Mother's Day Windows

I haven't designed windows since I worked at Anthropologie but, like riding a bike, it came right back... working the ladder into an impossibly tight, hot space, getting paint where I shouldn't have, spending too much time removing it, being stared at by homeless people right on the other side of the glass...ah, yes, the glamour of window display!  It's awfully frustrating, but so worth it when it's done!  These gigantic flowers were really easy to create and would be a great project to decorate, say, a float in New Orleans.  If you want to see it in person, it is at 1221 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403 at the UCLA Family Commons until Mother's Day.

What you need for the flowers:

Scissors

Cardboard boxes- I used large flats from Costco

Colorful scrap fabric

Gold foil

12x12 Card stock or Crepe paper

Tissue paper

Background:

Painter's Tarp 4x12 feet ( I only used half)

Yellow Paint 1 quart diluted with water

For the Window Poem

2 packages Provo Craft vinyl adhesive- brown and pink

Cricut Expression or Create

Don Juan Cartridge

12x24 inch mat

36 inch Ruler

Masking tape

The Flower how-to:

 1.  Cut cardboard cut into oval shapes,  pierce in the middle with scissors,  then expanded hole to a 2 inch circle.

2.  Take fabric scraps and cut into 4 inch strips, loop through hole in the center of the cardboard, across width of front tightly, then tie a knot in the back of the cardboard.  Cut excess so it stays neat in the back.

3.  Repeat until whole oval is covered by fabric swaths.  Glue fabric in place if it moves showing the cardboard.

4.  Turn around and glue overlapping half ovals to the back of the cardboard with the god side facing out.

5.  Dip dye paper, let dry then hot glue behind gold half-circles, pleating to create a more organic looking petal.

The Poem how-to:

1.  Cut "Mother" out of pink vinyl at 11.5 inches tall with the "Flip" button on.

2.  Cut the poem out the brown vinyl at 3 inches tall with the "Flip" button on.

3.  Peel backs and stick to window using masking tape as a a guide, making sure to brandish letters well, and measuring evenly between lines.

Tarp Backdrop:

1.  Paint yellow with roller diluted with 1/4 part water.  

2.  Hot glue over dowel, and hang.