Transform Pipe Cleaners Into Lovely Lavender Flowers With An Easy DIY

While fresh lavender can brighten up a space and bring a lovely aroma into your home, its beauty is only fleeting, and it won't be long before you're tossing your wilted blooms in the trash. While you could always dry and style your flowers, the delicate lavender buds tend to crumble easily, which can be messy, and they won't retain their vibrant purple color when dried. If you prefer to have brightly-colored florals that will last forever, you might consider making your own faux lavender flowers. Not only is it a fun and easy DIY project, but all you need to make them are light purple and green pipe cleaners. You can get 200 pipe cleaners in assorted colors on Amazon for less than $6 so it's also an inexpensive DIY.

The beauty of using faux lavender flowers in your floral arrangements is they offer the same lovely aesthetic as real lavender, year-round. There's no having to wait for them to be in season, you don't have to change the water in the vase, and they won't wilt or dry out. Also, if you have any allergy sufferers in your household, you don't have to worry about bringing any pollen indoors. Furthermore, they are safe to have around pets and kids, not to mention more affordable than real flowers, since you won't have to keep buying replacement flowers. Ready to make your own and decorate your home with the flowers?

To make your faux lavender, start by cutting a purple pipe cleaner into 2-inch lengths. This is what you'll use to create the individual buds of the flower. If you're making several lavender flowers, you'll need to cut a bunch of these. Bend each of these pieces in half and then shape them into a slight arch. Now make the leaves by folding a green pipe cleaner in half, twisting the loose ends together a few times, and bending it into an arched shape. You'll need to make two leaves per flower. To make the stem, wrap green floral tape around the top half of a floral stem wire (you could also use a long wood skewer). Then hot glue the small purple "buds" around the taped portion to create the flower. Place the "leaves" just under the flower portion, wrap floral tape around them to attach them to the wire, and continue wrapping the remainder of the wire with tape.

Now you're ready to style your luscious faux lavender flowers! For a classic look, place a handful of stems in a vase and use it as a lovely arrangement for a table centerpiece, mantel, or bookshelf. Mix the lavender with other faux florals for a bountiful bouquet. Want to make your lavender look like a beautiful houseplant? Place floral foam in the bottom of a planter pot, stick the stems into the foam, and cover the foam with moss or pebbles.