Shabby chic peony bouquet tutorial using polymer clay

With the anticipation of spring just around the corner and Mother's Day along with it, channel those vibes by making a beautiful bouquet of shabby chic pastel peonies from polymer clay with long flowing leaves to set the scene for those hazy summer days ahead. 

Shabby chic peony bouquet tutorial 

By Lynn Allingham.

You will need

Materials 

• Polymer clay: white, pink, yellow and orange
• Acrylic paint: lime green, light grey and white
• 1 x 1/12th Scale miniature glass vase or jug
• 1mm gauge, green paper coated floristry wire
• Strong craft glue
• 10-20mm double sided tape
• Material in a pastel shade of your choice
• Tissue paper in a pastel shade of your choice
• Thin paper
• String or twine

Tools 

• Scissors
• Pokey tool
• Wire cutters
• Sponge
• Round tipped embossing tool
• Hand or electric drill with a chuck
• 0.5-1mm drill bit
• 1 x 1.5cm diameter miniature bowl (for assembling the flowers in)

Method

1. Create a peach colour of clay by mixing a pea-sized piece of white polymer clay with a little pink and orange. Take another piece of white clay and mix with a little pink to create pale pink.

2. Take both the peach and the pink clays then cut and shape each into a batch of small oval petals roughly measuring 7mm in length. Use a pokey tool to lightly texture the end of each petal, as pictured.

3. Carefully construct your petals into peony flowers by placing them in a miniature bowl measuring 1.5mm in diameter. Use roughly ten petals per flower and create two in peach and one in pink, as pictured.

4. Take yellow clay and roll into three 4mm balls. Lightly flatten and apply one ball to the centre of each flower. Use a pokey tool to heavily texture the yellow centre of each flower, as pictured. Bake the finished peonies as recommended.

5. To create the stems use a drill to carefully create a shallow hole in the back of each flower – be careful not to drill a hole all the way through. Glue a piece of green floristry wire into the back of each peony to create flower stems, as pictured. Leave to dry completely.

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6. For the leaves take a small piece of thin paper, roughly 15cmx7cm and cover the surface with lengths of double-sided tape to make it adhesive. Use wire cutters to cut ten 8cm-10cm lengths of green floristry wire. Apply the wire to the adhesive paper, exactly as pictured.

Top tip! When making tiny delicate flowers such as the ones in this project, try not to handle the clay too much. Once you've arranged your petals into a flower and you need to move it, simply use a pokey or embossing tool to pick it up from the centre of the flower instead of using your fingers, to avoid squashing the petals together.

7. Take another piece of 15cmx7cm thin paper and place it directly on top of the piece that was constructed in step 6 so that the wires become encased in paper. Use scissors to cut the encased wires into a variety of long thin leaves, as pictured.

8. Use a small piece of sponge to apply lime green paint to both sides of each leaf. Again, using sponge, apply small dabs of grey paint over the lime green to achieve a shabby chic appearance, as pictured. Leave the leaves to dry upright in a piece of sponge.

9. Take all flowers and leaves and use a sponge to lightly stipple a little white paint onto the tips of each leaf and over the flower petals, as pictured, to accentuate the shabby chic feel.

10. Arrange your bouquet – trim, bend and construct your flower arrangement into a piece of sponge until you're happy with how it all looks. Once happy with your bouquet, use a piece of string or twine to tightly tie all stems together at the base. Remove from the sponge and use wire cutters to trim any excess wire.

11. Take the glass vase or jug and half fill it with a small piece of scrunched tissue paper. Take another piece of tissue paper and cut into a 5cmx5cm square, place the square over the jug and gently push the centre of it down into the jug. Take the bouquet and dip the tied end in glue, then push into the tissue paper lined jug and position as desired. Leave to dry.

12. Take a piece of material and cut into a 6cmx6cm square then fray the edges. Use double-sided tape to stick and fold the material diagonally off-centre. Use another piece of tape to position the flowers as desired, and then scatter any leftover petals from step 2.

Enjoyed making a miniature peony bouquet? Add a special touch to your dolls house or miniature scene with a miniature Mother’s Day card!