Scalloped Punch Flower Tutorial

Hello beautiful bloggers! Today I have a new tutorial for you. This one is so easy....so so easy, but the flowers are gorgeous when done! I have done this one a bit different. Instead of posting a zillion pictures, I have combined them into just 2 easy to follow pics! Let's get started, shall we?!

1. Supplies needed: Scalloped Punch 1.5 inch. Hole punch. Brads. Paper.

*I used book paper. Thinner papers seem to work better.

2. Punch out 8 scalloped circles. You can use more or less, but this is the amount that I felt looked best. It all depends on the thickness of your papers though.

3. Use your hole punch and punch a hole through the very center of all 8 scallops.

4. Secure your brad through the center of all 8 scallops where you punched the holes.

5. Start by taking the very first layer and fold & pinch it up around the brad.

6. Continue doing this step with all 8 layers building and shaping your scallops so they are pleasing to the eye!

7. This is the finished little scalloped flower. They are so cute, so fast, and so...CHEAP! lol

8. A variation of the flower. On this one all I did was use Smooch in Siren. I simply smooched the edges before adding the brad. Adds a little more definition.

9. Another variation. On this one I used pink liquid chalk and faded it from pink to white to give the flower more depth.

Here is a little example of different flowers I was playing around with using this technique. I used brown paper bags, book pages, cardstock, and even an old pattern. I inked them, chalked them, glittered them, and misted them. There are so many awesome ways to customize these flowers however your heart chooses....and did I mention that they are cheap....and cute! My favorite combination ;)

Fun little Felt Flower - Tutorial

Hello Beautiful Scrappers! It's Amy here with a quick little felt flower tutorial for you all! I like to think of this one as a spruced up version on a lollipop flower :) Today we are working with felt, BUT this can very easily be done with paper as well...and it looks just as awesome! Shall we get started?!

Supplies Needed:

*Felt - I used 3 different colors, but you don't have to

*A 1", 1.5", and a 2" precut circle. I used my cricut to cut this pattern.

*Scissors

*Needle and thread

*Decorative center. You can use ANYTHING you want!

First you need to decide what color arrangement you want....

What looks good to YOU or what works best for your project.

Then simply lay your precut circle 'pattern' onto the felt and trace.

You will need 5 circles of each size.

Then cut them all out..easy right.

And since felt doesn't fray there is no need to finish off the edges.

Next we need to layer them as shown below.

You want them all to touch at one edge.

Then simply take them (one at a time) and fold them in half like a little felt sandwich.

Run a quick stitch several times to tack them together and tie it off.

And this is that you end up with. Now continue until you get all 5 completed.

Here we are...we have all 5 ready to go. Below you can see how we are putting them together.

You will want to take your needle and thread and simply tack all the petals together from the back side. Make sure you stitch it down good so it's nice and tight. And you will end up with something like the flower below.

The finishing touch....add a pretty little center. I used a handmade polymer clay button for mine, but you could pretty much use anything you like! That's the beauty of making things yourself...customizing :) Now it's all ready to add to a project. I used this one on a headband actually...it's so cute!

Side note...you can always make the circles smaller for a more petite flower....they look so cute on a smaller scale!

Tutorial - Make custom Corrigated Alphas

Hello fellow bloggers!! Today I have a very quick and easy tutorial for you on how to create your very own corrigated cardboard alphas. I have been looking at the Jillibean Soup ones for months....and months, but I have not been able to bring myself to actually buy them. Why? Because they are cardboard, something that I love and something that I have all over my house. So one day I just thought to myself - Make your own, and that's exactly what I did :) But first I am going to show you one of the fastest ways to strip that pesky layer of paper off cleanly so we can get to that coveted corrigated bliss!

All we need for this is a bowl of water, a paper towl and your cardboard.

First we just dip our paper towl into the water. Make sure to get it really saturated with water.
Then just wet the cardboard really well and let it sit for about 15-20 seconds. Long enough to loosen the paper.

Start off in one corner and begin to lift the paper carefully. If you notice it isn't coming up very easily then add more water.

When you are pulling the paper off make sure to do it following the lines. The paper is glued to each individual raised corrigation, so this is the easiest way to do it. If you do it against the lines then it typically creates a mess!

As you are lifting the paper keep adding water.

And there you have it. A nice clean piece of corrigated cardboard to work with!

Now on to the letters. All we have to do it cut the cardboard to fit our cricut matt and run it through like you normally would. I set my settings to shadow because I like the thicker look. Also...I used a deep cut blade which works better for thicker products. I have used a normal blade, but have had to go back in with my Xacto knife to finish the cuts. So if you don't mind the extra bit of work the regular cricut blade works as well!

And here is my corrigated name all popped out!

These are a few different words that I have cut in various sizes. What I love about this is that you can cut your letters any size, any font that YOU want! And then use as is or you can paint them, ink them, make em' pretty in any way you want! Also another thing that I love is how the letters take on a different look depending on how you turn your cardboard before cutting. The 2 words on top are cut vertically with the lines while the 2 on bottom are cut horizontally! So cool!

And there you have it....Your very own custom Corrigated Letters!!! Have fun :)

2 Zipper Flowers - Tutorial

As promised I have a new tutorial for you fabulous bloggie friends based on creating a few flowers using zippers. I got my initial idea for these when I bought my DD a pair of shoes with a huge Zipper flower on the toe.....and after that I kept seeing Zipper flowers everywhere (or maybe that was just in my mind). So I set out to create an easy tutorial on how I created mine...and I am still playing around with the idea for more, so be warned...there may be another installment to this tutorial :)

Supplies Needed:

*Zipper - 18in long

*Needle & thread

*Scissors

First what we need to do is cut the Zipper pull and the end stopper off the zipper. That's where a good pair of scissors are needed. I used my Tim Holtz Tonic ones because they will cut through anything (including metal) and stay sharp! Love them!!
After you cut the Zipper pull and stopper off the zipper you will have cut off about 1inch leaving a 17inch Zipper area to work with.
Then simply use a running stitch up the entire side of the zipper on the fabric area.
After you complete the stitch up the side of the zipper just pull the thread to create a tight gather. The zipper will begin to twist into a circle. Make sure to leave the needle and thread on the zipper. We do not want to cut this off because we will be using it :)
Take those circle twists and start arranging them. You will want to take the very end of the zipper and just tuck it under. Use that as your starting point and wrap the zipper around until you get a look that is pleasing to you.

Once you get a desired look simply take your thread and hand stitch the zipper together to create a solid flower. This works best if you start in the back and bring the stitches all the way through to the center.

And there we have it - our Zipper flower. These look pretty awesome as is, but if you want to add something to the center - that looks sweet as well!

We are using the same exact Supplies for this flower as in the previous one. And it starts out the same as well. We need to cut both ends off the Zipper giving us about a 17inch piece to work with. The first thing we are going to do for this flower is cut the Zipper. We need 5 pieces of 2.5inch zipper. These will be the petals. There will be a little left over after we cut these 5 pieces - we want to save that and cut it down to 3 inches. This piece will be the center of the flower.

Next we want to start creating our petals. To do this simply take one of the 2.5inch pieces of zipper and bend it like shown.

Using our needle and thread simply tack the two ends together. We don't want those babies coming apart!!

Repeat this process until you have all 5 petals complete.

Next we are going to start forming our flower. To do this slightly overlap the petals and stitch them into place where one petal touches the other. This forms a really solid base.

And here is what our flower base looks like after we have stitched all 5 petals together.

Next we are going to create the center of the flower using the 3inch piece of zipper. Add a Running stitch to the fabric area the lenght of the zipper.Then simply gather the stitch to form a circle. Tack this circle together with your thread.

And then add tack it down it down to the center of your flower base!!

And there we have it folks, another Zipper flower completed!

Recycled Tshirt Flower Tutorial

Amy here with another tutorial. This one is fast, fun, and also budget friendly!! I like not spending money, don't you?! Well....let me rephrase that...my HUSBAND likes me not spending money :) So today we are going to be recycling something that I am sure many of us have laying around the house - Tshirts. My kiddos go through tshirts like crazy. They get stained pretty easily and I hate to just throw them out so I decided to figure out a way to use them and came up with a flower - because we all love flowers, right?! Let's get started!!

Supplies Needed:
*Tshirt (any color) - cut into strips. Mine is 1.5in wide and 15in long.
*needle & thread
*Glue Gun
*Circle for base. I used a Large Chipboard button.

Start off by creating a running stitch down the very center of your fabric strip.

Gather your fabric strip until you have about a 9in strip.
Tie off the end to prevent it from coming undone.
Next we need to fold the fabric strip in half along the stitching.
Add a glob of hot glue to the center of your circle.
And begin to roll your fabric strip (still folded in half) onto the glue.
You will need to continue to add glue as you twist your fabric around still keeping it folded in half.
Make sure to glue as close to the fabric as possible and keep your rolls tight.
When your done gluing down all your fabric strip use your fingers to pull the 'petals' apart until you get a look that is satisfying to you...and there you have it....our recycled tshirt flower! I would love to do one of these in a pink or red, I think that would be beautiful, but the only Tshirt I could find tonight was a grey one :) Maybe it's time to "clean" out my daughters closet!! lol

Fortune Cookie Tutorial

Today I am going to show you how I created these felt fortune cookies. They are so simple and adorable, not to mention they make the cutest gift for someone special! We made them for teacher's gifts for Valentines Day, but they would be great for any time of the year. First off I found the Chinese take out box pattern here. This is a small box that fits 2 cookies perfectly.

Supplies Needed:

*Felt of desired color

*Glue Gun

*Scissors

*Quotes 'fortunes'
First what we need to do is draw a 4" circle onto the felt. I used a sharpie because it works beautifully!
Cut out the circles. When doing this cut just inside your drawn circle. This eleviates any marker to show.
Lay your 'fortune' on the felt and using your glue gun add a thin line of glue leaving about half an inch on each side. This allows room for the fortune to be pulled out!
Then just fold over and let the glue set.

Next we need to flatten out the top of the felt. Using your finger just push it down to create a dent..lip..heck just flatten that baby ;)

Add a bead, ok a glob of hot glue onto one side of your 'dent'.

Then just fold it together and allow to dry. Warning from experience: Hot glue takes a little longer to dry on felt than it normally would. I don't know why, I am sure there is an awesome reason....I just know it's frusterating at times. (meaning I'm impatient)

And this is what they look like completed. And those fortunes just pull right out!

Wouldn't these make the cutest little gift?! I love how you can totally personalize your fortunes depending on the person. There are also many sites that have fortune cookie quotes if you would rather.