Immortelles/French Beaded Flowers

My very first word as a child was "flower". I love flowers, but as someone who is ecologically minded I feel concerned about the amount of pesticides used in commercial flower production as well as possible degradation of land. There is also the fact that cut flowers only last a few days - why not have flowers that can last forever?

Upon discovering the French/New Orleans tradition of immortelles/couronnes mortuaires - beaded flowers for funerals and grave decoration -  I became fascinated with creating everlasting flowers out of beads, earrings, old plastic flower parts, and whatever translates into a petal or leaf for me. I hope you enjoy these "everlastings".