Cherry Blossom Art {tutorial}

Ever have a project that you are just super excited for because you know it will be so awesome? This is one of those projects. I first was inspired by this tutorial from Alpha Mom. She created her cherry blossoms from a 2 liter bottle onto a poster board. I have always loved the look of cherry blossoms and I thought this turned out beautifully. Plus I knew cherry blossoms would fit in perfectly with my living room décor. BUT I wanted something a little bit more permanent than poster board. I thought about canvas, but one day I was looking around my room (I wish it looked like this more often, but it doesn’t) and I saw a frame sitting next to my desk. The frame was from a craft fail (I tried to recreate an ABC wall hanging for my nephew but the frame was too small, resulting in the letters looking crammed in there…) but it inspired this project.

Supplies Needed:

• Large frame with just the glass
• brown paint (it’s ideal to use paint specifically designed for glass, but I just used acrylic)
• pink paint
• skinny paint brush
• white paper or butcher paper
• old soda bottle (I used a small A&W bottle for smaller blossoms)
• Strong glue

Step 1: Carefully apply glue to the inside lip of your frame. Press the glass down. Let dry according to package directions.

Step 2: Fit your paper to match the size of your glass. I just laid some computer paper inside the frame and taped it together.

Step 3: Draw an outline of your branches. I drew a mini one on the back of the paper before drawing the full size one. You don’t have to go all out, just give yourself enough lines to know where you want to paint.

Step 4: Tape the stencil into the frame. You want the paper as close to the glass as possible (though it will still sag in the middle).

Step 5: Now for the fun part! Grab your paintbrush and start painting! Use the paper behind the glass as a guide. It’s ok if you’re not a great artist because obviously you don’t want branches that are straight and evenly thick. You will have to do multiple coats. Here it is after one coat:

And three more coats later this is what it looked like:

Much better! You really have to make sure it dries between coats though, otherwise when you go to paint another coat the paint underneath will just come up. And once you put a brush stroke on an area try not to go over it again, because it kind of rewets the stuff underneath and will just end up rubbing off. Trust me. It takes a little practice, but it is possible to use acrylic paint on glass. Let dry.

Step 6: Now for the really fun part! Grab you soda bottle. Put your pink paint onto a plate. Dab the soda bottle in the paint, making sure it’s evenly dispersed. Now place the bottle down and lift straight up. Repeat until you have all the flowers you want. If you have places where the petals run together don’t freak out. Just take a q-tip and gently wipe away the paint you don’t want. When it’s dry you can use your fingernail to scrape away the smaller spots.

Step 7: Let the paint dry. Do any touch ups you need to. Take the paper off the back and hang where you want it!

I’m linking up at these fabulous parties:

The Cure for the Common Monday, Addicts (Not So) Anonymous, Tip Me Tuesday, Pity Party, Tinkled Pink, DIY Under $5, Making Monday Marvelous, Every {Body’s} Creative Endeavor, {Once Upon a Weekend}, Sundae Scoop, Show Me What Ya Got, Fridays Unfolded, Weekend Wrap Up, Get Your Craft On