Think Spring: Sweet Sorbet Topiary

You may remember this post from a couple of weeks ago when I went crazy making all different colors of paper flowers using the new Spiral Flower Die? I had a huge pile when I was done and decided to make a set of coordinating spring decor items to brighten up my antique sideboard. In my upcoming posts I'll share each of the pieces to my "Think Spring Set" that I created using these pretty paper roses and the Sweet Sorbet DSP. I'll start off with the first piece I created, and perhaps my favorite...the Sweet Sorbet topiary.

I picked a couple of the colors from the Sweet Sorbet DSP plus I also added a few more. The colors of the roses are: 

• Pool Party
• Crisp Cantaloupe
• Blushing Bride
• Strawberry Slush
• So Saffron 

It sure took a lot more roses than I thought it would to create this topiary! Can you guess how many I used? Here's a closer look...

To start, I used a 3" white styrofoam ball which I already had on hand, so I had to paint it green using acrylic paint. (you can skip this step by purchasing a green styrofoam ball ;-) While I had the paint out, I also painted the wooden dowel that would become the stem of my topiary. I used my hot glue gun to attach each paper rose to the foam ball, and worked around the entire thing until all the spaces were filled. When finished, the topiary ball measures approximately 5". So how many roses do you think I needed to make this? I ended up having to make 39 of those puppies to fill it all in. I had a pile of around 20 on my desk when I started and I thought that was going to be plenty! At this point I've had a LOT of practice making these flowers!

For the base of the topiary I used a 3 1/2" clay pot. I painted the edges with acrylic paint as close to Pool Party as I could find. Then I made a template with some light weight copy paper by wrapping it around the pot and pressing it into the creases with my fingers and marking it with my pencil. I then cut out the template and traced around it on my patterned paper. I made it slightly larger than I thought I needed figuring I could always trim it down a bit. I did a dry fitting onto the pot to check the fit, trimmed where necessary and then adhered it to the pot using Mod Podge.

I made a loopy bow from pool Party Seam Binding & White Organza Ribbons to finish off my topiary. I also shredded some Pistachio Pudding card stock to cover up the styrofoam inside the pot that holds up the topiary and added the cute little chickadee I had in my craft stash. (don't remember where I got him?)

Here's a look at my finished topiary in it's natural habitat...on my antique sideboard.

The cheerful Spring colors really brighten up the room...which is just what I wanted while I'm trying to "think Spring" when it still looks like Winter outdoors! Here's a little peek at the rest of the set.

Thanks for visiting today...I hope you will check back soon for all the details about the rest of my Think Spring set featured in my upcoming posts. Have a great weekend!
Product List

• Spiral Flower Bigz Die
• Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Crisp Cantaloupe 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Pistachio Pudding 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Strawberry Slush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• So Saffron 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Pool Party 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon
• Whisper White 5/8 Inch Organza Ribbon