DIY Egg carton wreath

Hi everyone.  Did you vote yesterday?  I took Baby Chuck into the voting booth.  He wasn't too sure about the candidates, but he was very excited about pushing the buttons.

As I sit here and watch the results coming out on tv, I thought I would post my adventures crapting this egg carton wreath.  Since this DIY involves crap (egg carton), it technically should be posted on Friday.  But, I was so happy with how it turned out that I just couldn't wait.  (I also took a bunch of photos of the flowers for my blog facelift.  Do you like it?)

I think this is my favorite crapt so far.  It's pretty, cheery, and colorful.  It's also super easy to make.

Materials:
- egg carton (<--crap)
- cereal box
- craft paint
- paintbrushes
- hot glue gun (or possibly any other strong glue)
- scissors

Directions:

Step 1:  Get yourself an egg carton.

Step 2:  Cut the lid up into leaves.

Step 3:  Cut the egg cups up into different flower shapes.

RIP Egg carton- This is all that's left

Step 4: Cut out a ring from a cereal box (I traced a bowl and plate to create the ring)

Step 5:  Paint and let everything dry (I also doodled "hello," cut it out, and painted it)

Step 6:  Glue everything onto the wreath (I glued the leaves first, then the "hello," then the big flowers, and then the small flowers)

Happy Wednesday!

 Let's keep in Contact!

Like kids crafts and activities?  Then you'll definitely want to check out this awesome craft ebook!  It contains 115 pages of unique crafts written by 18 kid craft loving moms!  And, it costs only $12.99!

   

And, you can always find  fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!  (Or subscribe to my email mailing list by filling out the pink bar at the top of your screen.)

Happy making, friends!

DIY Felt Flower Lapel Pin / Boutonniere

It's official!  Fall is now upon us.

With cooler temperatures rolling in, Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I are changing up our wardrobes.  We're putting on long sleeve shirts and pants, no longer shaving our legs (oh wait, that's just me- tmi?), putting on shoes instead of sandals (goodbye sandal tan), and wearing jackets.

Hubby been looking forward to fall ever since we've moved back east because he loves wearing jackets to work.  As a serious lover of all things stylish, he's also hinted that he'd love some small flowers to adorn his lapel (as seen here.)  I peeked around the internet for inspiration and then set out to make him some felt flower lapel pins.      

Here are the materials I used:
- freezer paper
- good scissors
- pencil
- felt in an assortment of colors  (*See note below) 
- iron
- hot glue gun
- bobby pin(s)
- needle and thread

*Note:  I bought cheap polyester felt from the craft store.  (30 cents a piece?  You just can't beat that price.) You would definitely get a more polished look if you purchased nicer wool felt.  We initially created these pins as mockups, thinking that we'd create real ones with wool felt later on.  But, the pins came out so nice that we just decided to use them.  How long will the pins last?  Will they quickly look ratty?  I'm not sure.  Let's see what happens once hubby starts wearing them to work.

Step 1:  I created a flower pattern that was kind of Van Cleef & Arpels meets Orla Kiely.  I traced that pattern onto freezer paper and ironed it (waxy side down) to adhere the paper to my felt.  This process make it easier to cleanly cut my tiny felt shapes out.  (Special thanks to Make It Cozee for the tip!)

Step 2:  I cut out my flower shapes, circle shapes (flower centers), and square shapes (flower backs).

Step 3:  I used a hot glue gun  (it was my first time using one!!!) to glue the squares onto the flowers.  I did this so that my flowers pins would feel a bit more substantial, since I used cheapy felt.  Plus, I didn't want my stitches (step 4) to be visible. 

Step 4:  After the glue dried, I sewed a bobby pin to each square, making sure to not sew through the front of the flower.

Step 5:  I hot glued a circle to each flower to complete my little garden of felt flower lapel pins.

Here's how the pin looks on hubby's jacket.  I just slipped the bobby pin through the lapel buttonhole.  (Note:  I had to cut the hole first because it was sewn shut.)

I think the pins came out super cute and add just the right touch of whimsy.  They'll definitely spruce up hubby's work outfit.  Hmm, but why stop at just work outfits?  I bet these little guys would also look really cute as wedding boutonnieres too... don't you think?