Start off by cutting petal shapes out of screen. Keep the shape somewhat simple.
Then cut a piece of copper wire.
And for the wire around the screen.
Make sure the screen is free of any grease or dirt. Then apply a foil tape around it. This is the tape that is used to create stained glass.
Then spot solder the wire form to the screen. This is necessary to give the screen the stiffness it needs. After this is done you can spot solder all of the petals together.
Then I took a heavy piece of wire (like a wire coat hanger) and wrapped the end with the foil tape. This will need soldered to the under side of your flower.
For some added rigidity (and you hide the ugly solder job I did) I created a coil out of the copper wire and soldered that on as well.
Once I was done with all the spot soldering I went over the entire flower again to fill in all the gaps. I then decided to do the optional step of adding leaves.
Using some thick copper foil I had I cut out two leaf shapes. I intentionally added ribs to the top with the though of being able to hang necklaces or bracelets on them.
These were then soldered onto the rest of the flower.
Next came attaching it to a heavy plate. Mine is a homemade ceramic plate but you could use any plate. You just need to make sure it is heavy enough to hold your flower upright. I put a hole in the center and put the "stem" down through. This will just need epoxied into place.
Then everything got painted. Be careful painting the screen as if it is put on to thick the holes will fill up. After the paint dried I glued on a piece of stained glass in the center. You could use a button or something similar as well.
And after that you have a brand new earring holder. A flower is just one idea. The possibilities are really endless on different designs you could do.
-Karen
