Two Pinterest Craft Fails In a Row

I saw these roses on Pinterest (I've actually seen them on the internet) and the instructions said how easy it is to get a white rose, split the stem into 6 strands and immerse in coloured water.  I kept it in the back of my mind and every time I went to Stop & Shop, I'd check the floral department to see if they had any single white roses.  They didn't for months, till mid-September, when I finally bought one.  I couldn't wait to get home and get started. 

I googled the instructions and was dismayed to find that people were trying it with many levels of failure.   Undeterred, I pressed on.

First, I cut the cups down and mixed the colours.  I noticed right away that this was going to be a huge problem, stem-wise.  Look how far apart the cups are?  After I shot this, I tried putting them into a circle but that didn't look like it would help either.

Next I had to cut the rose stem because it was so long.  I also had to de-leaf it.  Unfortunately the thicker part of the stem is the part that got cut.  I very carefully used my Xacto knife to cut the stem in half and then tried to cut the halves into 6 strands, first with the Xacto knife, and then with my tiny scissors.

That did not work either.  The tinier the strands, the more likely they'd snap or tear off.  There was no way I was gonna get 6 strands out of the stem.  Four, maybe with careful cutting, but no way would I get 6.  Not only that, but 6 tiny strands weren't going to hold up the rose either, once I got them into the cups of water which were far apart.  

So I Plan B'd it.  Dumped out the red, orange and yellow cups, and remixed pink, to use with the green, blue and purple.

OK people I don't have all day to stand here and hold this damn thing upright.....

So I pressed my paper towels into service and left it there on the side of the stove.  Hopefully I won't knock it over or forget and grab the towels...

Here is the rose about 6 or so hours after immersion in the dye water.

And here it is 24 hours later.

Fail.  MAJOR fail.  Doesn't look a damn thing like the first photo posted AT ALL.  I think the only way to truly achieve that full petal rainbow look is to buy a white silk rose and individually paint each petal.

And nearly 48 hours later.  I spread the petal apart to try and find any colour at all.  Some of the green got into the inside, but very little sign of the pink and purple.

That was the extent of the blue.  Needless to say, to post the photo of the vivid rainbow roses with the instructions on using food colour is just a tad disingenuous.  

Anywho, moving on.  I also decided to also try this 'simple' painted leaf print. 

I found a good looking and large leaf, grabbed my paints and a couple piece of card stock and made my first attempt.

Painted the leaf and pressed it onto my cardstock.

Um....just a tad gloppy.  Note to self:  Use less paint.

So I washed off the leaf and tried again, using more of a skim coat of paint, which unfortunately began to dry very quickly.

Not enough paint.  I'm feeling a bit like Goldilocks now....too much, too little....have to find 'just right'.

So I repainted the leaf and tried again.  FAIL.

I could probably master the leaf painting technique with more practice (and more leaves).  I probably shouldn't rule this out as a failure just yet.