Pastel Flowers

Okay, full disclosure: this is not a "totally doable" DIY like the other two this week (tote bag and wreath).  But, I tried out this project and I'm so happy with how it turned out that I just had to share it with you!  Don't worry, though; at the end of this post, I'll share some ideas for how to get the look even if you're somewhat less than artistically inclined :)

To make your own, you will need:

• Old book with large pages
• Oil pastels (aka craypas)
• Exacto knife or other razor blade
• Pencil

Find a page of text that looks interesting to you.  I chose an old (free!) book on education theory since I imagine this piece going in the office where I will be grading papers, coming up with lesson plans, etc.  Then, I found an especially wordy page that looked good enough.

Cut it from the rest of the book using your razor blade.

Then, choose a design to draw on the page.  I found mine by doing a Google image search of old fashioned flower prints.  Draw out your design onto the page.

Now, it's all about layering color and blending.

Layer....

Blend...

Layer...

And voila!  You're done!  This was fun for me, but if it looks like just a little too much for you I have a few ideas.  First, you could save an image on a jump drive and take it to Kinko's (or use your home printer if you have a fancy color printer) along with your cut out page.  The ink shouldn't cover all of the text and you would have the same result only with way less work.  The other idea I had was to just do a simpler design.  Geometric shapes shaded to have gradient color would look super cool in a modern office.

Let me know what you think! How would you get this look?