I'd like to preface this by saying... I've never done a crafty tutorial before. So go easy on me!
This year, I'm in charge of the creative activities for my MOPS group. So I've decided that all the crafts we do for MOPS I'm going to post here on my little blog. That way those fancy i-Phone users can pull up extra pictures while we craft, and if someone misses a meeting they can find the craft instructions here too.
So for this month, our craft is this fun little hair pin - or you could make it a brooch for your bag or scarf if you're not into flowers in your hair.
Flower Bling Tutorial
Materials:
• scrap of polyester or rayon fabric (min. size approx. 2 ½” x 6”)
• small bead or button
• small piece of felt (approx. ½” x ½”)
• bobby pin or safety pin
• hot glue
• scissors
• needle & thread
• lighter
Directions:
1. Cut a circle out of the fabric approximately 2”-3” in diameter. Cut two more circles out of fabric, each one should be about ½” – ¼” smaller than the first circle. They don’t need to be perfect!
I used my lens cap as a template here. Oh, and please don't mind all the paint on my cutting mat. That just means it's loved.
2. Using the lighter, lightly touch the flame to the edge of the fabric to melt the edge and seal the fabric. (It might be best to practice this on a scrap piece of fabric if you’ve never done this before.) Once all three circles’ edges have been sealed, stack them from largest to smallest so that it begins to look like a flower.
No, that isn't a lighter. It's a candle. Halfway through the first circle my lighter ran out of juice (too many hair bows, I guess) and so I had to resort to a candle. Which I don't recommend because the wax was dripping everywhere! I often use strike-on-the-box matches when melting the ends of ribbon, but for these circles the nice candle lighters are easier because you won't burn your fingers.
Tip: Start slowly, because it’s easy to melt too much. If you do melt too much, just melt more of the edge to try to smooth out the edge to fix your circle. The circles should start to curl up at the edges, if they don’t you might need to help shape them some with your hands by cupping the edges. You may also need to melt the edges a little more.
3. Using the needle and thread, sew the bead onto the center of the flower.
Tip: Starting with the largest circle, bring the needle through the back of the fabric in the center of the circle. Don’t put the needle all the way through, but then stack the other two circles on top, (this way, you can easily center all three circles) and finally add the bead. Don’t worry about how the back looks, it will get covered.
4. Cut a circle out of the felt.
5. Cut a slit in the felt circle from the edge to the center (should remind you of Pac-Man). Thread the bobby pin onto the felt circle, and glue the circle and pin onto the back of the flower.
Tip: It should look like your bobby pin is interlinked with the felt. Apply glue to the entire piece of felt to stabilize the pin. Be sure to attach the “top” side of the bobby pin to the bottom side of the flower.
6. Viola! Enjoy your flower bling or give it to a friend!
