Repurposed Jello Mold Flowers Bouquet
Repurposed Vintage Jello Mold Flowers
It’s my favourite time of the month again… time for the Thrifty Chicks challenge.
On the second Wednesday of each month I join some very talented blogging friends for a challenge, and with a different theme each time it’s really a lot of fun.
If you missed any of the past projects/challenges you can find them here.
I’m so excited to see what my blogging friends have come up with for this Something We Love challenge, which means it could be pretty much anything.
How exciting!
You’ll find links to their posts at the end of this post so be sure to visit and check out the fabulousness.
But first I’ll share my project with you.
I’ll be honest and admit that at first I had trouble deciding what to do for this challenge because it wasn’t very specific.
And you know that I love so many things. Probably too many things. lol.
So how on earth was I going to narrow it down and choose one thing?
Then last Friday I had a classic rock night in my craft studio. Usually in the winter I do this every Friday night, but for many reasons I hadn’t had one so far this winter at all.
I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. It’s so much fun to just mess around with all my stashes while rockin’ out.
I love classic rock, and it rarely fails to creatively inspire me.
And when I really thought about what I love, flowers were right at the top of my list.
I love them in our gardens in the spring, summer, and fall. But even more than that, if that’s even possible, I love creating flowers by repurposing things.
For today’s project I’m repurposing some vintage aluminum jello molds and some vintage brass candle snuffers.
You’ll see why I needed a hammer and nail in a sec.
How to Assemble Repurposed Jello Mold Flowers
To create these flowers the first thing you need to do is make a hole in each jello mold with a nail.
Thankfully, aluminum is so easy to hammer into.
It’s important to not make the holes too big. They should be just big enough for the candle snuffer stems to fit through.
Here are the fabulous vintage brass candle snuffers that I’m repurposing.
I don’t think these are used very much for their intended purpose these days because I find them at thrift stores for 25-50 cents each.
The cool thing about these particular candle snuffers is that the heads unscrew from the stems.
This isn’t the first time I’ve repurposed candle snuffers in a project. They worked perfectly in my repurposed spoon flowers.
Once you have your hole in the jello mold it’s time to insert the threaded end of the stem.
Then you just screw on the snuffer part.
I love mixing metals so the au natural brass and aluminum combo really works for me, but these could be painted or decorated any way you like.
I’m not putting anything in the centers of the snuffers because I don’t want to weigh them down. They’re already quite heavy.
Once I had all my repurposed jello mold flowers put together I needed a way to hold the jello molds in place so they didn’t move around.
I tried E6000 glue, Marine GOOP glue, and my hot glue gun and none of them worked. Some of the bottoms of the snuffer parts are very narrow so not much for the glue to hang onto.
How to Attach Jello Molds and Candle Snuffers
So I looked thought my stash of tapes and found this roll of metallic duct tape. This is not the duct tape that we usually use to fix pretty much anything.
This is the silver metallic duct tape that’s used on heating ducts. It’s like a stronger version of aluminum foil, and I love this stuff.
I used it when I created my repurposed baking pan gift box.
I cut small circles out of the metallic duct tape to fit around the snuffer stems.
This duct tape has a wax-paper-like backing on it, which is easily removed.
You just need to be careful so you don’t tear the duct tape while removing the paper.
Then, while holding the stem in place where you want it, you sort of stick down the duct tape as you wind it around.
Make sure to have good contact with both the bottom of the jello mold and the stem.
I did this three times, and here’s what the back looks like when it’s done. These aluminum jello molds are so light that the tape is able to hold them in place.
I think regular duct tape might work too, but I don’t think it would look as nice on the back of the jello mold. The metallic tape almost looks like part of the flower.
TIP: When handling the flowers it’s best to handle the candle snuffer stems and not the jello mold flowers. This is to protect the seal of the metallic duct tape. Over handling could loosen that tape, but if that happens over time it’s easy to just remove the tape and redo it.
Once I had my flowers all done I needed something to put them into.
For this I went to my collection of vintage mason jars and this lovely blue Crown jar was the perfect size, but anything that you have could be used.
Decorating a Mason Jar to hold my Repurposed Flowers
I filled the jar with strands of faux pearl garlands, several different ones. I’m all about just using what I have and not sweating it too much.
I even put a faux pearl necklace in there because my garland didn’t quite fill the jar enough.
Once I added my flowers to the jar I topped it up with clear glass beads to keep the stems in place.
Here you can see the glass beads at the top of the jar, but I didn’t want them to be seen.
So I found a solution for this by using three of my favorite things… lace for pretty, hot pink for color, and some bling for, well, bling.
Because a little bling is always a good thing.
The lace was taped on with clear tape, the hot pink ribbon was hot-glued on the lace, and the faux rhinestone stretch bracelet was simple wrapped around.
And here’s my finished bouquet of repurposed jello mold flowers.
I designed the bouquet so I can display it on a shelf with one view only, or on the dining table where it’ll be seen from all sides.
Here’s another view of the bouquet.
After I placed my flowers in the mason jar I still had some room so I added one more for a total of ten.
Flowers are definitely ‘Something I Love’ and this jello mold flower bouquet was so much fun to create.
I’m thinkin’ there’s going to be more Friday classic rock nights in my immediate future. 🙂
Now be sure to check out what my friends did for our Something We Love challenge.
Just click on the links below to check them out.
Please pin to your favorite board and share with your friends!
Thanks so much for reading, and until next time…
keep on keepin’ on!
XOX
Un-freakin’-believable! That’s so pretty! Almost like daffodils!! Pinned and loved! Dona
Thanks very much Dona! They do kinda look like daffodils. 🙂
Those are so sweet Tuula! Candle snuffers… who woulda thought? lol! I think the Jello molds could be painted bright colors and it would look cute that way too!
Tania
Thanks Tania! I think they would look awesome painted too.
Awesome flowers! Any suggestions on how to put the flowers together if the candle snuffers do not twist off? Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Nancy! I also have a collection of candles snuffers that don’t twist off so I’ll give that some thought. 🙂
These are awesome, Tuula! I love the silver and gold together. They remind me of those bell-shaped flowers-campanula? I’m digging your Friday classic rock night idea; wish we could all do that together! Always love these Thrifty Chicks challenge days; so fun! Happy Vday, friend! (and I hear ya…I love too many things, too;)
Thanks Lora! I love these challenges because they make me stop and think, and it’s always fun to see what the rest of you are doing. A Thrifty Chicks classic rock night would be a blast!
These are soooo awesome! I never noticed the flower in the candle snuffers but now it is so clear! These are super pretty and you could even paint them and use them in the garden! I will be keeping my eye out for more snuffers. I collect them and I do use mine for the intended purpose when I light a lot of candles for holiday dinners. I will be looking for different shapes now.
Thanks for inspiring! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thanks so much Amber! I love the shapes of candle snuffers for repurposing, and they’re so inexpensive at the thrift stores here. I’m so glad to hear that someone is still using them for their original purpose. 🙂
Oh my, how adorable! I love all flowers so this is right up my alley. I will need to look for the candle snuffers and jello molds.
Thanks Debra! I love all flowers too. 🙂
Crafty as always! These are so cute. I will say though I’m surprised you didn’t paint them because I know how you love the bright colors.
Thanks Debra! Oddly enough I also love natural metals, especially aluminum, and I love mixing metals too. And of course hot pink always works for me. 🙂
I love the natural metals too and to clarify, these look great just as they are.
Thank you so much Debra!
Genius, Tuula!! If your blog had a theme, it would be flowers 🙂 You are a talented creator and this project is the bomb–
Thanks so much Diana! Our challenges are so much fun and always get me thinking. I’m looking forward to the next one already. 🙂
These are simply wonderful!!
Thanks very much Mary!
I love this. I have the jello molds so now I just need to find the candle sniffers. I have some square & diamond shape jello molds too. If you figure out what to do with them let me know. ? I tried to plant in them but they are too small.
Thanks Gloria! I hope you find some snuffers soon. Id the diamond and square jello molds are smaller I’ve made Christmas ornaments out of those.
These are so fun, Tuula! The candle snuffers are perfect for the project! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Thanks very much Cecilia!
GREAT idea! Now I need to go search for candle snuffers at all the thrift stores…
Thanks Amy! I hope you find some. 🙂
Thanks for sharing such a cute project
Thanks Divya!
There ya go again, Tuula with your creative and amazing junk flowers! How stink’n cute are these 🙂
Thanks so much Marie! I do love making flowers.
I love this!
Thanks Rebecca!
Wow! I enjoy your creativity. I have tried the steamer flower- it was fun to make.
Thanks so much Karen! I’m so happy that my projects have inspired you. 🙂