I've been
playing with paper a lot lately over at my day job, so was inspired to dig into my own paper stash for this month's iLoveToCreate project. With plenty of time until Mother's Day, here's a delicate flower that can be applied four different ways to create a non-wilting "bouquet" for her hand, her head, her hair, or her lapel!
Materials:
-Paper scrap for template (brown paper bag or a sheet from the printer paper recycling) at least 3" x 3"
-Decorative paper scraps (card stock, book pages, paper bags, thick wrapping paper, etc., in variety of colors)
-All-purpose scissors
-Aleene's Tacky Glue and clothespins OR Aleene's Tacky Dot Rolls
-Pencil
-Ruler
-Ribbon of varying colors, widths, and lengths Make It:
1. Fold the paper scrap in half three times to create a folded "wedge." Cut a curved edge about 1 1/4" from the point.
2. Unfold the template (it'll look a little like a four-leaf clover), lay it flat and trace it three times on one or more of the decorative paper scraps. Three tracings makes one flower.
3. Cut around the tracings to make three identical blossoms. Snip two straight lines into the center of the first blossom, cutting out a wedge equal to two "petals." Cut three petals from the second blossom, and four petals from the third blossom. Mark and then cut a 1/4" semicircle from the center of each blossom, as shown.
4. Curve each of the blossoms to the cut edges overlap a bit. Adhere with glue or dots, let dry if necessary, then fold back the tips of the petals.
5. To make a flower ring, nest the blossoms inside one another. Select a piece of ribbon, wrap it around your finger, and knot the ends so the loop fits your finger. Gently thread the loop through the center of the flower, so the knot catches and rests in the center of the flower. Trim the ends of the ribbon as desired.
6. Slip the loop over your finger and the ring is complete!
7. Return to your paper stash and repeat the process to make more! You can personalize your bloom using crayons and card stock (a sweet way for younger kids to get involved if it's a Mother's Day gift), go for a more muted geometric design using pages from an Japanese puzzle magazine, gather up some vintage appeal by cutting into that newspaper-printed paper gift bag, or simply dig into the scrapbooking scraps for some playful color.
8. Keep your flowers uniform in shade...
or mix and match the colored blossoms in a paper botany experiment!
9. To make the headband, brooch, or barrette, thread one end of the ribbon through the flower, back to front, knot it, and then thread the end back through the flower, front to back. Thread multiples together this way, too! Wrap the ends of the ribbon around the headband, brooch, or barrette base and glue or knot to secure it.
And now, the million-dollar question for the author of
Generation T: Can you make these flowers with T-shirts? Absolutely! Substitute
fabric glue for the adhesive, and trim the neckline of a shirt with these sweet little blooms.
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For those of you that have been following with my journey to lose the baby weight you know that I have recently taken up jogging. I am about half way through a couch to 5k program. This is my second go at it after a stress fracture that put me on crutches and the couch for a few weeks. This time around I thought I needed a little something extra on my jogs. Something sparkly, bright and perky. This is when the idea to turn my fanny pack from the 80's into a glammy pack for 2012 hit me. Sadly, I'm not so sure my makeover was a good one. Not every craft adventure can have a happy ending. My knee is starting to bother me again and my glammy pack came out a bit of a hot mess. Never fear, I have a few other sporty makeovers to share with you that will inspire you to ride, run and walk! 
First up let's talk about my fanny pack. It started life acid washed. I'm sure at the time I had picked that option and thought it was swell. 25 years-ish later I thought I could pep the look up with a few neon accents. If nothing else it would help make me more noticeable to cars. 
Using Tulip fabric spray paint in three neon shades I coated my Hippy. I should have stopped here but I had visions of neon racing stripes and glittery wording that said something witty like "Let's Get Physical". Instead using a very unsteady hand I tried to do some stenciling that ended up looking like blobs. Truly compared to what I jog in the glammy pack looks amazing. All your craft projects can't turn out perfect right? So if my glammy pack does not make you want to lace up and hit the trails, maybe these projects will. 
Recently one evening I rode my bike down to the local Red Box. As I peddled home the disk bobbed around in my basket almost falling out several times. I thought to myself: you need a basket liner. Blue Sky Confections you have the cutest one I have seen yet! You how I love a good pennant banner. 
I love Michele's Old Towel New Series. I profiled her clever washcloths on BlogHer. however, this sporty wristband also caught me eye. 
Blogilates has an adorable razor back tank top tutorial. 
I made this swim suit cover up for my daughter, but you could easily make an adult sized version. Even hardcore lap swimmers need something to wear to and from the pool. 
I get that bike riding safety is important, it is just unfortunate that helmets are typically so ugly. Jenn from Clever Girl revamped hers to make it look like R2D2. ***This is a sponsored post by I Love to Create - I was compensated & given free supplies. Mama has gotta pay the bills somehow and really who in their right mind would say no to free craft supplies*** Visit us on Facebook!
-Decorative paper scraps (card stock, book pages, paper bags, thick wrapping paper, etc., in variety of colors)
