Larger Than Life Dandelion

Learn how to make this fun Dandelion prop. It would make a good prop for a fairy party, a photo station prop or even an awesome room decoration.

It might look intimating but it's not hard at all. Let's take a look and see how it's done! =)

You will need:

• A spool of white tulle
• 3 packs of 20 11.75" lollipop sticks
• 3-4" styrofoam ball
• Brown paint
• Green Duct tape
• Broom handle
• Green construction paper (poster board sized)
• Hot glue & Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• 4 Skewers
• News paper or brown bag

To make this dandelion I used around 50 sticks with the puffs at the end.

You can make it fuller if you desire but I used the entire spool of tulle doing this, So if you're going for fuller, you'll have to get another spool.

Measure out and cut 50 - 9" strips of tulle,

Tie a knot in the middle (best you can) and trim to be close to 4" if you didn't quite center the knot.

You will end up with a bow tie shape for each piece of " dandelion fluff".

It's a good idea to go ahead and paint your styrofoam ball with a brown acrylic paint. It can be drying while you're doing these next steps.

Take a lollipop stick and add a dab of hot glue on the end. Quickly and carefully press the end of the stick onto the bow tie fluff you made earlier. I used the table to just jab hold the Fluff down while the glue set.

Repeat 49 or more times.

In hindsight it was probably best to start with having the skewers in place. This will give you something to hold on to while you place the seed sticks and it is easier to place them before it's covered in seed sticks.

So as far as the pics, just pretend you're starting with a brown styrofoam ball.

Push 4 holes into the styrofoam with the end of one of the skewers (Flat end), One by one, add hot glue to the flat end of skewer and push it into one of the pre-made holes. Keep the positioning of the skewers in somewhat of a square shape.

This next step is optional but I did it for added stability. You can shove 5-8 extra lollipop sticks inside the skewers before you start securing the receptacle portion. Add a loop of duct tape around the bundle to hold everything in place for now. Wrap some newspaper around the bundle and duct tape that on to give the receptacle some bulkiness. Finish by surrounding it all in duct tape (Do not tape it so tight that the center of the skewers/sticks are tight).

To make sepals, you can cut out green leaves about 6" long and duct tape those around the base of the styrofoam ball.

Use the same technique to place the sticks. Pre-punch a hole in the ball, add hot glue and then hold the stick in place until the glue sets.

As you place sticks, keep the scattered and not bunched up. If you see a place that looks a little bare, add a stick. There is no pattern to follow really just keep the sticks distributed as evenly as you can.

As you go, you'll see it start to take shape.

The stem is pretty much a broomstick handle covered in green duct tape. I placed the tape on in a spiral pattern as I turned the handle and adhere duct tape at the same time.

Once your handle is covered it's time to slide the skewer bundle over the end of the stem. It should be a snug fit but you may have to have someone hold the flower ball as you wrap the skewer bundle and the stem top together.

The final touch is the leaf. Cut out a long leaf out of green poster board. Add some jaggedness to the edges like a real dandelion leaf. Tape the end of the leaf securely against the stem with green duct tape.

All finished.

I would not recommend letting your dandelion get wet but it will be a fun temporary outdoor decoration or awesome indoor decoration.