Forever Love

The best part about stone, cement, and concrete is that they have a very long life span. The sidewalk outside of my front door has stayed intact after years of block parties, neighborhood kids running around, and treacherous New York City rainstorms that feel like floods. In this project, I aimed to manifest the same essence of permanence in things that often lack this trait, like flowers!

Whenever my dad buys my mom flowers, seeing them wilt away day by day is heart breaking. To fix this issue, and to gift my parents a symbol of my love that they can cherish forever, I decided to create these forever flowers that now have a permanent spot in my childhood home!

1. A bouquet of flowers.
2. Cement. I ordered a pre-mixed one on amazon.
3. A vase to put the flowers into.
4. Plastic Utensils.
5. Napkins/tissues.

Set up your materials and pick out which flowers you'd like to use. You can do this anywhere, but I advise that you do it outside rather than inside. It's best to do this with a tarp placed below so that the cement doesn't get on the ground/floor.

Apply thin layers of cement on the petals and leaves, so that it takes less time to dry. Although it might be tempting to build up the layers, the flowers will be dragged down by the weight of the cement. Thus, it's better to apply thin layers to maintain the structure of the flower.

I used plastic utensils from Chipotle, doing only about two layers, to get the job done. Just apply thin, even coats on the flowers and have fun! It's best to do this with a buddy as a bonding activity, but doing it alone would prove to be a fun, therapeutic activity.

Hang up the flowers so that they can dry. You can use a rubber band, hair tie, or even the tree itself! I just tied a thin branch of the tree around the undone bottom of the flowers.

The cement dries pretty quickly. I only left mine hanging there for about 2-3 hours, just to make sure it was fully dry. Thinner layers will dry faster.

Come back later in the day to collect the flowers and place them into a vase or pot of your choosing! They make amazing decorations for around the house, but can also be placed outside in a park or garden.

I know some people would prefer to wear gloves, so you can if you want. However, the concrete is really easy to wash off after one or two passes, and many people have sensory issues. I feel like I would find this project more challenging if I were to do it with gloves because of how unfamiliar I feel with them.

Overall, this was a really fun project! I did this with one of the closest people in my life, but it can also be done with family, friends, and even as a date!

Happy crafting!