How to Make a Hummingbird Gardenia Chanhua Ornament - Handcraft Chanhua Tutorial

How to Make a Hummingbird Gardenia Chanhua Ornament - Handcraft Chanhua Tutorial

6.6.1 Making the Gardenia
The gardenia is the main part of this Chanhua piece, including one large gardenia and one small gardenia. Since the required components overlap, this section will introduce the assembly method of the gardenia through the production of each component.

A. Materials and Tools
  • - White cardstock
  • - Carbon pen
  • - Scissors
  • - Chopsticks
  • - Light yellow and gold silk threads
  • - No. 30 silk flower wire
  • - White glue
  • - Edge sealing liquid
  • - Alcohol glue
  • - Cotton strips
  • - Yellow watercolor pen
  • - Silver paint pen
  • - Urea beads with a diameter of 1.75mm


B. Making Petal No. 1

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1. Draw the pattern of Petal No. 1 on white cardstock with a carbon pen, cut it out with scissors, and curl the edges of Petal No. 1 with chopsticks.

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2. Split the light yellow silk threads and then combine them into one strand. Take a piece of wire and wrap it from left to right with your left hand, then cover the previously wrapped silk thread from right to left.

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3. Add the white cardstock and continue wrapping from right to left. Since the white cardstock is curved, pay attention to pulling the silk thread tight while wrapping.

4. After wrapping, apply an appropriate amount of white glue to the end and wrap it a few times with silk thread to cover the traces of the white glue.

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5. Apply edge sealing liquid to both sides of Petal No. 1. Once the edge sealing liquid dries, adjust the shape of the petal with chopsticks.

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6. Make a total of five Petal No. 1 and bundle them together.

C. Making Petal No. 2

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1. Draw and wrap Petal No. 2. Since Petal No. 2 is larger, use two strands of silk thread (four threads in total) for wrapping. After finishing, shape it with edge sealing liquid and bend the petal.

2. Make five Petal No. 2.

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3. Combine the five Petal No. 2 in a spiral pattern with the Petal No. 1 to complete the gardenia.

D. Making Petal No. 3

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1. Draw the pattern of Petal No. 3 on white cardstock and cut along the lines to get four petal pieces. Bend the edges of the two outer petal pieces.

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2. Take the two inner petal pieces and wrap them with two strands of silk thread.

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3. After wrapping, fold the two inner petal pieces together, bend them into an arc with chopsticks or a cylindrical object like a carbon pen, and align the middle seam.

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4. Attach one outer petal piece to the wire, placing the slightly pointed end near the base of the petal.

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5. Continue wrapping with the same color silk thread. If wrapping becomes difficult, flip it so the side of the white cardstock facing the wire is up.

6. After wrapping, fold the outer petal piece towards the inner petal piece so the inner edge of the outer petal piece sticks tightly to the inner petal piece.

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7. Add another petal piece, starting to wrap from the thicker end.

8. Curl Petal No. 3 with a carbon pen or chopsticks so that it forms an "S" shape when viewed from the side.

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9. Repeat step 8 to make another curved Petal No. 3. Overlap the two petals slightly offset and fix them with alcohol glue at the base.

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10. Repeat steps 1-8 to make ten Petal No. 3, then pair them to form five sets of Petal No. 3 and fix them around the outer edge of the gardenia.

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11. Apply white glue to the base of the gardenia, wrap it with cotton strips to cover the glue marks.

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12. Color the cotton strips with a yellow watercolor pen to harmonize the color with the flower, completing the large gardenia.

E. Making the Large Receptacle

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1. Draw the shape of the large receptacle on white cardstock. Note that one end of the receptacle is thin and pointed while the other is thick and pointed. The receptacle consists of six leaves (12 pieces of cardstock) wrapped and combined with gold silk thread.

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2. Fix the receptacle at the base of the gardenia with alcohol glue.

3. Bend the outer pointed ends of the receptacle leaves with chopsticks to form a curve.

F. Making the Small Gardenia

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1. Following the previous steps, make five Petal No. 1 and five Petal No. 2, then combine them into a small flower.

2. Following the steps for making the large receptacle, make a small receptacle.

3. Fix the small receptacle at the base of the small flower with alcohol glue and bend the tips of the receptacle outwards.

G. Making Small Leaves

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1. Draw the pattern of the leaves on white cardstock and cut along the lines to get two pieces of cardstock.

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2. Take three wires and two strands of gold silk thread, start wrapping after adding the white cardstock.

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3. Add another piece of white cardstock, connecting the ends of the already wrapped piece. After wrapping both pieces, fold them together and fix both ends of the wire together.

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4. Draw leaf veins on the leaves with a silver paint pen.

5. Slightly bend the leaves, making sure the middle seams fit tightly together.

H. Making Large Leaves

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1. Following the steps for making small leaves, draw the pattern of large leaves.

2. Take four wires, wrap one end of the wires together, leaving one wire unwrapped at the other end.

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3. Add white cardstock and continue wrapping. After wrapping one piece, apply white glue to fix it.

4. Thread a 1.75mm diameter urea bead onto the pre-left wire, ensuring the length of the wire with the bead matches the outer edge length of the leaf. After wrapping, press the wire against the outer edge of the leaf and merge it with the other three wires at the leaf tip, fixing them with silk thread.

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5. Leave one wire unwrapped, add another piece of white cardstock to the other three wires and continue wrapping with silk thread.

6. After wrapping the second piece, thread another urea bead onto the pre-left wire and fix it.

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7. Draw leaf veins on the leaves with a silver paint pen and fold the leaves to align the middle seams.

8. Following the previous steps, make three small leaves and two large leaves.

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9. Fix one large leaf and two small leaves to the stem of the large gardenia, and fix one large leaf and one small leaf to the stem of the small gardenia.

 

6.6.2 Making the Hummingbird
The hummingbird is a nectar-feeding bird with a long beak used for extracting nectar. Adding a hummingbird to a flower-themed Chanhua makes it look more lively and realistic, enhancing the artistic appeal. This section introduces the method for making the hummingbird.

A. Materials and Tools

  • - White cardstock
  • - Carbon pen
  • - Scissors
  • - No. 30 silk flower wire
  • - Blue and gold silk threads
  • - Alcohol glue
  • - White glue


B. Making the Wings

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1. Draw the pattern of seven feathers on white cardstock with a carbon pen. Each feather consists of two pieces of cardstock, cut out 14 pieces with scissors.

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2. Hold the wire in your left hand, start wrapping with blue silk thread, add the cardstock pieces one by one and continue wrapping. After wrapping two pieces, fold the wire ends together and fix with silk thread.

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3. Complete wrapping all seven feathers on the same wire.

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4. Use alcohol glue to layer and stick the feathers together, forming one side of the hummingbird’s wing.

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5. Draw the pattern of four short and rounded feathers on white cardstock, cut them out, and wrap with gold silk thread.

6. Fix the gold feathers at the base of the wing. Follow the above steps to complete the other wing.

C. Making the Eyes

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1. Draw the pattern of two hummingbird eyes on white cardstock, cut them out with scissors, and wrap them with two pieces of wire and silk thread.

2. Take a 10cm long wire, bend one end a few times.

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3. Fix the bent wire to the wrapped eyes, making sure the wire loop part is just inside the eye.

 

D. Making the Back and Belly

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1. Draw the pattern of two Back No. 1 on white cardstock, cut them out with scissors.

2. Wrap two pieces of Back No. 1 with wire and silk thread, then fold them together.

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3. Draw the pattern of two Back No. 2 on white cardstock, cut them out, ensuring the outer edge of Back No. 2 is straight.

4. Wrap two pieces of Back No. 2 with wire and silk thread, then fold them together.

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5. Combine Back No. 1 and Back No. 2, keeping Back No. 1 outside and Back No. 2 inside, leaving wire ends on both sides for later assembly with other parts.

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6. Follow steps 1-2 to wrap Belly No. 1 with the same pattern as Back No. 1, but adjust the cardstock shape according to the instructions after wrapping.

 

E. Making the Side Body

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1. Wrap the side body and fold the two pieces together, ensuring the middle seam fits tightly, and fix at the base.

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2. Insert the wire of the previously made hummingbird wings into the middle seam of the side body, adjust the position, and fix firmly.

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3. Following the above steps, make two symmetrical side bodies.

 

F. Assembling the Finished Parts

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1. Take the previously made hummingbird belly, holding the tail end with your left hand, with the base facing your right hand.

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2. Assemble the hummingbird wings and back sequentially onto the belly, starting with the base and then fixing the tail end. Avoid striving for symmetry while adjusting the position; find the appropriate place and carefully compare before fixing.

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3. Fix the hummingbird eyes onto the head, with the wire facing out. Wrap about 4cm of the gold silk thread to form the long beak.

4. Cut off the excess wire and fix the silk thread to the back of the beak with white glue.

G. Making the Tail and Final Assembly

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1. Draw the pattern of three tail feathers on white cardstock, cut them out with scissors.

2. Wrap a piece of wire and two colors of silk thread.

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3. Insert the bird tail from the top to the bottom into the middle seam at the back end and fix firmly, then slightly press down the tail.

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4. Fix the hummingbird onto the gardenia and adjust the overall shape as needed.

Finished Product Display

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