Crafty help needed!

[Daisy]

I'm currently making a sort of hanging decoration. It's four wooden hearts - 3 small ones (about 2" high) and one larger one (about 6"). I've pyrographed a design on one of the small hearts and also borders on all the others. I've painted the large one with a thin white wash, so the colour and grain of the wood is still visible.

What I want to do now is apply dried flowers. I've got quite a variety which I dried some months ago. But I'm not sure what to stick them on to the wood with. OH has suggested wallpaper paste - he has a tube of it for doing edges of peeling paper etc. Has anybody tried this? And then I think I will need to give it a light spray of clear varnish to protect the flowers. OH has suggested a clear spray varnish, which sounds a good idea, unless anybody knows differently!

Any help would be wonderful!

[Plantaholic]

Sounds lovely Daisy, can't help much but I wonder if uhu would work to stick the flowers on. Picture when finished please

[Enfys]

Daisy, pva is my go-to sticky stuff. If you paint a thin layer on the wood, stick the flowers on, then you can go over them when they are dry, very lightly and it will seal them. It goes on white and you think you've messed it up, but it dries clear. I use it for everything, paper, fabric, string etc. Hope this helps

maybe try it on a piece of scrap wood first, then you can see how it looks.

[Oma]

Pva is good and dries lovely , I like to use a hot glue gun too, quick and dries fast but watch you don't burn your fingers , Spray varnish is good but make sure its the none yellowing one , I used to use it on my Salt dough figures, and at first used the normal spray but it goes yellow very fast till I discovered none yellowing varnish, I also used a very light spray on some of my Goose and Ostrich egg crafts if I was using a matt covering ,

[Qwerty]

I was going to say a glue gun or what about clear sealant the sort you put round a bath 🤔

[Libra Gran]

I would use a glue gun as well.just a little dab and it sets really quick.

[Gemini]

I too would have said PVA and slightly watered down PVA for the varnishing. Mind you years of working with children makes you think PVA for everything

[aggie]

Don't use the stuff for sealing the bath ! There is special craft stuff , can't for the life of me remember the name . Hot glue gun is too hot and dries too quickly !............... just googled , CollalGlue Gel is good , I get it from www.Joannasheen.com/craftsupplies

[Gemini]

By the way, the design sounds lovely Daisy

[Daisy]

Wow - thank you all so much! I am a glue virgin, and I really didn't know where to even start. I think I might be too ham-fisted to use a glue gun, and the dried flowers are very delicate. But I will definitely try all the suggestions out before using them on the real thing. It's going to be Wed at the earliest before I can do any more work on the project, so I've got time to get supplies in.

Thanks again - I'll let you know what happens and do photos.

I've been thinking about the design for a while. I wanted something that was mixed media and hopefully a bit different from a lot of the hanging things I've seen around, so it's very much an experiment.

My other experiment at the moment is some odds and ends of wood. One is part of a tree root which is all curled up and the others are pieces of wood I've picked up on walks that already look like something - one looks just like a bird. So they need lots of sanding and then I think a bit of carving ..... I'm sure I'll be back for more help.

[Nanto2girls]

Sounds like you have had some good ideas there Daisy. Like the sound of your design.

[Plantaholic]

Love things made of wood Daisy

[Glammanana]

Daisy find yourself a pair of twezzers to arrange those small dried flowers they work wonders I saw a lady using them to arrange her display at a craft fayre once and she made it look so easy.

[Daisy]

Glamm - thanks for that tip. I have used cocktail sticks to position dried flowers, but tweezers sound a safer option!

Nanto - the trouble is, I have the picture of what I want in my head, but don't have the skills or knowhow to produce it. So I'm learning to ask advice before I start in the hope I can avoid some of the worst pitfalls. Plant - our house is full of things made with wood - OH's creations mainly.

[Nana]

I love how you're being so creative Daisy. I too would use pva glue. The thing to do, you know is practise, practise, practise (or is it 'practice', I can never remember which one it is🙊). Good luck.