Our Spring Fling Pinterest Party!
11 May 2013
After over six months of snow and cold ... including 8" last week ... I decided we needed to craft some bright and happy Spring projects. Today was our Spring Fling at the Cottage where everyone could come in ... sit at the crafting tables ... and just make stuff. So even though it's still chilly outside today, it put us all in a great mood!
Pretty Little Plant Pokes can be made by anyone and are perfect gifts for kids to make. All you need are tongue depressors, scrapbook paper, Chestnut Roan chalk ink, and UHO glue.
Cut 2" strips of paper with a scalloped rotary cutter, leaving one edge straight. Subcut into 2" segments. Ink the scalloped edge. Apply glue to one end of the tongue depressor and lay in the center of the back side of the paper. Bend the edges to the back and glue in place. Ink the edges. With a fine tip Sharpie marker, write the name of your plants. Easy! They'd be cute tied into a bundle for teacher's gifts.
Nothing makes me happier than a Pretty Little Pinwheel. They are so easy to make! You need a 4-1/4" square of scrapbook paper, a paper straw ... I found mine at Typo in the Mall of America ... a bugle bead, a washer or eyelet, and a brad with extra long prongs, and a UHO glue stick.
With a pencil, lightly draw a line from corner to corner on the back of the paper. Make a mark 1" away from the center on each line. With a scissors, cut on the line to the mark. Mark the center with a dot and erase any lines that show.
Working with the pointy corners of the paper square you cut, bring that corner to the center and glue in place. Work around the square to form a pinwheel and then hold in place for a few minutes until the glue holds. Use the mark you made to punch a hole in the center through all of the layers. I used one of those big Crop-A-Diles.
Flatten out the top end of the straw and punch a hole about 1/2" from the top. Working from the front, push the brad through the pinwheel hole, add the bugle bead, then the washer or eyelet, and finally going through the straw. Leave a little bit of slack so the pinwheel turns and then bend the prongs to hold in place. That's it! They'd be so cute in flower pots for a party!
Pretty Little Posie Pins are so fast because we start with a premade flower. Attach them to your jacket, or a purse, or put them on a hair clip. You'll need a premade flower ... mine was from Pettaloo but I've also used the burlap ones from Maya Road ... a 2-1/2" or little bit larger burlap square, a 5/8" x 4" strip of scrapbook paper, a 2" diameter scalloped circle cut from an old book, 1-1/4"x12" piece of tulle, hot glue, Chestnut Roan chalk ink.
Cut a V in the ends of the paper strip and ink the edges. Ink the scalloped circle too. Glue the strip through the center of the circle and then glue to the burlap. Fold the tulle into thirds ... apply glue to the back of the flower and then lay it over the tulle and glue to the paper unit. Ink the flower and tulle. Attach a pin back. All done!
Everyone needs a Pretty Little Bookmark to mark their place. I opened up my Word program and printed out inspirational words in a font I liked and sized it so it was 1" tall. You can make it any size. I have ribbon at the store with the stitching along the side but you could use any 1-1/2" ribbon and stitch the edges yourself. The only other supplies you need are a stash of embroidery floss, a Frixxion marking pen, and a light box.
Cut your ribbon to 12". Center over your word and trace with a Frixxion pen. Back stitch the word with three strands of floss, knotting off after each letter. At the end ... or you could do the beginning ... of the word, make a Lazy Daisy flower. Add three smaller Lazy Daisy leaves in green. Make a French knot in the center. The flower is made with three strands of floss. Press the stitching to remove the ink. Notch the two ends into a V. A fast gift that you can make at the last minute!
You'll find these on my DIY Cuz It's Fun board on Pinterest. Repin them so your friends can make some too!