Paper Flower Topiary

**This tutorial is intended for personal use only.**

Paper is a fantastic medium for creating quick and easy projects. I've chosen to use pastel colored card stock to make this cheerful Spring topiary.


For this project, I am using a 1-1/4" 6-petal flower punch and a 5/8" circle punch. This is the perfect opportunity to use up those scrap pieces of card stock that you have laying around. Punch out as many as you think you will need for this project.


Glue the circles to the center of each flower. Cut a slit into the center between two petals. Overlap the petals, one over the other, and glue into place.


You will also need straight pins and pearls for this project.


Place a pearl onto a straight pin and pass the pin through the center of each flower.


Aren't they pretty? It looks like sweet sherbety goodness to me!


Cover the styrofoam base by wrapping it with strips of fabric 1" in width. Secure the fabric into place with straight pins.


Arrange the flowers onto the base by pressing the pins into the styrofoam.


This is a very satisfying project that looks very labor intensive, but it's not. If you don't tell, I won't!

Happy creating!

Aloha!

Scrapbook Mini

I am not quite sure why this happens to me...but it does, all the time. I don't care for something one minute, and the next, I'm totally gaga over it. Hop on over to YouTube and search for mini albums scrapbooking and you will be blown away. It seems the general theme, aside from creating something of beauty, is to get as many items onto each page with pockets, add ons, and such. I'm hooked and just beginning my journey into scrapbook minis.

I am very happy with the cover so far but feel that it is still way too plain. I mean, it is lacking ribbons and fibers and general bling bling.


I've just completed binding the pages, each of which has a pocket complete with inserts.


I already expect that this scrapbook is going to be a fatty, one that does not lay flat nor close well. That's okay. It will be loaded with all kinds goodies, and hopefully, baby's one year old party memories.

Have a fun weekend, everyone!

Aloha!

Sweet Springtime Gift Pocket

**This tutorial is intended for personal use only.**

This is a quick and easy gift pocket that can be made in under 30 minutes. It is perfect for Springtime gift giving and makes a wonderful vessel for gift cards and small treats.

The pocket also looks just darling hanging from a bedroom door knob. What a wonderful place to leave little notes and treats for the little ones in your life. Think of the anticipation and the smiles that it will bring to their faces when they come home from school to find a note or a treat waiting for them.

I recommend using wool or wool blend felt for this project. It is a firm, flat felt in comparison to it's acrylic counterpart. Felt seams require no extra finishing. This makes it the ideal crafting medium when you need to finish something in a hurry.


This pattern is made from very basic shapes. The actual body of the pocket is one-half of a 12-inch circle. Look around your home for items to trace like large bowls, platters, or plate chargers.

Begin by tracing a 12-inch circle onto paper. Fold it in half and cut at the fold. The pattern is 1/2 of the 12-inch circle. Cut one from felt.

Cut a 1" x 11" piece of felt for the handle.

For the flower, cut three circles in the following sizes: 2-3/4", 2-1/4", 1-1/2".


To make the flower, cut 8 slits approximately 1-inch in length into each circle. Round off the corners of each of the 8 segments.



Stack the flowers on top of each other, ending with the smallest flower on top. Choose a coordinating stack of buttons that match your project. Set this aside while you prepare the pocket.


Using your sewing machine and a contrasting color of thread, top stitch a generous 1/4" from the curved edge of the pocket.

Top stitch a generous 1/4" on both sides of the handle. For extra durability, sew an additional line of stitching down the center of the handle. Since the handle will be enduring the brunt of the weight, stitching will help to keep it from stretching.

This project can also be hand stitched, but machine stitching will certainly speed up the process.


Using either pinking or scallop shears, trim both sides of the handle approximately 1/8" away from the top stitching. Do the same with the curved side of the pocket.


Bring both sides of the pocket evenly to the center, overlapping until the finished piece measures 4-1/2-inches. Pin in place.


Top stitch a generous 1/4-inch from the straight edge to close the bottom of the pocket.


Again, trim with decorative shears close to the stitching line.


Hand stitch the flower to the pocket through the button center. Be sure to sew through both layers of the overlapped area as this will keep the upper portion of the pocket from opening up.

To keep the flower from falling forward, add a small drop of fabric glue to the backside of the upper three petals in the last row and and glue it down onto the pocket.


Attach the handle to the pocket by machine or with a few hand stitches. Sew on a decorative button to cover the stitches and to provide a little extra color and whimsy.


Sweet Springtime Gift Pockets. It's always the little things that bring me such joy!


Happy Easter, everyone!

Aloha!

Branch: The Story

While busily working on party fare, one sister turns to the other and says, "We need to create height on the candy shoppe table. I think I need a tree branch, an old dead, dried one. Do you happen know where we could get our hands on one?"

"What??? What are you going to do with that?" Older sister excitedly explains her plans to middle sister. With a bewildered and hesitant look on her face, middle sister agrees to send her son on a little hiking trip to the mountains in search of the perfect branch.

Several similar conversations later and still, no branch.

While sitting in her car at a stop light on a busy highway, middle sister gazes outside to find what looks like part of a branch sticking unobtrusively from the hedges alongside the road. She quickly finds a parking spot and runs to the location.

In a very busy intersection with many curious onlookers, the good middle sister removes the branch that is wedged into the bushes. Embarrassed and bleeding after being poked by it's many thorns, middle sister quickly telephones her older sister with the good news. "I found a branch! I found a branch! I think this is exactly what you are looking for. It's dead and dried and it leans to one side just like you described. I think it's just perfect!"


And it was.


Tiny clusters of red paper flowers...


with faceted beaded centers.


Chartreuse green leaves on delicate branches...


surrounded by sweet ladybugs.


It turned out exactly the way I had envisioned it would.

Aloha!

Congratulations, Grandma Chicken!

Many thanks to all that have taken the time to drop by and enter the Good Eggs Giveaway. Your comments were heartwarming and delightful.

I am happy to report that a winner has been chosen by random number generator. Without further ado, the winner is entry number 9, imagrandma2five, a.k.a., Grandma Chicken of Grandma Chicken's House. Don't you just love her name?

Congratulations!


Have a wonderful day!

Aloha!

Party Prep

My sister and I have been working feverishly over the last several weeks creating ladybug themed items for her granddaughter's first birthday party.


We just finished these sweet rosette napkin rings last night.


We also decorated several bins which will be used to hold packages of candy in the birthday party sweet shoppe.


We have been working like busy little ladybugs trying to get it all done. The party is a mere 8 weeks away and there's still a lot more to do. Can't wait to see how all the components will fit together. Will keep you posted!

Thank you all for entering the giveaway and for posting such wonderful comments. I cannot tell you how many times I laughed out loud at some of them and with others, reflected back to my own childhood.

I appreciate that you take the time to visit me and most of all, thank you for your kindness. You are just too sweet!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Aloha!

Good Eggs Giveaway

THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING!

I believed in the Easter Bunny for way too many years. Even when I was old enough to reason, I continued to have my doubts about whether he actually existed. I am the eldest of 4 siblings and my parents kept the Easter Bunny legend alive and well for many, long years. Something inside of me said that if I stopped believing, I would end up without an Easter basket on Easter morning. So I continued to sorta-believe for most of my early years. Just in case.

I tried to keep the Easter Bunny legend alive with my son too. It worked when he was really young but when he got old enough to comprehend, he kept pressing me about how the Easter Bunny could possibly get into our house to deliver his basket since we kept all of our doors locked. Only after you have dealt with an overly intelligent, know-it-all, persistent 5 year old, would you come to understand the difficulty of keeping up the ruse.

Okay, so my story was an outright lie. I told him that the Easter Bunny was able to enter our home through our front door by opening the lock with the tips of his ears. I know that it sounds completely insane but that was a line that I had taken from one of his storybooks. If it was in print then he'd believe it, right?

Yes, I'm still asking myself, WHAT WAS I THINKING?? Couldn't I have come up with something better?? I will never forget how he challenged me and said that it was impossible and that I should stop telling stories and that lying was bad. The kid was as smart as a whip and wasn't buying any of it. As the years progressed, I blew the Easter Bunny's cover. I had to. It became increasingly difficult dealing with this issue. The kid had finally worn me down.

A part of me cannot wait to see how he will handle this with his own children. I hope that I am around the conversation just so that I can watch Mr. Smartypants get grilled the way he grilled me.

Yes, even though they were trying times, I still believe that it is a parents right to pass along these childhood legends. If I had to do it all over again, I would. Except for the part about opening the door with the tips of his ears. I'd probably change that to something about the Easter bunny and his magical powers or something. That somehow seems a lot more logical to me now. *Smirk*

A huge thank you goes out to Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches for inviting me to participate in her Good Eggs Giveaway. I expect that you will have loads of fun as there are a good number of participants giving away some really wonderful items. My giveaway is open to everyone. As you hop along the bunny trail, please be sure to read each participants rules as they may differ.

I thought that I'd pass along a small piece of Hawaii through this giveaway. I know that I live in a very special place thanks to generations before me who decided to make their home here in the islands.

This giveaway will include eight, 1/2-yard cuts of 45" dress-weight Hawaiian print fabric.


A box of Maui Caramacs and a box of Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts.


A box of Kona Coffee Macadamia Nut Cookies.


A Floor Buddy. I don't know if these are unique to Hawaii or not. They are usually kept in the kitchen on the floor to wipe up small spills. The bottom is lined in an absorbent terry cloth. You slip it onto your foot like you would slippers and use your foot to wipe up the mess. No more bending!


Lastly, a colorful Surf's Up mug for hot or cold beverages.


My giveaway will run from March 24, 2010 through midnight EST on March 28, 2010. A winner will be selected by random number generator on March 29, 2010 and the package will be mailed on March 31, 2010. Please be sure that you leave me a way to contact you should you be the winner.

To enter this giveaway, please comment under this post. Any comment will do but an Easter related comment would be much appreciated. One entry per person please.

Please click HERE to continue hopping down the bunny trail for more fun!

Aloha!