Pansies from Affordable Punches

Supplies and tools needed: Thin florist wire (33 gauge) rice paper acrylic craft paint (see suggested colors below) punches (refer to diagram) Tacky glue Tweezers Small, pointy, sharp scissors Pin (for piercing paper) Wire cutters Ball Stylus Craft foam Small paint brush (size 10/0 or smaller) Florist foam of styrofoam to hold plants as they dry Needle-nose pliers for bending wire

Prepare the paper parts:

• Paint both sides of rice paper with acrylic craft paint: Yellow and Purple (or your favorite pansy colors) and green for the leaves. The colors I used for the "Standard Violet" colors are:
  • Folk Art (by Plaid) 440 Violet Pansy
  • Ceramcoat Crocus Yellow
  • Apple Barrel (by Plaid) 20755 Vineyard Green
• Referring to the punch diagram above, punch the following per plant:
  • 1 Purple: Fiscar's "Large Hearts" for top petals
  • 2 Yellow: 1/8" Circles for side petals
  • 1 Yellow: Heart from Marvy's "Ribbon Heart" border punch
  • 2 or 3 Green: Tiny Birch Leaf
  • 1 or 2 Green: Petals and buds from Marvy's "Ribbon Heart" border punch

Assembly:

Make the calyx: Use a stylus and the craft foam to lightly cup the green 'bud'. Pierce the center with a pin. Insert the wire through the hole, so that the cup faces the end of the wire. Put glue on the end of the wire and slide the calyx about 1/16 inch from the end. Pinch calyx against the wire, so that it surrounds the end of the wire fairly evenly. Bend the wire at a 90 degree angle, about 1/8 inches behind the calyx. (see figure 1) Set aside to dry.

Prepare the top petals: Cut the large purple heart in half, to make 2 teardrops. Using scissors, trim the teardrop to make the teardrops more symmetrical. Also trim off the points at an angle, to make the teardrops shorter. (see figure 2)

Attach the petals: Refer to Figure 3. Glue the petals to the calyx in the following order:

• The two purple teardrops. The petals should curl towards the back of the flower. (If the calyx was a clockface, the petals would be positioned at 11:00 and 1:00) These petals should overlap each other slightly. Keep the points of the teardrops near the bottom of the calyx.
• The two 1/8" circles. The petals should curl forward. Overlap the 1/8" circles slightly. (9:00 and 3:00) These petals should be postioned near the vertical center of the 'teardrops' petals. Be careful that they are postioned correctly so that the 'teardrops' petals do not stick up too far behind them, resembling 'rabbit ears'.
• The small yellow heart, point side up, and curling back. (6:00)

Making the "face": Using a small brush, and purple acrylic paint, apply small lines in the center of the flower. (Figure 4) Dots can be applied to the margins of the petals as well, since some varieties of pansies have coloration similar to this. If you have difficulty painting fine lines, you can paint blobs in the centers of the flowers.

Leaves: using the stylus and craft foam, press a line down the center of two or three 'birch' leaves. Curl one or two small green leaves.

Glue the small leaves on the stem, below the flower, then glue the 'birch' leaves around the stem, about 3/4 inch from the flower. (Figure 5) When dry, trim the stem about 1/4 inch below the bottom leave, to provide 'roots' for planting.

Pansy Buds:

To make pansy buds, only large purple hearts and calyx pieces are needed for the flowers.

Fold a large purple heart in half. Glue it to the end of a piece of florist wire. (Figure 6)

Pierce a calyx with a pin, and insert the wire through the hole. Slide it all the way up to the folded heart. Apply a bit of glue at the base of the heart, and pinch the calyx so that it covers the point of the heart. (Figure 7)

Bend the stem behind the calyx at more than a 90 degree angle, so that the bud 'nods' downward a bit. (Figure 8)

Atttach leaves, as described for the 'full bloom' pansy.

© Alice Buerkle 2000