top edge. Cut two lengths of wire to these measurements. The wire you use can be very easily bent; it does not have to be stiff wire. The wire can be colored and new or fashioned from an old wire coat hanger for a rustic look. Bend each wire into a "V" shape. Bend each end of each wire slightly. Push one end of the wire into the flat part of the cone and slide the "V"-shaped wire over the cone. The wire should run from one side to the other. Push the opposite end of the wire into the flat part of the cone to secure the first wire. Do the same to the second wire, but this time, position the "V"-shaped wire to run from the front to the back. Now youve created a wire holder for the cone. Glue flowers, leaves, reeds and/or vines on the flat part of the Styrofoam cone. Allow some of the floral pieces to tumble out and over the sides of the cone. Some of the vines and flowers can climb up the wire hanger for effect. Glue some flowers onto floral sticks so theyll rise above the others. Screw a "C" hook into the ceiling and hang the basket. If you want the basket to hang much lower use long pieces of wire as the hanger or tie on a piece of fishing twine. The twine is virtually invisible and nearly impossible to break. Hang a group of the cone vases, at different heights, to create a fabulous look for a corner in your home. Its fun to make the flower cones and theyll definitely draw attention from your guests. People will do a double-take when they see the hanging flower baskets that look unlike any hanging basket theyve ever seen. The finished project is inexpensive, unique and gorgeous.
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