DianaHM Silver Answer Medal for All Time! 440 Answers
April 20, 2021
Why spend money on buying a bud vase when you can make it yourself? From a glass funnel and copper transformer wire, you will get a very original bud vase.
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Total Time: 2 Hours
Supplies:
1 glass funnel with a diameter 90 mm at the top
1 cork plug
wire 0.8 mm and 1.5 mm, I used copper transformer wire
wire cutters
pliers
knife
ruler
thread
awl
hot glue
pen
sandpaper
compass or circle stencil equal to the diameter of the narrow tube of the funnel
1 pot with water, where you can boil water
1 spoon
Steps:
You will start by weaving the base of the bud vase. First you have to make "static" pieces of the work like in a round basket, they are referred to as "spokes".
Cut 6 pieces of 1.5 mm wire 10 cm long (about 3.9 inch).
Put 3 wires on top of the other 3 wires to form a cross and tie them in the middle with thread.
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Bend the wires so that their ends are at the same distance from each other.
Fold a long piece of 0.8 mm wire in half around one spoke - you will get two weavers. Using pliers fix the center of the base and weave with two weavers/wires around the spokes: bring the weaver from the back up and over the next spoke, and the top weaver down behind. Do the same again around the next spoke. Pull on the weavers firmly with every move. At the end of each round, swap the weaves.
Weave a circle with a diameter of 4 - 4.5 cm. Cut the edges of the weavers (wires) and stick it into the weaved part.
Using pliers bend the ends of the spokes.
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Bend the base to make it a little spherical.
Check that all folded edges are in the same plane - in contact with a table.
You have to make "static" pieces of the work - "stakes". Cut 4 pieces of 1.5 mm wire 23 cm long and fold in half.
Fix the stakes on four opposite sides of the base: using an awl, enlarge the holes between the wires and thread the stakes around wires like on photos.
Check that the narrow part of the funnel will fit between these stakes.
Fold a long piece of 0.8 mm wire in half and fix like stakes - around wire.
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Weave like in photo, periodically checking that the narrow part of the funnel can fit inside the weaved foot. I made it with diameter of 10 mm. Do not swap the weaves at the end of each round.
You have to weave the foot with a height equal to the length of the narrow part of the funnel.
Cut the edges of the wires and stick it into the weaved part.
Using pliers, bend the ends of the stakes.
Cut and remove the thread in the center of the base.
Insert glass funnel and check if everything is OK.
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Now you need to make the funnel plugs. Cut a piece from the cork 4-5 mm thick.
Measure the diameter inside the narrow part of the funnel and draw two circles of the corresponding diameter on the piece of cork.
Cut out the circles a little larger. It will be the plugs for the calix - the narrow part of the funnel.
Sand the sides of the plugs.
Dip the plugs in boiling water and wait a few minutes.
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Use a spoon to remove the plugs. Carefully insert the plugs on both sides of the narrow part of the funnel like in photo. Use a pen refill to push the plug inside the narrow part of the funnel.
Let the plugs dry well.
In the process of weaving, the coating at the 0.8 mm wire began to move away because the transformer from which I used the wire was very damaged. So at the end of weaving, I washed it using a brush and removed the coating. Then I left it to dry well.
I advise you to varnish the weaved part of the foot.
Now you need to fix the narrow part of the glass funnel inside the weaved foot. Fill the cavity up to the plug with hot glue, then add hot glue on the end of the narrow part of the funnel and gently insert it into the weaved foot.
Check that the glass funnel is fixed perpendicularly and firmly.
Your bud vase is ready. Pour in water and place flowers in water.
Why spend money on buying a bud vase when you can make it yourself? From a glass funnel and copper transformer wire, you will get a very original bud vase.
