Spring Foliage Inspired Altered Dress Form
From the Designer: "This Altered Dress Form was inspired by the beautiful wildflowers that bloom that grow where I live. It's made mainly of paper and all leaves and flowers were die cut and shaded by hand. This project can be made in less than 6 hours (depending on your crafting experience). The finished piece is adorned with beaded garland and picks. It is spring themed but could easily be modified to suit different seasons. It would make a gorgeous addition to your home decor for that add an extra wow factor. It's a definite conversation piece."
Time to CompleteWeekend project
Primary TechniquePaper Crafts
SeasonSpring
Project TypeMake a Project
Materials List
- Eileen Hull's Spring Leaves Die
- Sizzix Big Shot machine
- Assorted shades of green cardstock
- Colorbox Cornucopia Paintbox ink pad
- Tim Holtz's Melange Tissue Wraps
- Xyron Creative Station
- Paper mache dress form
- Tulle
- A clear-drying liquid glue.
- Xyron 3" Sticker maker
- Scissors
- Katelyn Lizardi's Butterfly Embellishment die
- White cardstock
- Kraft cardstock
- Eileen Hull's Blends inks in Wildberry
- Rhinestones
- Blending tool
- Beaded garland
- Picks
Instructions
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Die-cut Leaves from assorted shades of green cardstock using Eileen Hull's Spring Leaves Die and a Sizzix Big Shot machine.
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Shade the edges of the leaves using different shades of green from the Colorbox Cornucopia Paintbox ink pad. Set leaves aside.
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Cut or tear strips of Tim Holtz's Melange Tissue Wraps.
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Insert tissue wrap through the Xyron Creative Station and crank through.
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Peel off the film and backer. Then adhere tissue wrap onto the top half portion of the paper mache dress form (From waist to neck or vice-versa).
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Cut tulle into 5" x 5" squares. Then tie each square into "loose" basic knots.
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Adhere knots to the bottom edge of the dress for using a clear-drying liquid glue.
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Take the shaded and die-cut leaves and run them through a Xyron 3" Sticker maker.
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Apply leaves in staggering rows. Start your first row covering each tulle knot. You may want to add a dollop of glue to secure in place.
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Continue adding leaves in staggering rows till you reach the waist of the dress form.
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Trim the tulle to create even ends.
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For the bodice, take 2 leaves and snip a triangle from the bottoms. Overlap the sides then glue in place, creating cupped leaves.
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Adhere a cupped leaf to each breast with a generous amount of strong clear-drying glue.
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Tier two more leaves onto each breast leading down to the waist. *TIP* Curling the leaves to conform to the bodice will help them lay closer to the dress form.
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With Katelyn Lizardi's Butterfly Embellishment die, die-cut 10 Flowers from white cardstock.
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Use the same die to die-cut 18 stemmed leaves from kraft cardstock.
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Shade each flower center using Eileen Hull's Blends inks in Wildberry.
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Glue each flower tab to it's neighboring petal (as per dies flower making directions). Layer 2 flowers onto one another and glue together. Adhere a rhinestone to the center to complete the flower.
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Curl flower petals for more dimension. Repeat this process till you have 5 completed flowers.
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Shade stemmed leaves using more green ink and a blending tool.
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Adhere stems to dress form forming a spray.
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Attache Flowers, scatter them throughout the dress form.
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For additional texture and drama, add beaded garland and picks throughout. Secure in place with more glue.
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Enjoy your gorgeous creation!