Make Your Own Cards with Hammered Flowers

I realized today that the only flower left in my garden that has not been eaten by deer and has survived the heat this summer is a big cluster of black-eyed-susans. That is truly a sign that fall is around the corner.

But to keep those flowers in memory, I thought of incorporating them in a kidfriendly craft project. So we made a card for my daughter's friend.

All you need for this simple craft is some time outside to gather your plants (we picked ferns, the lonely black-eyed-susans and some phlox from a friend's house), a hammer, watercolor paper, card stock, parchment paper, a glue stick, a toothpick and some old catalogs or a telephone book.

First, we cut the cardstock and watercolor paper to size (a regular card base is 8.5x5.5 folded in half, watercolor paper to your liking). Then we built our hammer-base with the catalogs, this will bring the noise down somewha and definitely prevent major damage to furniture! 

Next, we laid down our watercolor paper and arranged the flowers. We decided to pull the petals from the susans, to create a sun-like flower. Make sure to cut off stems or thicker parts of the plants you want to use. Then cover the design with parchment paper.

Now let the hammering begin! Use small movements and hammer along, making sure to cover each part of the design. When finished, remove the parchment paper. If any flowers are stuck to the watercolor paper, use a toothpick to carefully peel them off. Then behold a wonderful, earthy design!

To showcase, adhere the watercolor paper to the card stock. If you have a dark card base, make sure to use light paper on the inside so the message is visible. We used another sheet of watercolor paper and hammered a small flower for additional design. 

Have fun! This craft is beautiful and so easy to make.