A Little Pretty for the Busy Mama

I enjoy fabric flowers.  They are so feminine and sweet looking.  Apparently they are "the thing" in the blog world also...cause everywhere you look you see them.  I have a black fabric flower that I pin in my hair often, but I really wanted a cream colored one.  I needed some "not cotton" fabric.  As usual I couldn't just run down to the local fabric store and get exactly what I wanted...so....

As I was laying in bed the other day (which honestly I rarely do with my eyes open) I looked at my bedroom curtain.  Hummmmm..... just the right color.

With a "snip... snip" here and a "tuck... tuck" there.... I'll never miss the shortened drape.

Here is my "tutorial".  Please don't give me credit for coming up with it.  I have looked at so many "how to make fabric flowers" instructions in the last year that I honestly couldn't tell you if I saw this somewhere or not.  But, when I started making these Saturday night, this is how I did it.  So easy and if you don't have to keep stopping to do wonderful little chores like clean up messes, and brush little teeth it would only take about 5 minutes.

Cut out your petals.  Do 5 or 6 of the same size then a few smaller sizes.  This is purely up to your own taste.  If you want it fuller do more.....more subtle and delicate do less...simple right?  I know my floor looks totally gross....it really doesn't look like that!  It's the camera coloring!  Normally I always work at my craft table, but the princesses kept needing me.  So I sat on the floor and watched Bugs Bunny with them.  I've found if they can see me, they bother me less.

 The edges need to be sealed.  Some do it more and kinda brown the edges, some just melt them so they won't unravel.  I did a little of both.  I wanted mine to look a little vintage, so I left them a little raveled.  After re-thinking this, I'll use a candle next time.

 To make the petals more curled, I put a teeny tiny drop of hot glue on the petal and gave it a little pinch.

 I left the last/back petal flat...totally up to you.

 If you're using scrapbook brads, I learned it's easier to just clip them on the first 2 layers.  I like this because it hides it's "legs".  Then just put a glob of glue and add a layer until the flower is assembled.

 For the back, a circle of felt makes them perfectly stiff.  I love alligator clips (from my wonderful mother-in-law).  I just glue a ribbon around them.

 I was trying to take pictures of them with my roses...didn't work.  But, isn't my cotton candy rose bush beautiful? {smile}

 I love the clips because you can easily add them to your shirt or your hair.  Ta-daa.

 The princesses and I ended up making several.  One big, a few medium, and one smaller, all using different colored centers.

 Clipping them on a headband works nicely also.

 Princess Brynlee calmly sits, in her little throne, and takes it all in.  She sure gets excited when I turn and talk to her though!

 I didn't have time to get pictures of the flowers, in mine and Princess Eden's hair, before church yesterday.  And after church, we both looked rather droopy.  Been there?

So I snatched Princess Moriah, this morning, and said, "Come here. I need your head."  I just quickly twirled a messy bun to let you see an idea of what it looks like, in the hair.

Fun and quick.  For all you busy mamas trying to stay pretty, while you're knee-deep in youngsters.  Try it.