Ball-Point Pen Flower Arrangement

I see these little pen flower arrangements at the doctor's office, the dentist's office, the chiropractors office, everywhere really, and I've always admired them. They are such a great idea because you have function and beauty all rolled into one.

I decided that I needed one of these for myself darn it. I am so, so, so tired of never having a pen when I need one in the kitchen. I have gone to great lengths to keep pens in the kitchen, nagging at my family to not take the pens from the kitchen. I even labeled the pens with my label maker so that everyone would know which pens belonged in the kitchen.

Can you believe that didn't even work? I think that my family can no longer see the labels for the trees in this house. I find my kitchen pens throughout the house, usually with little handwritten notes from Thing 2. "Mama, pleez giv me sum mor munee. I need mor munee." What?!!! What the heck does a five-year old need money for? Do I not give her everything she needs?

Well, from now on my pens are going to stay in the kitchen. They can ignore the label, but they cannot ignore the sunflower.

So take a look at how easy these things are to make.

First you need a container or a flower pot, some dried beans (I used pinto beans), ball point pens, floral tape, fake flowers (get the bouquets with five flowers per stem), scissors, and maybe some pliers or wire cutters.

First cut the flower according to how tall you want it to stand above the pen. Next, hold the stem against the pen and tightly wrap the floral tape around the stem and the pen, stretching the tape as you wrap it. The tape is stretchy and it grips as you stretch it. Don't worry if the tape breaks, just squeeze it onto the pen and continue on with a new piece. The tape overlaps and seams together very nicely.

Cover the stem completely and most of the pen, down to about a half inch above the ball point tip. You can go back and cover any spots you missed. The idea is to make the pen look like the flower stem.

The pen is now covered and you can throw the cap away.

Pour some beans into your container and stab some pen flowers in.

Ta Da!