Flower Pounding Craft
Baby’s first Lowe’s trip at one week old!
It’s been a while, friends! I had my second baby back in November at 37 weeks (after a stint in the hospital at 30 weeks to prevent preterm labor) and things have been an absolute whirlwind since then. Our tiny son seems to have a lot of opinions about the world, and he likes to make them known. Loudly. But we are settling into our cozy, busy life as a family of four, and I have surprisingly been able to get lots of gardening in with my little four-year-old assistant and a squirmy baby strapped to my chest.
But one thing that I have been struggling with as our family grows is the amount of stuff that grows along with us. We are drowning in stuff. While I love hand-me-downs and I love to DIY, the ugly truth is that I also love to buy things, for myself, for others— and I love to give and receive gifts. I also have trouble getting rid of things because we have a pretty large house where we technically can fit a lot of possessions, and I know all these things might come in handy one day! Yes it’s super convenient to add things to our carts and have them shipped to us. Yes it’s super fun to buy new things, especially for kids! But the fact is, it’s completely unsustainable. Both for our lives and for our poor planet. So little by little, I have been trying my best to reduce the number of unnecessary things that I give and receive. For the kids’ birthdays and holidays, we have started exchanging pre-loved clothes, toys, and books among the kids (eight little cousins, all under 6 years old!). I have also started asking for special experience gifts (like a toddler cooking class or trip to the botanical gardens!) or items that they really need (like new shoes!). When purchasing gifts for friends and family, I have been prioritizing consumables (like homemade treats), experiences (like a gift card for a dinner out or a massage), or handmade or sentimental items (like this flower pounding craft!). If I do really want to buy a new physical item, I am trying to support small businesses and independent sellers (like those on Etsy).
Finished tea towel dyed with flower power!
For our Easter baskets this year, I repurposed toys and books from previous years and mostly filled them with carrot-themed treats, plus some carrot and zinnia seeds for the girls to plant. I did buy a new outfit for my son (who is somehow in 12mo clothes at 5mo), a silicone teether, and headbands for my daughter and oldest niece. Not too bad for a chronic overpurchaser!
ANYWAY. What does all of this nonsense have to do with the promised flower pounding craft? Sorry, getting there! As I mentioned, I love giving gifts, but I hate feeling obligated to give gifts and just buying something random to check a box. For Mother’s Day this year, I decided my daughter and I would make something handmade for the moms in our life. To be totally transparent, this craft is not zero waste (I did have to buy cotton/linen napkins for this craft, as well as a package of alum powder), and it is still a physical item. BUT it’s made from mostly natural, sustainable materials, and I personally think tea towels are probably likely to get a lot of use and not just sit collecting dust and wasting space in a drawer. You could definitely used thrifted materials (maybe cut up a linen tablecloth!) or fabric scraps you have on hand. I think they just need to be light colored and 100% cotton, linen, or silk for the flower colors to transfer well.
The masking tape helps keep the petals in place, and the wax paper keeps the hammer from sticking to the petals.
YOU WILL NEED:
-Linen, cotton, or silk fabric
-Alum powder (optional)
-Kraft paper
-Wax or parchment paper
-Scissors
-Masking tape (optional)
-Hammer or mallet
-Work gloves (optional)
-Iron
STEPS:
1. Wash your fabric, and then place it (wet) into a solution of 1 tbsp alum powder per 1 cup of hot water (I just used a big cooking pot). Let the fabric soak for 4-12 hours and then let it dry. This step is optional but helps the color transfer better and hold up to washing better. Either way, the natural dyes will eventually fade on you, but they should still last a good while!
2. Pick out a bunch of flowers. You never know what color the flower will dye the cloth - sometimes it’s a completely different color from how the petals look!
3. Set down some kraft paper on a flat, hard surface, and lay out your fabric on top. Make sure your surface is hard enough that it won’t get banged up when you hammer! Arrange your flowers onto the fabric. Use masking tape (optional) to keep them in place.
4. Use a square of wax paper as a barrier between your hammer/mallet and the flowers. Pound each flower into the fabric (you have to hammer pretty hard!). Consider wearing work gloves to make this more comfortable.
5. When you have finished, very gently remove the tape and petals - they can easily smudge when wet.
6. After the flower dyes have completely dried, iron the fabric on a low heat setting to help seal in your color. If you decide to wash the fabric, the color will likely fade/change slightly but should hold up pretty nicely!
I think these tea towels really came out so beautifully, they were super fun to make with my daughter, and we loved gifting them to our family! Please let me know if you try this, or if there is anything you would do differently!
