Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Fabric Flower Tutorial

I know, I know! More flowers? haha Well, they are popular in the Adkins house. ;-) There happens to be one silly little 2 year old that loves these ones! And I've been getting asked a lot how I make them. 

There are TONS of ways you can make a fabric flower! There is the no sew kind, the Yo-Yo kind, the Gathering kind, Roses...You name it? You can probably make it out of fabric! haha. 

Well, my favorite these days has been a type of a sewed fabric flower. Mainly because I sell them and I use them for a lot of things I make for Allie. I want them to be sturdy and last...especially since Allie sticks hers in her mouth, runs over them...ext. So durability it key for me! haha

To start: you'll need an object that's round. The bigger the circle. The larger your petals are going to be. 
I used the bottom of my Mason Jar for the size I sell with my bags on Etsy. But for the headbands and magic wand pictured below, I use an old CD.
 Then you'll need your sewing machine, scissors, thread, glue gun, a needle to thread and an iron.

So you'll take your jar/CD/lid (whichever) and trace circles on the backside of your fabric. *Tip: One circle is 2 petals. In this tutorial, I used 3 different fabrics and only made 2 circles on each selected fabric. Followin'?
 M-Kay. So after you've traced and cut out your circles. You'll cut them all in half.
 Turn them wrong side out. Fold the half circle in half and sew down the straight edge. 
One right after the other...
 Continuing till you make a fabric "necklace"
 Once all your petals are sewed you'll turn them right side out...
 Step One:
 Step Two:
 Step Three: You might need to use scissors or something pointy to push the tip out better
 After all of your petals are turned right side out. You'll need to grab your iron (sometimes a little steam is good). Flatten your petal so that the seam is running down the back of the triangulated petal.
 (yes. my ironing board has been loved. loved. and loved some more ;-)
 Whew. Almost done. The fun part starts now! ;-)
 Okay. So you'll take your needle and thread. And make a straight stitch as close as you can to the edge.
 Your petal should bunch together and look like this:
 K- Once you've got all your petals stitched. You'll bunch them together as tight as you can. Without pulling out your stitch. ;-) And connect the first petal to the last.
 Turn your flower over and make a tight double knot...
 This is what your fabric flower should look like by this point...
 For a lot of the flowers I make. I like to make more than one layer to them. So for this one. I made two set's of the same 6 petals. I then made a circular straight stitch as close together in the middle. Sewing them together. If you look close enough in the center you can see the stitches.
Next, I take a button, something that's round or whatever fits the size of the flower. 
And cover it with fabric (and of course use my handy dandy glue gun to hold it in-place ;-)
Squeeze a TON of glue to the bottom of your "button" and glue it to the center of your flower! :-)

Last but not least. I take a little piece of felt and glue it to the back so it adds that finished touch!

And FINALLY you have one heck of an adorable Fabric Flower! ;-) 
Hopefully that wasn't to hard to understand?

Here's the one we just made together featured on one of the bags I sell...
The great thing about the ones attached to the bags is that they're only held on by a safety pin. So once the bag isn't being used anymore it can be glued to a head band and used for a toddler bow! :-)

Here's some more example's of what you can do with your flowers!

I made these flowers as part of party favors for Allie's birthday party this past year.
Another example of a head band with a bow...
And the favorite among the little girls is the Magic Wand! :-)
I just took the flower and attached it to a wooden dowel, wrapped in ribbon and Ta-Da. It's a Magic Wand! haha

The possibilities are ENDLESS with Fabric Flowers!
Want more ideas and tutorials for fabric flowers? Go here:

Whew. That was a long one! haha

Happy Stitching! hehe
Courtney

Allie's Flower Wall

I've wanted to share this for awhile now...
But for some reason I just couldn't get very good pictures of Allie's Flower Wall above her bed. My camera is far from anything "special" lol And as I was laying on her floor with her, being total goofs together. I actually got some really cute ones! Since the majority of the pictures I've taken before just look super cheesy. I was so happy! It's been almost a year since her room has been done. And this is SOOO easy putting it together! :-)
 **CUTENESS**
 To do this all you need is some 50% off flowers from Hobby Lobby! ;-)...
 Pull the stem out of the bottom of the flower...
 Take some hot glue and stick a tack onto the back of it...Oh, how I heart my glue gun...
(this pic doesn't show it but it's best to buy the tacks without the plastic on them!)
 And Wa-lahhh!
You'll have a ton of flowers looking like this and then you just stick them to the wall however your heart desires! Pretty Simple and a quick way to add some seriously Girlishness to a room!

Oh happiness! ;-)
*Hugs*
Courtney

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Project: Fail.

Well, one of the projects I was working on just didn't turn out like I had envisioned in my head. :-(
But, it did turn into a cute little chalk board for Allie to play with. :-) 
 (She totally posed herself here! haha)

 (Must get new camera!!!)

 (Super Cheese?)

Well, it still turned out really cute! Even though it's not what i wanted it to be. Oh well. ;-)
Have a great day!
Courtney

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Everyone's Busy Busy!!

I'm covered in saw dust currently from head to toe...working my little heart out. ;-)
Which has made this little man my new *Bestie*!
And Allie's been chasing Lady Bugs all day...loved the gush of wind in her crazy hair! hehe
 Doesn't it mean good luck to find a lady bug? 
Well, if you need some. Swing by our house! lol We've got tons! :-)
 I think we can't find a new lady bug about every hour here...or maybe the same one just really likes us? lol

Lot's of Love,
Courtney

Friday, August 5, 2011

Obsession with a Pool?

My daughter is probably the silliest little girl I know! 
Who knew right? Well, long story short. She's obsessed with the pool. Loves it. Can't spend a day away from it! haha And when I do try to take it away she somehow seems to find a way to still "incorporate" it into her day. It's really remarkable what little one's come up with! 

Here's a look into what Allie does all day!
 (pose much? haha)

I've also been really proud of her! She finally finished her summer ready. She had to read 15 books and then was able to pick out a free book from the library. Which I'm pretty sure she's read Skyping with her Dad almost every morning! (I think she's a little proud of herself too ;-)
After she turned in her paper showing the books she completed I took her to get a scoop of Ice-Cream...Adorable. Love spending time with this one. Gosh, how'd I get so lucky?
Okay, so now back to my story about the pool and how Allie uses it every chance she gets to have it in her life...

Hmm...what's different here?...
 I realized the other day that Allie was being really quite...On this day in-particular she didn't get a nap so she was way exhausted. I peaked outside thinking she was playing in her house as usual. Did a double take. And could not believe what I was seeing. HAHA 

Let's get take a closer look...;-)
 She was seriously almost out here...(no, I do not let her sleep with sippy's) I really almost let her fall asleep out there, but little miss caught me...


 I guess every little girl has their favorite things to do. And I think she's adorable. So sleeping in her pool that she loves so much is adorable too...

Squeeze your little one/s. They grow up so fast!

What's something you love about your little one/s that super silly?

Enjoy soaking up some sun this August (with sun screen on of course ;-)
 Courtney



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Hop-Scotch Mat Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I came across this very cute idea over at A girl and a glue gun . And since Allie has begun to LOVE hopscotch. I thought we'd give it a try! ;-) And I have to say. It's pretty cute!
And Allie loves it. Of course. haha(Waiting patiently for it to be finished. lol)
In the original tutorial she only uses her glue gun to make the mat. But, I sewed mine a little. So for those of you who don't have a sewing machine or are intimidated by one. Swing by her place! She's got loads of ideas for sewing machine free! ;-)

Okay so to get started you'll need:
-a yard of canvas fabric
-10 multi-colored felt peices
-Hot Glue/Gun
-Ribbon
-And a sewing machine

To Start off cut the yard of canvas in half and sew it down the middle. You could buy yourself 2 yards of fabric and then split the 2 yards and make two and gift one mat. But, I only need one so I just got myself a yard 40% off at Craft Warehouse. And in order for my squares to fit I had to cut it in half to make it longer.
(excuse the mess. haha)
I wanted to hem the edges. So I folded them under twice, ironed it down and pinned in place.At the top end of your mat add in the hem 4 pieces of ribbon. 2 in each end of the mat.
Once you have a completely hemmed around the whole mat. You'll cut your numbers out on your mat.
(I had started this project on vacation. So I don't have any pictures of this process. But, all you have to do it print off numbers 1-10 to fit your felt. Cut them out, trace, and then cut your felt. Real easy m-k?)
As you're gluing the felt to the mat. You just lift up from bottom, apply the glue and then gently lay it back down.
After I had finished gluing the numbers on. I cut and added different sized circles like the original mat too. I mean, it was just to cute not too! :-)
Adorable? Just a *little*!
(For those of you who have fabulous *eyes* please don't judge me and my carpet! lol It still needs to be cleaned this summer!)
Here's a peak at it all rolled up and "put away" (like it will stay that way! ;-)
Get Ready! Set...
GO!
Almost there!
(look at that tongue! hehe)
Well, I love this idea. Great to use in the nice cold house in the afternoon when it's to hot outside right now! That's for sure! haha
Glue your heart out ladies! ;-)

Much Love,
Courtney