Two Tips Tuesday

Another Guest Blogger! 
And she is getting crafty!  I have to tell you this guest blogger is one of my favorites and I have been with her since she started her wonderful blog.  Meet Tammy from she wears flowers.  Every single time I peek in on her blog I am mesmerized at her creativity   She is one crafty lady, so sweet, and a mommy of 3 girls which endears her to my heart even more.  What is even more special is that we have developed a friendship outside our blogs with email.  It warms my heart that I can call Tammy a friend and even more so to introduce you to her and her wonderful creativity.

First of all, let me just say, I am giddy with excitement to be a guest blogger on Two Shades of Pink. Besides the fact that I am completely captivated by her blog, I was ecstatic that Jessica actually wanted my tips. When I volunteered, I feared she would politely put me off, but she didn't. Maybe it was desperation, but I am still ecstatic!
 
I am Tammy and I am a relatively new blogger. I like to blog about my crafts and my sewing projects because it helps me organize and balance what I am doing, what I should be doing and what I want to be doing! I spend a lot of time sewing for my three daughters and, recently, finally getting in gear to open my Etsy shop (this week--YAY!). I like other crafts, too, so I try to cover all of my creative bases at one point or another.
 
Tip #1
When I read Jessica's tip a couple of weeks ago about felt and fabric rings using covered buttons, the wheels in my brain just started spinning. I LOVE covered buttons--and, actually, the ones I love are the ones in the kit that she mentioned in her post she didn't want to use. But, that's okay. I knew just what I wanted to do with some covered buttons that have a shank on the back like the ones in the kits. A few supplies later this is where I ended up.

 

This little bracelet is easy to make and quick. I like quick and, if you read my blog, you know I am a big fan of easy, too. I got all of my supplies from Hobby Lobby or JoAnn's.

Supplies:

 

Easy Clasp Bracelets, Button Covering Kit, Fray Check

Scraps of Fabric

Needle and thread

Instructions:

Start by covering your buttons according to the package directions.

 

Next, you will make fabric yo-yo's to layer under your buttons. You will need a fabric circle that is roughly 4 times larger than your button. You will probably have to experiment a time or two with the size by scrunching it together. Once you decide on the right size, cut the same number of squares of fabric as the number of buttons you have covered.

Here's a quick way to turn your square in into a circle or circle-ish shape:

 

Next, stitch around your circle. You want to "skip stitches" so that you can pull the threads and gather the fabric up. Stitch close to the edge being careful not to go off of it. You can also use your sewing machine to do this, but I know Jessica is not friends with hers (yet!) so I thought I should respect that.

 

Pull the threads tightly and carefully so they do not break. When you have a tiny fabric "purse" tie the threads in a knot and trim ends close to the knot.

 

Gently adjust and flatten the tiny purse until it looks like a flower.

 

Hold the flower by the gathering stitches, turn it over, and snip a tiny hole in the back. Put a few drops of Fray-Check on the edges of the hole so your flower doesn't fray later. Let dry completely--maybe 15 minutes.

 

Push the shank of your button through the center of your gathered stitches and out the hole you snipped. Thread the button and flower through your bracelet. Repeat until you have the number of buttons you want. There you go. Don't you love it?

 

 

You can do so much with these little "flowers". I got so excited about these, that I made a hair accessory, too. You can see that at my blog, she wears flowers. 

Tip #2

Nothing says spring to me like pinwheels. (You know, it's the whole "In/out like a lamb and in/out like a lion thing.") This year, I thought I would make my very own. It was really hard to choose which papers to use so I tried a few combinations.

Supplies:

Two-sided paper

Spray adhesive

paper cutter

ruler

small hole puncher or eyelet setting tool (optional)

jumbo brads

hot glue gun

medium wire wreath

felt scraps

spray paint (optional)

Remove the outer loop of your wire wreath. Mine broke off easily, but the next two loops did not and I had to use wire cutters to remove those. Spray paint your wreath the same color or a similar color as your door color. This way, your pinwheels will look as if they are suspended in a circle rather than on a wreath. Let dry while you make your pinwheels. (And, no, I didn't paint mine because I was too lazy it was already really close to the color of my door.)

This is the type of wreath you need:

 

Using your paper cutter to cut as accurately as possible, cut seven 5-inch squares of your main design. Repeat for the secondary design. Using spray adhesive, which will allow your paper to stay flexible still, glue together so you have 7 two-sided 5 inch squares. Trim any excess if necessary.

 

Make one 5 inch square out of scrap paper to use as a template. Draw a diagonal line from one corner to the opposite corner. Measure 2 1/2 inches from the corner along this line and make a mark. Repeat for the opposite corners.

 

Using your small hole punch or an eyelet setting tool (or even a sharp pencil if you are careful)--I'll just call it your "hole-making tool", poke holes through the marks you just made. When you are done, it should look like this:

 

Next, mark your two-sided paper using the template. I made very small and very light marks on the "main" design, but I am showing the secondary design (just a solid yellow) because it shows up better.

 

Cut diagonally from each corner towards the center until you reach the mark. Be sure to cut as straight as possible so your edges look clean and sharp.

 

Punch a hole in the center where you already marked it. Punch holes around the corners--every other triangle point--being certain that you only punch each large triangle once.

 

Put the jumbo brad through the first hole in one corner. Start on the side that is your primary color and push through to the side that is your secondary color. Gently bend the corner with the brad in it towards the center of your square. Be careful you do not fold/crease your paper. 

 

Turning your pinwheel, bend the next corner towards the center and push the brad through it as well. Do the same with the other two corners. Finally, push the brad through the hole in the center and flatten it out at the back of your pinwheel.

Repeat for the rest of your squares.

Glue a ribbon hanger onto your wire first.

 

Glue your first pinwheel to the hanging ribbon. I used low heat glue so that it didn't harden and cool as quickly. I also set my pinwheels around the outside of the wire so I knew where I wanted each one and which direction I wanted to turn it. I didn't want them to be too uniform, but they kind of came out that way anyhow since the pinwheels themselves are already uniform.

Cut 7 one inch felt squares. Hot glue generously in the center of the felt. Quickly glue the felt to the back of the wire and press the pinwheel to it from the front. Because there is a little dip in the center back of the pinwheel, it will not glue easily to the wire without the felt on the other side. This is what it looked like from the bottom, but you do not have to turn it over to do the gluing.

 

 

Hang your wreath and then make some more. 

 

Like I said, it was difficult for me to choose my colors. I couldn't decide between bright and cheerful spring or flowery, soft spring. As I started making these, it occurred to me that they could easily be made out of fabric as well. You can go to my blog  to see what I turned my fabric pinwheels into.

This is also a great craft for older children to do by themselves. My daughters loved making the pinwheels although they had no interest in the crafts made out of pinwheels. Here are some more ideas for paper ones. And, just so you know, all of these crafts were made in one afternoon--they really are quick.

So Fun! I am putting both of these on my craft To DO list!

Happy Tuesday Friends!