Hot Town...Summer in the City...

So it's freakin' hot in Philly.  And it has been.  I think we're on our 9th heat wave of the Summer and I feel like it may be more worthwhile to count instead how many days we haven't been in a heat wave.  I do not feel much like gardening--and instead, I've simply been harvesting veggies (which maybe connected to the heat has been a very small yield this year) I've grown, cooking with the fresh veggies and weeding out what seem to be more weeds than blooms. 

I have had to put off several projects for weeks including making Hypertufa troughs, painting a closet and my desk.  It just stinks to be outside--it's oppressive, endless and to add insult to injury, it's nearly impossible to not get a sunburn.  So I have been mostly staying inside, looking for other ways to occupy my time in the air conditioning. 

One day I was walking from my office to my gym and came upon a flower shop that had a super Summer (the good kind of Summer--exactly the opposite of what we have now) display of flowers made out of neckties.  I figured I could make them so I kind of window stalked them for awhile.  On yet another night in tonight, I made them.  I haven't decided where they're going to fit in my decor yet but they'd look darned charming on a deep windowsill (that I don't have):

Here's the end product: 

At the flower shop, they had a few different sizes in a vase. 

What you'll need:

• A styrofoam circle as large as you'd like your flower to be
• A wooden stick 
• A glue gun (I used a cheapo $2.99 one that worked fine)
• About 20 glue sticks
• Enough neckties to cover your styrofoam circle
• An iron, ironing board 
• Spray starch

1. Spray starch and iron the neckties.  Place them flat or draped over a hanger to keep them all visible and neat while you're making this.
2. Take a pair of scissors and pre-dig the hole in the styrofoam circle.  I suggest waiting until the end to cut your wood to the right length since it will depend on how large your flower ends up being.
3. Heat your glue gun and have plenty of glue on hand.  I estimate 20 for this which may be overkill but it seriously felt like I used a ton.  I recommend placing a piece of cardboard underneath it as it can drip.
4. Take your first tie and figure out how long of a "petal" you want.  I suggest keeping the tie petal not much longer than the point of the tie because the more it hangs over, the more likely it is for the petal to sag.
5. Measure enough of the tie to wrap around the piece of styrofoam to cover it.  I went around one full time and double-lined the inside to create a more rounded flower. 
6. Glue the interior around the tie.  
7. Repeat with all the ties, taking care to slightly overlap. 
8. When you get to where the hole is, cut an X in the tie where it is to overlap. 
9. Once you finish overlapping all the ties, be sure that no styrofoam is exposed.  You can always go back and glue gun the edges but I recommend not doing that until the end because if for some reason you have a big gap, you can glue in some of the leftover ties.  
10. At the very end, glue in the wooden stick.  I didn't paint mine but I imagine it would look cute green.  

The petals can be different lengths--there is no need to measure.  Also, feel free to flip them so the inside shows.  If you do that, I recommend a seam ripper to remove the label. 

I picked up my ties at a rummage sale for 25 cents each.  I recommend looking in thrift stores--the prints and fabrics don't much matter.  The end product isn't the lightest fake flower ever so be prepared to stick it in a bunch of rocks or florist foam, covering it with rocks, moss, etc.  Mine is propped against the wall or otherwise it wouldn't stay.  Don't discard the ends of the ties--you could make a smaller flower with those!