DIY Seed Packets for Hollyhocks

Check out my gorgeous hollyhocks!  This photo was taken in late May.  Pollinators may love them even more than I do!

I love participating in the monthly Sustainable Craft Challenge!  This month's theme is "Christmas".  Gardening may seem like an odd topic for the Yuletide season, but you will understand soon!

Julie @ Sum of Their Stories - Christmas Ornaments from an Old Sari

Terri @ Our Good Life - Recycled Crystal Tabletop Christmas Tree

Gail @ Purple Hues and Me - Upcycled Plastic Bottle Christmas Ornaments

Allyson @ Southern Sunflowers - DIY Rock Painting Ideas for Christmas

Christine @ Christine's Crafts - Creative Paper Baubles

T'Onna @ Sew Crafty Crochet - Winter Star Ornament

DIY Seed Packets for Hollyhocks

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies.  A sweet neighbor frequently calls me "Plant Lady" which I love!  After a dear friend gifted many varieties of seeds this Spring, it occurred to me that I should get better about collecting seeds each Autumn.

  Aren't these hollyhock colors spectacular?  Each plant generated so many seeds; while harvesting them, I got the crazy idea to include some inside each of my Christmas cards.  Everyone loves flowers!  What's more sustainable than growing gifts?

Seeds on their own really aren't very pretty.  Packaging is important!  So, here we are!  

(Supplies were all from my stash except the digital cut file.)

Digital Cut File for an Envelope

68 lb Paper

Various Watercolors

Paintbrushes

Black Micron Pen

Glue 

Hollyhock Seeds

This digital cut file cost 99 cents but was definitely worth it!  My cutting machine did all the heavy lifting on the individual envelopes.

The paper is from a drawing pad gifted to me last Christmas.  It is 68 lbs and has a nice texture.  It happens to be 9 inches by 12 inches.  The digital file was sized so it could get four envelopes per sheet of paper with minimal waste.  'Another way to be sustainable.

A straight edge helped me get nice clean folds.  This was important for me to see the boundaries before beginning my design.

Now for the fun part!  Adding flowers!  Hollyhocks are tall, stately columns with blossoms open toward the bottom but still closed at the top.

I painted three lines of blobs and circles that get smaller as they rise.  The chosen watercolors here are Red, Madder Red and Dark Madder Red.

A soft pink fills in the empty places between the darker reds.

One tiny drop of bright yellow was added for pollen centers.

Olive green and dark brown watercolors become the suggestion for leaves.  Brown dots were also added to the centers of blossoms.

Hand lettering labels were placed on tabs for the back finishing my design.

Ready to fill with seeds and hop inside Christmas cards!  

Hopefully, everyone's garden will look something like this!

While working on these DIY Seed Packets for Hollyhocks, I realized not everyone on my Christmas Card list has enough garden space for hollyhocks.  Zinnias are much more compact, and those seeds have been collected, too.  I've begun another project.  DIY Seed Packets for Zinnias!

Taking a completely different direction with the design, so come back and see me for all the details!