No-Sew Fabric Flower

I am always trying to find ways to use up fabric scraps. This fabric flower is a great way to use up scraps and make a hairclip, brooch, or accent for anything you like!



Supplies:

2 coordinating fabrics--less than 1/8 yard of each
fabric covered button form
Hot glue gun
scissors
small square of felt

Cut 6 large circles from your scraps...they don't have to be perfect, just uniform in shape.  Fold each circle in half, then into thirds.



Cut 5 smaller circles from more scraps...again, not perfect but smaller than those you just cut.

Fold each circle in half, then into thirds, as shown.







Using your scissors, round off the top, so that you have a nice petal shape.



Open up each petal, then fold in half, making sure to not line up your petals. Fold in half again. Put a dab of glue in the fold to keep each petal folded.





Arrange the larger circles, slightly overlapping, on your piece of felt.  Once all the larger circles are down, start arranging your smaller circles in the same way.





Once you arrange the bottom layer, arrange the second layer. When you layer the 5th petal, lift up the first petal and slide the 5th petal under.



I like the Dritz brand of fabric covered buttons. You can easily pinch together that little metal loop in the back and then lock your fabric onto the back in the teeth.





Snap on the back of your fabric covered button. Attach to the center of your flower and you have a beautiful flower!



These flowers can be made smaller or larger with as many layers as you like.  They are so versatile and can accent anything.  You can attach it to an alligator clip, french clip, headband, purse, pillow...honestly, just about anything!

DIY Hairbow Centers

I started making my own hairbow centers a while ago when I was trying to find certain characters.  Out of "need" comes custom made hairbow centers!



So here is a Princess Peach hairbow center I made for my Super Mario bow...don't cha just love her :o)

I just made a lot of hairbow centers shown here.



Okay, here we go!

Materials:

Ink Jet Printer
sharp scissors
White Shrink Paper for Ink Jet Printers
Pre-heat oven to 350
cookie sheet
spatula

Use any kind of program that will allow you to enlarge images...Power Point, GIMP, or Photoshop.  Open a blank file that is sized at 8 1/2 x 11 inches and 300 dpi.  Add your image and size it to approximately 2-3 inches x 3-4 inches (I totally eyeball this one).  I can usually fit 10 images on a sheet, depending on how they are sized.  Once you've arranged your images, print them on your shrink paper and allow the colors to set for at least 30 minutes.  Cut them out and you are ready to shrink in the oven!  Shrink one image first just to get the hang of it.  Place the image on the cookie sheet and then in the oven...watch it as it shrinks up, very cool!  It will curl inot a bowl shape and then will flatten (although usually not all the way flat).  While still in the oven, flatten the image with a spatula.  Your image not only shrinks, but thickens quite a bit.  Once you take it out of the oven, it cools super fast...so flatten IN the oven.

If you have an image that is already dark, you may want to use your photo editing to lighten the image before you print on the paper.  In Photoshop Elements, I usually lighten 15% before I print.  Below is a picture of the original image with the final product on top.  Once you get the hang of this, it is so much fun!!  Of course you can always use these for earrings and necklace charms...just make sure to punch a hole in the paper before you shrink!

Etsy Treasury--Land I Love

I love Etsy!!  I have several friends who sell their creations on Etsy but one thing I really love is that you can connect with so many great people all over the world.  One great feature is that you can create a treasury list of items in a particular theme.  It's so nice to be included in these treasuries!  One of my headbands was included today :o)



Head on over and take a look at "Land that I Love" :o)  I am loving that Captain America purse....that's the comic geek in me!

Rolled Rosettes

I LOVE making these rosette flowers!!  You can use any fabric and embellish however you like and they are just  too cute! I am personally not real big on the frayed look, so I make them a little different from those made all over the web. I made up a bunch for my niece and listed them in my etsy shop as well.



I used Amy Bulter's Lotus fabric for this rosette. And you can order freshwater pearls in just about any color...these are baby blue.



LOVE purple!!



Because every girl needs PINK!



I thought this one was cute for a birthday..the polka dots remind me of cupcake sprinkes :o)  I can't wait to send these (and a few more, lol!) to my super adorable niece!

Homemade Hairbow Stiffener

Looking for a way to prevent your hairbows from losing their shape?  Today I am going to share with you how to make your own hairbow stiffener.

You will need 2 ingredients for this project:  Sta-Flo liquid starch and water.  Mix equal parts of each into a spray bottle.  Spray your bows generously, and use a hairdryer on the hottest setting to blow dry your bows.  The heat reacts with the starch to create a stiff bow!  If you like your bows even stiffer, increase your starch and decrease your water when mixing together, and vice versa.



This is great for ribbon that is naturally soft and saggy...some of the printed grosgrain ribbon I have bought has been this way!  Spray those puppies and they will retain their shape longer.  Another nice thing about this is that you can re-spray as needed and you will not ruin your ribbon.

Tutorials--How to Make a Boutique Hairbow

Here is my first attempt at a video tutorial!  Hope it is helpful to you and easy to follow :o) 

How to Fix Headbands that Slip

My girls LOVE headbands....they really do!  It is the first thing that goes on their heads each and every day, whether they match or not.  Headbands are great, but a lot of times they slide because of the way our hair grows. Growth patterns on the sides of the head cause the hair to fall forward.  Hence, needing a headband to hold it all back!

Unless you use a metal headband or headbands that pinch behind the ears, you likely have a problem with slippy headbands as well.  So, how do you fix this problem?  There are a couple of solutions I would like to share here!

One way to fix this is to apply the rough side of a velcro strip (cut to size) to the underside of your headband.  You need to apply a small amount of a strong adhesive such as E6000 that you can buy at any craft store, or something similar.  You can apply with a Q-tip to both the headband and the strip, and hold them together until the bond is secure.  Hot glue seems ideal, but will peel off plastic.



Another solution is something I found a few months back on Etsy and I LOVE them!  I found them at Accessory Place on Etsy and bought several sizes...they are fabulous and inexpensive.  I love this seller, too...she is super fast and has excellent products and customer service.

They have an adhesive side, but that isn't really strong enough to stick well...use the E6000 again to make sure it sticks for good!



I hope this has helped you...just a tip I thought I would share today!