Spring Decor and My First Mini-tutorial!

Ok, being super busy with three young children and a baby business, it's not like bunnies and flowers are popping up all over the house. But, I did manage to finally take down the Christmas stars and paper ornaments and replace them with something more befitting the season. (Or rather the season we are supposed to be having, whenever we can get rid of this 30 degree weather...)

Butterflies and flowers scream spring, only here they do it in a subtle way. And the message in the middle, LIFE, is what spring is all about to me. Here in the frozen north, life really seems to begin again come the warmer weather. People emerge from hibernation and make the most of the long hours of daylight. But, most importantly, Easter, my favorite holiday comes in spring. And He is life to me.

A field of crepe paper flowers

And, just in case you had any interest in how I made these flowers, I recorded the process and will now be dipping my toe in the tutorial waters. Bear with me, it's my first!

I'm sure you've seen similar flowers all over the web. They're made from simple crepe paper. But my method of putting them together is a bit of a twist.

Grab your crepe paper!

Begin that flower.

I prefer to gather it under the center. And in order to create a slightly cupped shape gently stretch it along the top, then pinch, turn and gather. I made four layers this way, but you could make them fuller I would imagine.

Looking flower like

Then when you have them shaped as you want them, it's time to secure them. Lots of people reach for the glue here, and you could certainly do that, though, you would probably want to do that as you go. That's time consuming and messy to me. So, I sat down at my sewing machine.

Stich the center!

 Gently slide the flower under the presser foot, insert your needle and stich freehanded in a circular motion. Don't make it too tight a circle so that you are sure to catch all of your layers. Remove from your machine and look at that little delicate center.

Pretty little poppy.

Repeat!

 

 

I forgot to document how I applied them to the screen. Rookie mistake! But, I just sprayed the back with a little Fabric Tack, let them get tacky, pressed green ribbon the them, then pressed them to the screen. The glue was tacky enough to hold them there, but they're easy enough to remove later too.

Happy Spring!