Monster in Miniature

by Margaret Grace

  You’ll need flowers for that Halloween trip to a cemetery. Here are some ideas.

  Materials:

  • Pots of colored foam, shredded (A good brand for ready-made foam is Flower Soft, which comes in many different colors and combinations of colors.)

  • Thin, flexible wire, white or green (If your design doesn’t require the flower stem to be bent, a toothpick will do.)

  • Scissors

  • High-tack glue

  • Medium-size beads (Look for beads to serve as vases. Beads with relatively large-diameter holes work best.)

  • Thin tissue paper

  • Narrow ribbon (1/16-inch) ribbon to wrap as a bouquet, if desired

  • Scrap piece of Styrofoam or nursery foam

  Instructions:

  1. Spread out paper to make a work area. (The foam pieces are tiny and tend to fly around. You’ll be glad you have a way to scoop them up and pour them back into the pot for later use.)

  2. Cut the wire into sections about 2 inches long.

  3. Dip a wire piece into a glob of glue, or use your finger to spread glue over the tip of the wire.

  4. Add foam pieces. You can either roll the glued end of the wire around in the foam or grab a small amount of the colored foam bits and sprinkle them on the gluey tip. Use your fingers to work the arrangement as you wish: into a solid spherelike pattern to look like a bulb (e.g., yellow foam can be fashioned to resemble daffodils) or a long, thin stem of flowers (e.g, purple foam can be fashioned to resemble lilacs).

  5. Stick completed flower stems upright in a piece of Styrofoam and let dry, approximately 30 minutes.

  6. Gather stems as desired into a bouquet. Cut the stems to the same length, and add a dab of glue to hold together. Use tissue to wrap the bottoms in bouquet style. Add a small ribbon (2-millimeter silk ribbon works best).

  Or:

  7. Gather stems and insert into the hole of a medium-size bead. Bead can be crystal, wood, or any shape or material, as desired.

  MINIATURE TIP FOR GLUE GHOSTS

  Materials:

  • White school glue

  • Waxed paper

  • Wiggle eyes

  • Felt, buttons, pom-poms, and other optional accessories

  Instructions:

  1. Place a piece of waxed paper on a flat surface.

  2. Squeeze glue from the bottle into the shape of a ghost.

  3. Place wiggle eyes into the glue at “eye level.”

  4. If you would like to decorate your ghost, use felt, buttons, pom-poms, or whatever you like to add character. Ideas: Make a bow tie from felt, use pom-poms or beads for buttons, fabric for a scarf. Use your ghostly imagination!

  5. Set aside to dry overnight. Note: It might take up to 12 hours to dry completely, depending on the thickness of the glue.

  The glue should dry almost clear. Peel the ghosts off the paper and decorate the house or a party table or use as party favors.