We cant get enough of dried flower cloches at the moment, there is just something about an assortment of dried blooms placed under glass that adds charm and whimsy to any decor. They make the perfect alternative for a party centre piece paired with some beautiful candles or are the ultimate accessory that can added to a coffee table or shelf. The added bonus is that they require absolutely zero maintenance, they just sit there looking all pretty in your home without wilting!
Yes, there are lots of lovely ready-made cloches out there to purchase, however, why not make something unique to you? This DIY really doesn't require a lot of material, which is great for budget! It also takes less than an hour to complete so if you are wanting to make something different for your loved ones this Christmas our Dried Flower Cloche is the perfect gift which will last the test of time.
You don't need a lot of dried flowers so you could easily purchase one of our Dried Flower Bouquets to get a good variety and then have enough left over for a flower arrangement display as well as the cloche. Or you may want to select a few of our dried flower bunches in order to work with the colour scheme you have in mind.
Materials We Used
- A Cloche: If you would like one like ours visit Lights4Fun , however, there is lots of other lovely options available on Esty or even Ikea.
- Clay: We used JOVI air drying modelling clay in white. You can easily pick this up from places like Hobbycraft.
- Scissors
- A selection of Dried Flowers: We used Yellow Craspedia, Violet Statice, Candy Floss Delphinium, Lagurus, Gypsophila, Icing Sugar Delphinium, Rhodanthe
- Wire: We didn't end up using the wire however this may come in handy if you need to strengthen the stems you use.
How to make your own Dried Flower Cloche
Step 1: Prepare the Clay
Take your clay and roll it out to make a thick base to sit on top of your cloche base. If you purchase the same Cloche as us, we would suggest you take the rolled clay and press it down on the wooden base so you get the inner imprint (as per the image below). With your scissors trim off the excess clay around the circle created and place in the centre of the cloche base.
Step 2: Add your flowers
Now that your base is ready, start adding your tallest dried flower pieces, trimming the ends of the stems as needed and press them gently into the clay. We found this part really easy and so enjoyable as you can arrange the flowers whatever way you like, there is no set rules.
To create depth and visual interest continue to add stems of varying heights, colours and textures.
Top Tip: To ensure your stems aren't too tall for the dimensions of the cloche place your tallest stem into the clay when you first start and slide the glass on tops to ensure it fits. You can then use this as a guideline going forward. What you want to avoid is putting your display together and then realising at the end that that glass won't sit properly on top as your stems are too long.
Step 3: Fill in the gaps
Now focus on the areas with gaps and fill them with shorter stems and larger flowers around the bottom of your arrangement to fill the base out more. As you are using clay, it's really easy to move things around which means you can play around with the arrangement until you're happy with it.
We placed shorter stems of statice at the front and also rhodante as their flower heads are a lot bigger, making them the perfect gap filler.
Step 4: Leave the clay to harden
Once you are happy with your floral display leave the clay to harden. When the clay has hardened carefully slide your cloche over your display, tucking in any stray stems as you go and voila you're done!
Now this is the difficult part do you keep your gorgeous little masterpiece for yourself or gift it? We will not judge if you decide to keep it for yourself - we couldn't part with ours.
Cloche Colour Palette
We opted to go with bright, cheery, and colourful blooms (trying to hold on to summer that little bit longer!) as they complimented the colour scheme of the room and shelve that the cloche has been situated. However, you do not need to stick with these colours, below you will find some colour palette inspiration.
Keep it Neutral
A neutral palette will mean you can move the cloche from room to room as it works with all colour schemes. For the perfect neutral palette of botanicals select our Wheat, Lagurus, Icing Sugar Delphiniums and Gysophilia.
Add tall stems of the Wheat and Lagurus to the centre of the arrangement to give you an outline of the overall shape and then cut the Delphiniums and Gysophilia short to create volume in the centre.
Go Autumal
As autumn is just around the corner, we thought it was only right to include this palette. We instantly think warm greens, golden yellows and lots of orangey reds. To create this colour palette we would choose our Orange Helichrysum Bunch, Alchemilla Mollis Bunch, Green Nigella Orientalis Bunch and Natural Linum.
To give your Cloche that extra wow factor you could use decorative moss to cover the base, press this around the clay first before you start to add your stems. The good thing about using the moss is that there will be no gaps to fill around the bottom of the base and it will look fantastic paired with the suggest colours.
The options are endless, when it comes to the colours and styles for this little DIY! We hope you enjoy and if you do decide to have a go make sure to keep us posted by tagging us on social media.
Love the SP team
