Window Box Wooden Flowers

Several years ago Tim built lovely window boxes for two windows on the front of our house. At the time, the window boxes were in the sun most of the day. I could plant beautiful flowers that gave lots of color to the front of our house. Over the years the trees grew, as trees tend to do, and the window boxes are now in the shade most of the day. I’ve tried to ignore Mother Nature and continued to plant the window boxes with the flowers I loved, only to be digging up dead or puny looking flowers well before the season was over. This year, I got an idea!

If I “planted” wooden flowers, they would not need sun to thrive and would give me the color I was craving. So, I designed several flowers, and I am thrilled with the outcome! I plan to make autumn flowers and something for the boxes for winter. Love it when the end results match your vision! Try making your own bouquet of flowers. It’s easier than you might think!

Materials:
PATTERN
Wood – I used clear pine 1″ x 8″ but you can use scraps or any width of wood wide enough for the pattern piece.
Outdoor Paint
1/4″ dowel rods 12″ long
Packing tape – optional

Equipment:
Scroll Saw
Dremel
Sandpaper
Drill with 1/4″ drill bit

Directions:
Begin by making a copy of the PATTERN.

Cut out the flowers you wish to use. Note: I usually cover the pattern pieces with wide packing tape BEFORE I cut them out. This makes for a sturdy pattern piece and makes it easier to trace around. 

Follow the instructions for tracing the patterns, cutting out the wood, and dremeling/sanding the finished shapes using our WOODEN APPLE ORCHARD tutorial.

You are now ready to paint the flowers. I took ample liberties when I painted 🙂 The flowers were inspired by nature… and are NOT accurate depictions of any particular flowers. So… paint them any way you like. I’ll briefly share how I painted each flower.

NOTE: I painted the front and back the base color but I only put detail on the front of the flower since you cannot see the backs in the window boxes.

Flower 1

I made this flower to resemble a hydrangea… sorta, kinda 🙂 Although it has the appearance of a large flower, it is really made up of many small flowers. I began by painting the front and back deep purple. I randomly added little 5 petal flowers using the side of the paint brush bristles with violet paint. For the centers, I dipped the back of a paint brush into gold paint and dabbed it in the center of the little flowers. Finally, using white paint, I added little “swishes” around the flower to add definition.

Flower 2

This flower is meant to resemble a lupine.  I began by painting the front and sides violet. To paint the front I alternately added dabs of violet, dark purple and white. All of the “lupines” are slightly different. When the front was dried, I used a violet-blue paint and the side of the paint brush bristles to add individual flower parts.

Flower 3 and 4

These flowers are the same shape, just different sizes. I’m not sure what flower it is suppose to look like, I just wanted a pointy petaled flower 🙂 I began by painting the front and back off white. I then used gold paint to create individual petals and adding a touch of gold in the petal itself. This was followed with more definition added the each petal using violet. Note how translucent the paint is. Use very little paint on a wet brush to achieve this result. I then used the dark purple and short swirls to add the deep colored center. Finally, when it was dried, I added a gold circle in the center.

Flower 5

So, I’m thinking this wound up looking like pansy 🙂 I painted the front and back gold. I then went around and added yellow, with white accents at the tip of the yellow. Then, I added another layer of violet, with dark purple accents at the tip. Finally, using the back of my brush, I added dabs dark purple to the center of the flower.

I then painted the 1/4″ dowel rods green. 

When the flowers were thoroughly dried, we drilled 1″ holes in the flowers using the 1/4″ drill bit.

At this point, you can glue the dowel rods into the flowers. I didn’t glue mine in. The fit was nice and tight, and because the dowel rods were going to be in moist soil, I thought they could rot out and need replacing. It would be far easier to do that if they weren’t glued in. If I was using this in a dry arrangement, I would glue them.

The final step (not pictured) it to spray the flowers with a sealer. Make sure you use one meant for outside.

The window boxes had been planted with a fern that does well in the shade. Finally, time to add the flowers to the boxes. I began by calling Michelle, who has a wonderful eye for arranging and balance. She arranged the flowers in the boxes, cutting the dowel rods to length as she went along. (Thanks, Mich!)

Here’s the final outcome! Truly loving this!

Now, I have flowers that won’t wither away on me 🙂 I must admit it took quite a while to complete this project BUT because I will be able to enjoy the flowers year-after-year, I think it was time well spent!
 

 

 PHOTO: 6-24-13, 7-4-13