Supplies:
- Sola wood flowers
- Acrylic paint
- Water
- Old container to mix water and paint together and another old container to let flowers dry in.
- Canvas. I purchased mine from Dollar Tree.
- Hot glue gun and glue
- Fake greenery
- Paint brush or plastic fork to help mix the paint and water mixture together. Paint brush can also be used to add any extra color to areas that might have gotten missed.
- Optional: vegetable glycerin to make the flowers softer and less brittle.
I found this ostrich canvas art work at Dollar Tree. I just thought it was fun. So, I bought it and decided to add some sola wood flowers to it. You could also make felt flowers or flowers from card stock and use them to add a little extra diminution to this or other canvases.
I started out by trying a few flowers to see which ones looked the best together. I also added a little greenery for a little extra texture I decided to go with one flower I already dyed awhile back. I wanted to see how it would look with gold paint. I then decided to dye two smaller flowers a light pink color. Lastly, I decided to add two pieces of greenery I had.
This pink flower was to big. 
To dye these sola wood flowers, I just used some acrylic paint and water. You could also add a little vegetable glycerin if you want. The vegetable glycerin helps soften the flowers and makes them less brittle. Since I was only gluing a few flowers onto a canvas, which would not be touched much, I decided not to use the vegetable glycerin this time. If you would like to learn more about using vegetable glycerin, and the ratio to use, then check out this post. There is even a video at the end. I have made a short video to show how I dyed these flowers to help you see a good consistency of water to paint. I typically do not measure, and just guess how much I will need. You can keep adding water or paint till you are happy with the coverage it is giving. I dip the entire flower into my paint and water mixture, and with a paint brush paint any areas that might have gotten missed, or need a little extra. I also fluff out the flower at this time, fix any petals that are smashed together or not laying right. Typically, I will find a few areas that need a little extra coloring after I have fluffed my flower. The paint cannot get in-between petals when they are pressed up against each other.
I always put a lid on my paint and water mixture and save it. Sometimes after the flowers have dried you will notice an area that was missed, or some of the color of the egg certain I was drying the flowers in might have colored the flower a little (this has only happened a few times for me). I then use the paint and water mixture I saved to touch up any areas that might need it. This paint and water mixture will stay good for a few days. Eventually it will start to smell, and that is when you know it is time to dump it and make a new batch. If you do reuse your mixture the next day or a few days later, make sure you mix it well before using it.
I then let my flowers dry overnight in an empty egg carton. I checked them the next day to make sure they were dry and to see if any areas needed some touch ups. No touch ups were needed, so it was time to add them to my canvas. I used a hot glue gun to attach my flowers and greenery to my canvas. I started out by gluing the larger piece of greenery down, since it was the bottom most layer. I then glued down my larger gold flower, followed by the two smaller pink flowers. Lastly, I added the small piece of greenery in-between my flowers to help break them up some. I just applied a generous portion of hot glue to the back of each of my pieces and pushed them down onto my canvas. For the smaller piece of greenery, I applied some hot glue to each of the leaves and carefully pressed them directly onto the pink flowers. The hot glue will not hurt these flowers.
I thought about adding more pieces to this canvas, especially around the neck of the ostrich, but decided to keep it simple. What do you think of this piece? I know it will not be for everyone. There is just something about it that makes me smile. I am not even a big fan of ostriches, but I like this one. It is just something a little different. Now to decide where to hang this piece. I have seen other animal canvas art at Dollar Tree if you are interested in doing something similar to this piece, but maybe with a different animal. These pieces are nice, because they already have flowerers and greenery on them. So, you can use what is here as a guide on how much or little to add on top to give it a more 3 dimensional aspect. I would love to see what animal you pick and how you add your only little details to it.
Before 
After 
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