Grape Hyacinth Tutorial

Here's a fast spring time tutorial.

It's the grape hyacinth pin.

So simple, but really pretty on a spring cardigan.

Hope you're getting some sunny warm spring where you are.

Materials needed to complete this project:

STAEDTLER fimo effect clay in a variety of purples, white, and a spring time green.

I mixed the colours you see here from left over clay from other projects.

white acrylic craft paint.

Jewelry adhesive or super glue

Brooch back that matches the length of your finished hyacinth.

Cornstarch or baby powder to act as a release agent

Tools used to make this design:

Round toothpick

shish kebab skewer

Medium grit nail file

Here are the clay colours I used to make my hyacinth. I mixed a variety of purple shades gradient from white to medium purple. I also mixed some glitter green with white to make a spring time green.

Use the nail file to sand the ends of the toothpick and skewer round.

Make a tapered worm of the green clay as long as you'd like your brooch to be. Mine was about 4 cm long.

Dip the rounded end of your toothpick into the cornstarch so the clay won't stick to it. Make teeny balls of the lightest purple clay you've mixed and push them onto the rounded end of your toothpick. It will make a little cup shape. Use the toothpick to push the little cups onto the stem starting with the tip of the stem.

When you get eight or nine of the lightest cups onto the tip of the stem you can move on to the next darkest purple shade. Keep building the flower and darken the clay ever five or six cups.

Change to using the skewer because it's larger when you get to the middle of the flower. The larger flower cups will be at the bottom of the flower. They will also be a darker purple.

Bake the flower on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a preheated 230 degree oven for 20 minutes.

I used my finger tips to rub some white acrylic paint onto the tips of each flower cup. You could use a cotton swab if you'd like. Use the super glue to glue your pin back on to the back of the flower and you've got a pretty little spring time sprig to wear on your lapel.