Fabric Pumpkins, NO Sewing

These pumpkins are soooo easy.  Just use some fall fabric that matches you fall decor.  You only need half of yard or a fat quarter of fabric.  A half a yard will make two pumpkins.  Then grab a package of toilet paper, yes I said toilet paper.  Place the roll in the middle of your fabric.  Pull up the sides and push them in the hole of the toilet paper roll, and then do the corners.  Add a steam of a cinnamon stick, or cut a piece of a branch of a tree, or a roll of cardboard.  Add leaves cut from felt or paper, or from a silk plant.  Raffia bows would look good too.  The best thing is they're easy to make.  The second best part is they hardly take any space to store till next year, just take out the toilet paper and store the fabric, stem and leaves!

If you bought a 1/2 yard of fabric cut it in half to make two squares.  

(It doesn't need to be an exact square.)

 

 

 

Start with the shortest sides.

 



 

Then the other sides.

 

 

Now the corners.

 

 

Make a stem and leaves.  I used pieces of a branch, some leaves off of a silk ivy plant and vines made of florist wire wrapped with florist tape.  I wired them together with florist wire. 

 

 

This fabric was a thick flannel so I needed to trim the corners to get it to work. 

To make a more rounded bottom like the center and right pumpkin I put a large plastic lid under the roll of toilet paper.

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Make a flag from paint sticks!

I'm proud to live in our country, and I love our flag.  I get excited every year to put up my patriotic decorations.  To me they look summery so I have them out for most of the summer.  One of my favorites is this paint stick flag I made years ago when I was a cub scout leader.  The boys had fun and their flags looked good.  I would be so easy to make with your own children.

You need per flag:
7 paint sticks, these are 14 inch
wire, (I used door bell wire) 2 white are 18 inch, 1 red is 16 inch
16 stars, I made these with a dye-cut machine at a scrapbook store,  1 1/8 inch wide

You also will need:
paint: red, white and blue
foam paint brushes
wire cutters
drill
sand paper
masking tape
clear spray

Adult preparation:
Have one flag made for the boys to look at.
Use rubber bands to hold six paint sticks together.  Drill holes with 1/16 drill bit. 
Holes are 1/4 inch from edge, 3 1/2 inches from ends.
Make sure to drill straight so all the sticks will be the same. 
Drill the seventh paint stick with holes only at the top.  This will be the bottom stripe.  Lightly with a red pencil write red on this paint stick. 

Sand with sand paper any ruff wood left from drilling holes.
Use masking tape to make a line to paint blue on 4 paint sticks.  6 1/2 inchs of blue.

Instruct boys to not use too much paint so it will dry faster.
Paint the blue on the 4 taped sticks, allow to dry.

While the blue dries paint 2 sticks all red.  One must be the one with red written on it.
Paint 1 paint stick all white.
Take tape off of the sticks painted blue.
Put tape over the blue to make line to paint the other half  red or white.

Paint 2 of the half blue sticks red.
Paint 2 of the half blue sticks white.

Make a knot in one end of the white wires.
Lay out the seven paint sticks to look like a flag.
Start with the red stick with only the top holes. Bring wire through hole from the bottom.  Stitch the stripes together. 
Wrap excess wire around pencil to make spirals. 
Use red wire to make a hanger.
Glue on stars, let me make their own pattern if they want.
Spray with clear spray

 

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Year of the Dragon

I saw this great idea in the FamilyFun Magazine Feb 2012.  We were invited to a Chinese New Year Party.  I thought it would be fun for our grandkids to have something fun to keep them busy.  The dragon in FamilyFun was painted with fabric paints.  I sewed ric rac and buttons on these.  You could use hot glue instead of sewing.  You could glue on felt eyes, buttons could come off and become a choking hazard if the child is under 3.  For the free pattern go to FamilyFun.com/funshop. Search for "Dragon of the Year."

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Fancy Hair Flowers

I'm not the most crafty girl and I don't sew.  I am however super cheap so these fancy hair flowers and I are a perfect match. The key words here are EASY & CHEAP.  Believe me if I can do it you can do it!  I can make a few while watching my favorite movie and then have baby shower gifts ready in advance. 

Here's what you'll need:

1/8 yard of poly-satin fabric (this will make about 4 to 8 flowers depending on the size you do)

Scissors

Hot clue (my best crafting friend)

Candle

Hair clip

Jewels,buttons, or beads for center

 To start you need five circles for the actual flower, then I cut an extra of the smallest to glue the flower and clip all together.  I have made a pattern for myself because sometimes I can be a prefectionist but really free handing it will work fine because you end up burning the edges.  My circles are 3 1/2in, 3 in, 2 1/2 in, 2 in, and 1 1/2 in across. If you're making multiple flowers double or triple your fabric to save time in cutting.

Next cut four slits in your beautiful circles.

Burn the edges of each petal so that they curl in.  

They should look similiar to this when you're done.  Now, use your hot glue gun to glue the flowers together.  I start with the biggest and work my way up and alternate how the petals lay so they don't look stacked.

Next glue the extra small circle (which I cut in half to conserve) in between the two prongs on the clip.  This will help the clip go on easier.

Glue the flower to the top of the clip.

Last but not least add a little bling to the middle.  I've used a vairety of beads, buttons and jewels. 

There's so many options with these fun flowers.  You can add them to wreaths, head bands, frames or anything else you want!  I recently just made a fun necklace with them.  (More on that later!)

Go ahead and get creative, alternate colors or try patterned fabric.  Have fun!

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