Silk Flower Wallhanging

When the news gets around that you like to create things people give you all sorts of things they think you might have a use for. Once I was given a big plastic bag full of silk flowers. Because there are only so many silk flower arragements a person can have in their home I put the bag in my closet where it stayed for quite a few years before I thought of a use for them.
One day I stood holding the bag in my hands while tidying the closet wondering how I could use them all up in one go when I had an idea! I could use them for a floral wall hanging.This is the end result:

It's very easy to make. All you need is an artists canvas, a gluegun and lots and lots of silk flowers. I thought that I had more than enough but in the end I had to ask the lady who gave them to me if she had some more which luckily she had.
I started by cutting all the flowerheads off the stems and putting them into a mesh laundrybag and washing them with a bit of laundrypowder in the bath because some of them had got a bit dusty over time. After rinsing the bag with flowers I spun myself round in the garden to remove excess water ( I hope no one was looking) and let them dry thoroughly on the centralheating radiator.

Then comes the fun part.. glueing the flowers onto the canvas. Take care not to burn your fingers on the hot glue! I placed the flowers randomly trying not to be too pickey about which colours to place next to which and alternating large and small flowers ( just like mother nature does)

I also went over the edges covering all the visible canvas but if you wanted to you could glue a ribbon around the edge.
If you like the idea but don't have enough flowers you could make one or more small ones and make a group of them on the wall.
I also used up my own old silk flowers which were a bit tatty and sunbleached. In amongst all the others you don't notice they aren't as "fresh" as they once were.
If I've inspired you but you don't have any silk flowers, I recommend you have a look in thriftstores and yardsales and ask around in your circle of friends and family. I'm sure some of them have silk flowers lurking around in their basements, attics, and closets.
The end result may be a bit tackey but I think in the right surroundings it would look great and certainly be a conversation piece. I know I cheer up no end whenever I look at mine!