My Grandma was an exceptional woman. I have never come across a woman so talented, determined and hardworking. She had 7 children and each one of them got one of her special talents. My mom is one of them. She has worked hard since 16 helping her brother and later my father. The talent she inherited from my grandma is great sewing skills , which BTW I really benefit from. She like my grandma is strong and runs her own business. She is also very supportive of my dad and helps him in which ever way she can.

My mom reminds me of a Tiger Lily, which means strong and hardy, yet feminine. She is very much that!

I wanted to give her a Tiger Lily, but a flower that does not fade, does not tear and was made by me :-)

So that cancels out a real flower, plastic flower and crepe flower. Fabric flower was out for me as it wouldn't look real. I wanted something that looked real and hardy...like my mom..lol.

Some time back i found a Russian video tutorial foam forming but never tried it.

Along came instructables Flower contests with it's amazing drool worthy grand prize and I was hooked. Everything fell in place .Mothers day, me...wrecking my brain for it and something new i have never tried...

yes...along came my tutorial for this foam Tiger Lilly!

Check it out and please let me know what you think :-)

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

Materials you would need is -

White foam 2 mm thickness (I used the normal craft foam, but silk foam is the best.)

Green foam 2 mm thickness

floral wire

floral tape both white and green

oil crayons

super glue

hot glue

White glue

Petal veiner or make your own.

clay ( if you are making your own.)

Iron ( preferable something kept separately for crafts...else you have to clean it up good)

Step 2: Making Your Venier Mould

So I don't have a mould at hand (i'm a newbie just trying out...so yeah), and I don't want to spend loads of dollars on something I'm trying out and I wanted it very very quick...like in 30 minuets or less. Along came pottery clay which was like really cheap. In fact less that $0.50!

Okay next you are going to say ' That doesn't dry fast!' yeah ...I totally agree, but I cheated. If you ask my mom, she'll tell you I'm the Queen of Short Cuts! This is how i did it.

The clay comes ready to use. I just added some glue and let it dry a bit and then made the shape of a large leaf. The reason for the glue is when you heat the clay up fast it might be brittle an crack up. The glue holds the clay up pretty well and does not make it very brittle. I used a sharp tool and made petal like markings.

Once I made the markings I baked the clay for 10 miniutes...checked it to see if it was firm and really heated for a minute. As long as it was firm and top layer was dry, I was satisfied.

I wouldn't say this is an excellent mould making tutorial, but it's quick, cheap and works. That's all i needed :-).

Step 3: Making the Petals.

wrap floral wire with white floral tape. Cut to maybe 6 inches.

Cut 2 white foam squares, approximately 7x8 cm.

add a bead of glue to the wire and glue diagonally to one square. Place other square on top.

Place a paper on top. Make sure it is clean with not prints else the markings will transfer to the foam. Now iron on top and press well. Don't keep too long as it will them melt the foam, but long enough to fuse the foam together. This double layer is needed so you get a good impression.

Check if fused well. Now iron on top with a paper and quickly place on the petal veiner mould. Press well and rub while the foam is still warm. If it's still not properly done to your satisfaction, you can place the heated square on top of the mould,place a paper on top of the foam and iron again.

If there are lines you don't like...you can get rid of it by placing paper on top and quickly ironing on top.

I've provided a Lilly petal template. Size it to how you want. but basically the height of this petal i did is 8.5 cm.

Cut the template. Place on the now embossed foam and cut the petals. Do not throw the off cuts. You will need it in the later steps.

Step 4: Give It Some Color!

You will need oil pastels for this.

Rub the green on to your sponge. now apply some color at the bottom and a bit at the sides of the petal. Dip sponge in water to blend in the color. Add some pink at the back at the bottom edge. If you need more lines...at this point you can add some with the blunt edge of a exacto knife. Now for shaping it. I've added a video in the next step to better explain how it's done.

Step 5: Shape It!

Fold the leaf in two length wise and press and stretch the petal edges. The video really explains it ;-). Now that we have the shape...lets add the tiger aspect to it!

Mix a bit of dark maroon with brown to get the right color. Then with a BBQ stick mark the dots. You can refer online pictures too if you like. I have also uploaded one for you :-) . I'm all about making life easy for you too! lol.

Step 6: Making of the Stamen

Take a 6 inch floral wire wrapped with white tape. Apply the green to the wire with a sponge. Make 6 of them. Keep 1 for the Stigma.

Remember those off cuts I asked to save? well here is where we use the double layered off cuts. Cut approximately 3x2 cm.

Prick a hole in the center of it.

Pass the wire through a bit and add a bit glue. Ideal would be super glue. But at this point i did not have it. I got it only later. Press it flat. Iron on top again and press flat quickly as sometimes the foam tends to separate.

Now cut it to a half moon shape...or rather the shape of a stamen!

Color it directly with the oil pastel.

Step 7: Making the Stigma

Tear a piece of aluminum foil. Slightly larger than 1 inch should do.

Roll it up to form a ball. Pierce it with a BBQ stick .

Dab a bit of hot glue and quickly insert the saved floral wire.

Wrap the foil ball with a single layer of foam. Before we go any further...please read my disclaimer below.

Please use caution - I am not responsible if you burn your fingers. You try this at your own risk. Thank you!

Now hold the foam firmly and roll it between your fingers...slowly place it at the edge of the iron so that only the bottom bit gets the heat. Roll it between your fingers. Cut off excess and repeat the heat and roll between fingers step till the foam is well fused and blended with the wire.

Use a blunt tool and mark the 3 parts of the stamen. Check if it looks authentic enough. I was pretty happy with how mine turned out!. Now color it with some oil or acrylic paint.

Your Stamen is ready!

Step 8: Leaves!

For leaves I took a 10 cm green foam. Unfortunately i didn't have the green i wanted...so I kind of colored it the way i wanted.

I randomly drew a leaf shape and cut it a bit wider than needed as it will shrink a bit when given heat.

Draw some lines with the BBQ stick on the leaves. Place leaves between paper and quickly iron on top. Not too much heat as it will then really curl up.

Wrap some floral wire in green. glue it to the the leaf with super glue. Now wrap again with green floral tape joining the bottom edge of the leaf.

Make 3 leaves.

Step 9: Assembling the Center

Now take your Stigma and Stamen. Dab a bit of glue 6 cm from the top. Wrap with floral tape.

Step 10: Assembling the Flower

Dab a bit of glue at the end of the petal. place where you placed the glue dab in the center of the flower. Do the same for the next 3 petals forming the first layer of petals. Now place the next 3 petals in between. Wrap with green floral tape. Now place the 3 green leaves.

Wrap all the wires with floral tape till the end. I did not cut the end off as I wanted it long.

Why do i want it long?? So my mom can prick it in her bun! It would look stunning :-D

Step 11: Admire!

So I sent this pic to a few friends to test and see if it looked realistic...and the feedback was great from them! two of my craft friends are waiting for this tutorial!

I hope you can make use if this tutorial and make other flowers with it. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Please post pictures...and please vote for me??? I would really appreciate it. Sending you hugs in advance :-)