I have never considered myself a crafty person. At all.
Creative-- yes. But crafty? Unfortunately, I did not get the "sewing" gene from my mom. Anything that is hands-on and tactile presents itself a challenge to me. I can visually "see" things and I can put colors & styles together, but when it comes to "making," I struggle.

More than once, I am wearing a funky shirt or toting around a crazy bag and people will stop me and say, "Nice purse-- did you make that?"

No a chance.

Like I said, I can pick it out. I just can't make it.

Anyway, all that to say... I recently came across something I CAN make! And if I can handle it, chances are that most of you can, too. :)

A few weeks ago, Kristi and I needed a way to make the tree branches in our IA windows look more "Spring-y." We looked online for some easy ways to make flowers. Long story short, we achieved our goal with minimal heartache.

This inspired both of us to continue on the flower-making for our own personal use. You spend $15-$20 on a flower pin for your shirt or hair at a store, so why not make your own for much cheaper? This is the other thing: I'm usually not one to think that way. I'm the girl who usually says, "I'd much rather buy what I like and be done with it rather than going to all the trouble to make anything."

SO, after coming home with my fabric and reading the instructions carefully, I picked up my needle & thread and made my very own flower. Not without pictures, of course.

In case you want visuals so that you can try this on your own, here it is...

Supplies
Needle & Thread

Fabric-- a variety of scraps

Scissors

Circular object

Fabric marker

Buttons, beads, gems, and embellishments

Hot glue gun

Hair clips/pins

{Step 1}

Choose 5 fabrics you want to use. (Or choose 2-3 if you want to keep every other petal the same).

{Step 2}

Using your circular object (I used a large lens cap), trace a circle on each piece of fabric and cut them out. *If your fabric isn't already flat, iron it to get out all the wrinkles.

{Step 3}

You should now have 5 circles of fabric. Choose one. Fold it in half, and then in half again.

{Step 4}

Thread your needle. With it, sew a gather stitch (stitch in and out, leaving a nice gab b/t stitches) along the circular (rounded) portion of your folded fabric.

{Step 5}

Gently pull your thread so your first petal forms. Fold your second piece of fabric twice, and continue a gather stitch along that fabric's rounded edge, attaching it to the first petal.

{Step 6}

Continue this process until you have all petals attach. Gently pull the thread so all petals are formed and tight. Finish it off by connecting your last petal with your first.

{Step 7}

You should now have a flower that looks like this:

{Step 8}

Time to embellish. With a hot glue gun, glue a button in the center and add any other buttons/sparkles/beads as you wish.

{Step 9}

Glue a hair clip or pin to the back.

{Step 10}

Voila! This is your finished product.

I like to wear mine in my hair. You can glue a hair clip AND pin on the back if you wish to use it for both hair & clothes.

Love you all!

T