Sunday, November 29, 2009

Five Fast and Fun Flowers

Flowers make me happy...very HAPPY! I can't get enough of them, however I usually find myself making my own as opposed to using up *heaven knows how many* I have bought! Well, today I have a tutorial for the 'I want to make my own flower' person like me! These flowers are all very fast and very easy, which is why I love them!


I have many Pink Paislee flowers and whereas I do love the style, sometimes the colors just aren't right! And wouldn't ya know those flowers are so easy to make it's just crazy - it should be illegal!


Supplies Needed:
1. Fabric (you could even use ribbon)
2. Scissors
3. Needle & Thread
4. Ruler
5. Button

First we start off by cutting a piece of fabric into a ¾ inch wide and 12 inches long strip. Divide this strip into 4 separate 3 inch pieces. Then cut another strip ½ inch wide by 10 inches long. Divide that strip into 4 separate 2½ inch pieces. Then layer the pieces on top of one another, the smaller on top of the larger. Simply tack together with your needle and thread and add a button! It’s as easy as that!!

And here is my finished flower:
You know what I just love?! I love me some tulle and lace!! I have come up with a really easy way of creating what I like to call a Flower Additive :-) Just a little something pretty to add to any flower...or heck you could even use it as a flower!

Supplies Needed:
1. Tulle
2. eyelet
3. eyelet setter
4. Scissors

First we start off by cutting our tulle into 4 squares. In this example I used 2 ½ x 2 ½ (using my flower as a guideline). I then fanned out the tulle squares so they resembled somewhat of a circle shape. From there all I did was find the center, punch a little hole with my crop-a-dile, and set my eyelet! The reasoning for doing this is to give the tulle stability while giving you the perfect place to put a brad through! After we have the eyelet set I then just take a pair of scissors and cut slits in the tulle about ¼ in away from the eyelet. Then just ruff up the tulle with your fingers a bit to separate the layers – you can also trim/shape it if you wish! This also works wonderfully with lace or even thin fabrics!

And here is my finished flower:




Next we have a very fast ribbon flower. These flowers are a perfect way to use up those scrap pieces of ribbon you have laying around - I know we all have plenty of those!!!

Supplies Needed:
1. Ribbon *my pieces were on average 11-12in. long
2. Scissors.
3. Needle and thread
4. Buttons/rhinestones/pretty little things for centers!

We simply start off by running a quick basting stitch close the edge of one side of the ribbon. Once you get the entire length of the ribbon stitched up gently pull the thread until you get a slight gather in the ribbon. Then begin to wrap your ribbon until you get something that YOU think looks good. This may require you to pull on the thread some more to gather it more or to let out what you have already gathered a bit, it's all about making it look like what you want! When you get your ribbon flower to look how you want then take your needle and thread and seal the deal. I like to just make a few stitches through the middle of the flower to tack it all together just to make sure that it will remain solid! And now you have the basic of your ribbon flower! All you have left to do is embellish the center and you are good to go! You can embellish it with whatever your heart desires, which is the fun part!!


And here are my finished flowers:




This one is more of an idea I guess than an actual tutorial! I was playing around with my Cricut one night and was just wondering what all I could cut with it....and I was amazed by what it would do! So how about we make some flowers out of patterns or maybe aluminum foil?!


Supplies Needed:
1. Cricut (or any die cut machine)
2. an old pattern....maybe some aluminum foil
3. brads
4. Patience - you will need this!

For this flower I used flower #2 on the George cartridge because I am pretty sure most people have that one! Ok, a word of caution….since we are working with very delicate materials it is best to actually use an older mat, one that doesn’t have much life left. The patter paper will stick to it beautifully and won’t be as hard to remove! I cut a piece of pattern paper/foil to fit the mat and just ran it through my cricut just like I would any other piece of paper. For this particular flower I cut 2 each of sizes 3in, 2 ½in, 2in, and 1 ½in. Be very careful when you are peeling the flowers off of the mat…since the materials are so fragile they are easier to tear. Then we just layer our flower and pretty up the center! With the pattern flower it looks kinda cool to crinkle up the edges with your fingers a bit too! You could even add Glimmer Mist to give it some extra sparkle!


And here are my finished flowers:





Our last flower is Super fun and crazy all at the same time. My Daughter says it looks like a Lions head, I just think it looks cool! You wouldn't believe how easy this flower is, it's almost too easy!


Supplies Needed:

1. Pretty paper
2. scissors
3. stapler
4. Button or other center of your choosing :-)


First we start out by cutting our paper into 3 strips. I used 2 ½ by 12 in but my flower is HUGE! You can make this much smaller if you choose :-) Stack the papers on top of one another. If your papers are double sided I have found it looks really neat if you flip one of the strip so you see both sides of the paper come through! Once your papers are stacked begin to cut it into strips leaving about ½ inch intact at the top. I have no method to my madness, no particular set size in how wide my strips are…I just cut! Once you have the entire pieces of papers cut then just gently begin to fold your paper and bend it into a circle shape. I would staple as you go, this makes life so much easier!! Once you have the entire circle formed and stapled together solidly, take the flower and smash it in your hands. Oh yeah….that’s the fun part! This will crinkle the paper and give it a really cool effect. When you have reached your desired amount of crinkling, gently smooth out your flower and embellish the center. I chose to keep it simple with a button and twine, but the sky is the limit!



And here is my finished flower:





Here are a few examples of how I have used some of these flowers on LO's. I have also mixed and matched a few of the tutorials, which is fun as well!

3 comments:

  1. Just found this on here and love the tutorials. I do a couple of these but I'm definitely going to try more now. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely! Thanks for the tutorials...I'll have to keep these ideas in mind at the crop I'm going to this weekend - no emergency trips to the store for me! Thanks, girl! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE SUPER CUTE FLOWERS!!! I'm super excited to try these out... thx so much for the great tutorials!!

    ReplyDelete