"The Rachel" Felt Flower Tutorial

I told you.

Once I find something I like

I make it a million different ways.

Here's my third,

and probably last (at least for a while)

felt flower tutorial.

This one

just so happens

to be my favorite yet.

See it's a good thing I didn't stop after flower brooch number 1 or 2 :)

Again, I had a hard time figuring out a name for it

other than felt flower #3

(which is way too boring)

so I named it after my friend Rachel who I made it for.

Supplies:

-Felt

-Hot glue gun

-straight pin for brooch

Step 1:

Cut 3 petal shapes out of card stock to use as your template.

One large, one medium, and one small.

Step 2:

Using your template as a guide, cut out...

-8 large petals

-4 medium petals

-4 small petals

Step 3:

Cut a circle out of your felt to use as the base of your flower.

Step 4:

Begin gluing your large petals to your base (the circle from step 3) in the pattern shown above.

Step 5:

Hot glue your second layer of large petals in the pattern above.

Step 6:

Glue the medium petals to your flower in the pattern shown above.

Step 7:

Glue your last layer (the small petals) in the pattern shown above.

Step 8:

This is the hardest step!

Decide what to use for the center of your flower.

You could use the same color felt as your flower,

a lighter felt center,

a darker felt center

or even a button!

Decisions, decisions...

Step 9:

Glue finished flower to a straight pin (or bar pin...whatever they are called these days) to transform it into a brooch.

Now pin on your favorite,

sweater,

jacket,

hat,

scarf,

purse,

etc.

and

oooo and awww over your awesome new accessory!

And just because I love you guys

and it's been way too long since I've had a giveaway

I'm giving away these 2 "Rachel" flower brooches.

So how can you enter to win...

Lots of ways!

Just...

1. Leave a comment

2. Become a follower of my blog

3. Grab my new blog button!

Giveaway will end Wednesday, June 16th at midnight.

Winner will be announced the following day.

Felt flower love

What can I say?

I love felt

and I love flowers.

Here's a peek at my latest

(and favorite)

felt flower creation.

Hopefully I'll have the tutorial up by Friday

and maybe (hint, hint) I'll be giving some away too :)

Baby Sucking/Drool Pads for an Ergo Baby Carrier Tutorial

If you have a baby (or toddler)

you need an Ergo.

It is by far

hands down

the best baby carrier.

period.

It's a little pricey

but worth every penny.

Trust me.

I use mine at least a couple times a week.

And I am not naturally a baby carrying momma.

It's just so awesome and convenient that I use it

all. the. time.

Plus my I-wish-my-mom-was-an-attachment-parent baby loves it

so it makes both of us happy.

Anyways, once you get the Ergo you will notice

that your baby loves to suck on the straps.

It's inevitable.

Since it's kind of gross to have baby slobber all over your straps

and it's not good or convenient to be constantly washing your baby carrier

Ergo came up with these sucking pads.

Great idea but not worth $14-$20

when you could make them way cuter and for free!

So here's my version of some baby sucking/drool pads for the awesome-change-your-life-forever Ergo baby carrier.

Supplies:

-Scrap cotton fabric

-Scrap flannel fabric (or cotton batting)

-Scrap chenille or terry cloth fabric

-Velcro

-Small piece of ribbon

Step 1:

Create a 9 1/4 inch x 6 1/2 inch template or pattern for your sucking pad.

(I just used a ruler and a scrap piece of paper).

Trace around your template with a water soluble sewing pen onto the back (or wrong side) of your fabric.

Repeat so you have two.

Step 2:

Cut out a piece of flannel and a piece of chenille slightly larger than the piece of fabric with your template on it.

Layer the pieces of fabric as follows:

flannel (or batting)

chenille (or terry), right side up

cotton fabric with template on it, right side down

(see picture if your confused)

Pin in place.

Step 3:

If you would like to add a ribbon tag so you can attach toys to your drool pads now is the time to do it.

Cut off a piece of ribbon. Fold the ribbon in half and pin in between the chenille and cotton fabric (please note the picture does not have the ribbon in between the two layers like it should be). Make sure the fold of the ribbon is facing down and you place the tails of the ribbon over the line you have for your template so you will catch them as you sew.

Step 4:

Sew along the template line leaving a small opening to turn the pads right side out. Trim the remaining fabric away.

Step 5:

Turn pads right side out. Iron flat.

Step 6:

Top stitch around the pads being sure to catch the opening you turned your pads though. Cut a strip of Velcro the length of the pad and sew on as pictured above.

And your done!

No more spit soaked straps for your Ergo carrier!

Yay!

After you're done admiring

how cute the drool pads look and

how easy they were to make

strap them onto your Ergo,

hook a few links and a toy or two onto the ribbon tag,

put your cute baby in

and give them a try!

Or if you're not the crafty type, I've made a few and listed them in my shop.

Check them out here.

Chores

I hate cleaning.

Hate it.

It's never on my radar.

It's totally not natural to me.

And I'm not good at it.

Not at all.

My husband is the opposite.

He is neat and orderly.

And good/efficient at cleaning.

Messiness makes him crazy.

Although I think our cleaning differences have a lot to do with our personalities

I think it also has to do with the fact that

I grew up doing NO chores and

he grew up helping out around the house.

We've decided for lot of different reasons

we want to teach our kids to do chores and to help around the house.

But since this is definitely not my strength

I'm looking to all of you neat freaks

(I say that in the nicest way. I wish I was a neat freak myself)

for some help.

How does your family do chores in your home?

Do you have some sort of chore chart?

Do you have your kids do the same chores every day or do you rotate chores?

Do you have a cleaning schedule for yourself?

I think I might be more into doing chores if I had a mommy chore chart.

There's something so satisfying in being able to check things off.

I'd love to hear your ideas!

Here are some ideas I found around the blogging world.

chore cube

hanging chore chart

magnetic chore chart

wooden chore system

scrapbook chore system

Who needs toys

Who needs toys

when you have

boxes

blankets

and dog doors to play with.

It's so funny to me that my kids would almost always prefer to play with rocks, empty bottles (i.e. trash), random paper, etc. over their toys.

Are anyone else kids the same?

"The Michelle" Felt Flower Tutorial

I love flower brooches.

They are so versatile.

They add just the right amount of spice to just about anything.

a boring tee.

jacket.

purse.

diaper bag.

scarf.

hat.

The possibilities are endless.

So what do I do when I find something I love?

Figure out how to make it a million different ways of course.

(Is anyone else weird like that?)

I've been experimenting with a few different felt flowers creations.

Today I'm sharing my second felt flower tutorial.

(Go here to see the first one).

I couldn't figure out a name for it

so I'm just calling it

"The Michelle"

after the friend I made it for.

Let's get started.

You will need:

-one sheet of felt

-a button

-glue gun

Step 1:

Cut out 3 circles to use as your template.

One large, one medium and one small.

(please note the small circle is not pictured)

I traced the lid to this medicine bottle for my large circle and the bottom of the bottle for my medium circle then I hand drew the smallest circle.

Step 2:

Using your templates cut out

4 large felt circles

2 medium felt circles

2 small felt circles.

Then cut each of your felt circles in half.

Now you should have

8 large half circles

4 medium half circles

4 small half circles.

Make sense?

Next cut out one more large felt circle.

This will be the base to your flower.

Step 3:

Hot glue 4 of your large half circle pieces to your base circle in the pattern shown above.

Please note the edges of the half circles will overlap.

(sorry it's kind of hard to see. Black was not the best color choice for a tutorial)

Step 4:

Grab the medium sized half circles and hot glue the next 4 pieces in the pattern shown above.

These "petals" should be placed in between the first layer of petals, not directly below

(see picture).

Step 5:

Hot glue the 4 small half circles in a circular shape. They will have to overlap quite a bit.

Step 6:

Turn over the flower and add the final 4 large half circle pieces to make your flower a little larger and more rounded.

Man, I just realized this is a really confusing and hard to explain tutorial.

Sorry about that!

They flowers are really easy to make. I promise!

If you have any questions feel free to email me.

Step 7:

Hot glue a cute button to the center of your felt flower

and a pin back (is that what those are called? My mind is NOT working this morning) to turn it into a brooch.

You could also glue your flower onto a pinch clip or headband for a hair accessory.

Pin onto your

shirt, hat, jacket, etc.

and your ready to go!