Cut Now, Measure Later : Happy Spring!! Felt Flower Headbands :)

Happy Vernal Equinox to you all!!

I hope you're soaking in as much Vitamin D as you can-- I know I am! There is something about sunshine that just makes everything a little happier, you know?

Unfortunately, Larry Sprinkle told me that more silly cold weather is on its way next week. But, the good news is, even if the weather is dreary, you can celebrate bright, happy Spring indoors with these felt flowers!

Today, we're making headbands and hair clips with these felt flowers, but you can use them on anything!

I've seen beautiful, fun bouquets with felt flowers, or you can pin them to your clothes, shoes, dog, whatever!

Jolene loves her accessories. :)

I'm always a fan of cranial accessories, so this is right up my alley!

I looked at several tutorials, and this was the one I liked the best. The "box fold" flower is really straight forward and holds together well. It's also beautiful!

So, this week, rather than make the tutorial myself, I'm going to show you what I did with the flowers inspired by this awesome tutorial from iCandy Handmade.

Check it out here first!

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Ok, so do you love it, or what??

So, after looking over the tutorial, I wanted to

experiment with different flower shapes. :)

Here is what I came up with....

(I just made up these shapes, but you can also find anything you like and trace it! I started with a small circle for each and just drew different petals. You can't do this incorrectly! Just look outside your window, every flower is a little different!)

You can make the flower shape as detailed, curvy, big or small as you like, just remember you have to cut it out FIVE times.

The little petals on the template I made for the yellow flower almost did me in after about the second of five pieces. :-)

Slight variation from the tutorial:

Rather than tracing and then cutting, I just held my templates over the felt and cut around them. (I like cutting out steps where I can.) ;)

Ok, after cutting out the felt, here are the pieces:

I used different shades of purple and pink for those flowers, so don't feel limited to one color choice for your petals!

**I also highly recommend small, very sharp scissors for cutting the felt. It will make the detail work so much easier! I LOVE these from Cutter Bee.

After following the tutorial, I decided to raid my buttons and beads to find fun centerpieces for the flowers.

*My button stash is the result of years of saving the extra buttons that came with sweaters, jackets and shirts. Never underestimate buttons, they can make just about anything even cuter. :)

Ok, so now you can see what the flowers look like with differently shaped petals.

I hope you're getting some ideas!

So, now I have five flowers.... but what to do with them? :)

Well, since they're each destined for a different little head, I asked a few mommies what they preferred.

First, the red flower will be a headband. I followed the blogger's advice about making a "headband sandwich." I made this headband with gray stretchy elastic, so I placed the flower to be able to cover up the seam. Hot glue is your friend here, just be careful. :)

And now, for a super cute flower model:

Second, the yellow flower will be a headband too, but I decided it needed some leaves.

I cut some leaf shapes out of some of the leftover green felt from the green eggs and ham. :) I didn't follow the tutorial for the leaves. I just cut a couple of leaf shapes, (no sewing required), and they were ready to glue!

Glue on the felt backing for the "sandwich" first.

Next, glue the leaves onto the elastic, then glue the flower on top.

Here is what the finished back looks like:

Lovely!

I followed the same process for the purple flower.

Next, the pink flower will be a hair clip--- I just love flowers and bows in hair!

For a more finished look, if you like, you can cover the clip with a ribbon of your choosing, before attaching the flower.

Use a ribbon with about the same width as your clip. Now, apply a small amount of hot glue to the back and press to secure it.

Now, wrap it around the back-end and glue the ribbon to the top of the clip.

You will be wrapping the ribbon over the end of the top prong, so check the length of your ribbon to make sure it isn't too long. Trim it if needed. :)