Guest Blogger - Bird Crafts - Plush Flowers In Pots

Hi everyone, I am Bird from the Blog Bird Crafts. I live in France with my husband, my two little cherubs (most of the time..), my dog and my sewing machine. We used to live in the England, but moved here nearly ten years ago to start a brand new life à la française! Since discovering the wonderful world of crafts, I am totally hooked and can honestly say that “I’d rather craft than bathe?!” (lol)

I started blogging last November and I’m loving that too! I love to chat and to write (as you’ll find from this post) but I also enjoy making new friends. So feel free to leave me looooads of comments!! :)

At Bird Crafts, I blog about sewing, DIY, home décor, party ideas, thrifty finds, tutorials and recipes - If it’s handmade, chances are I’ll post about it! So after reading this, don’t forget to pop over and have a snoop around!!

Here is a sneak peek at some of my stuff…



By Bird Crafts

Now to the reason I’m here: TUTORIAL TIME.

Today my friends, I am going to show you how to make these super cute

Flower Pots

They are very simple to make and so versatile. Think gift ideas, decorative items for your home, or a party table centre-piece!! If you make this or use it in a craft project, please don’t forget to link back to Bird Crafts!

At the end of the tutorial, you’ll also find out how to enter a fabulous GIVEAWAY or you can visit my etsy shop, so keep reading…

What you’ll need:

1. Patterned fabric for the flower petals. I’m using yellow gingham.




2. White fabric for the flower centre.




3. A small clay pot




4. A 23 cm piece of dowel rod or bamboo




5. Florist tape




6. Fabric pen or pencil




7. Needle and thread




8. Scissors




9. Floral sponge (oasis)




10. Natural moss




11. Synthetic or bamboo fibre




12. Glue gun
    

How to do it:

A. The Flower Head

Using a saucer or round lid as a guide, draw and cut 5 circles from your patterned fabric. I used a 10cm diameter lid.

Draw and cut 2 more circles from the white fabric. Now you have 7 circles!

Do a running stitch around the edge of each circle as shown below

When you’ve gone all the way around, pull the thread slightly to get a small “pouch” and fill with the fibre.

Finish pulling the pouch closed and secure with a couple of stitches.

Repeat for all the other 6 circles.

Now to assemble the flower head. Starting with the petals (patterned fabric), stitch them side by side until you have all the 5 petal joined up.

Using your glue gun, now glue the flower centres (white balls) in the gaps to get the flower head you see above.

B. The Flower Stalk and Pot

Cover you rod or bamboo stick with the florist tape.

Stick your floral oasis into your clay pot and using the glue gun, glue the stalk in the centre.

Using the glue gun again (I just want to kiss the person who invented this!!) glue some moss to hide the floral oasis.

Finally, carefully pull apart a couple of petals on the flower head, apply some hot glue and secure it to the stalk.

Embellish the vase to your liking. I used ribbon and a fabric-covered button to match.

And there you have it, a cute little Flower Pot that would brighten up any window sill!!

If you don’t fancy making these yourself, I am selling them in my Etsy shop :) I also sell plush tulips.
GIVEAWAY – Just to let you know that Bird Crafts is going to celebrate its 3rd month on Valentine’s Day!! Because of this double celebration, I am having my first give-away. Yipee!!

For your chance to win a fabulous prize from Le Creuset range of cookware, just click GIVEAWAY to find out how! Don’t miss it!! :)

Thanks again Michelle,

Wow! Thanks, Bird. Are those Plush Flowers in Pots cute or what? I could see a few of them in different colors throughout my house - especially in my daughter's room. Bird Crafts is an amazing blog (and she speaks three languages). Don't you love the collage of some of what you can find on her blog? EYE CANDY!!! I love her etsy store too! Go visit Bird Crafts today and become a follower if you like what she creates!

Valentine's Paper Crafts

I hope this kick-butt card isn't too shocking to anyone. I laughed when I saw it! How funny! While it was originally made by Polka Dot Thought for a bachelorette party, I think you could make it for Valentine's to go along with your Not-So-Spicy Spicy Dice for the man in your life. Go HERE to see how it was created.

If you want to stamp flowers for Valentine's (or any other occasion), but don't own stamps, NO PROBLEM! Visit Sweet Pea to learn how to stamp using cardboard! This is such a fun idea (especially for those with kids who like to do projects.) Go HERE.
Last week, my kids, the two kids I babysit and I made Valentine's mailboxes. I've been putting special suprises in them each day. However, the mailboxes are sadly falling over and falling apart because I just winged it. No template, no idea! HERE are directions for making mailbox that will stand up and function as a mailbox for more than a few minutes. Thanks to Simply Modern Mom.

Petal Purse & Tuxedo Dress

Parade around in style with a glam-glam petal purse. Learn how to make this beauty at MaryJanes And Galoshes! Click HERE.

While you are at MaryJanes and Galoshes, check out this adorable tuxedo dress! Don't you want to make one for some little girl? Go HERE to learn how. Cute blog!

Tall Candlestick and Posts from Bed/chair Legs!

Remember this post a few days ago about deconstructing a headboard, HERE is another idea that is similar and beautiful. My Repurposed Life has used bed legs, chair legs and posts to make gorgeous, tall candlesticks and decorative posts. Aren't those turquiose ones gorgeous? This idea will add height to mantles, fireplaces, table,... basically anywhere. I can't wait for garage sale season to start!!!

Foam Letter and Shapes Chair Makeover

Make a boring chair into something whimsical, fun and inspirational. I love this chair makeover by The Inadvertant Farmer. She used foam letters and shapes and a thrifted chair to make this baby! How can you not help but smile when you look at it! Go HERE to see how she created it!

Scrabble Tiles Variations

Have an old scrabble game lying around? You can make this fun barrette. Learn about different variations of jewelry you can make with the scrabble tiles (or something like unto it) at Punkin Seed Productions. Go HERE for 3 more ideas.

Four More Valentines' Projects

Here's four projects to help you with Valentines!!!

Use lots of little flowers and straight pins to create this fun heart decoration for Valentine's Day. Using this idea, you could make many other decorations for other holidays. See Punkin Patterns for the how-to. Go HERE.

Help your kids make an adorable alligator Valentines box for their classroom with Crafting In Carolina. It is a vlog! (I couldn't copy a picture.) Lots of other fun stamping and paper crafting ideas found on this site. GO HERE.

Turn your eggshells into a beautifully textured frame. See how this is done HERE at Craft Envy.

Fill a wire basket with roses and flowers to accent a table or Valentine vignette. See more at Brambleberry Cottage. She also is hosting 14 days of Valentine's so link up your Valentine's projects at her site. Go HERE.

Twine Wrapped Letters

I've seen twine wrapped letters before, but I really love this one. I love the corners and how the twine is wrapped on this one. Go HERE to see a close-up of the letter and how A Little of This, A Little of That made it.

Beadboard Heart

I've seen lots of beadboard lately and I've seen many, many hearts lately, but this is the first I've seen of a beadboard heart! Is this not ridiculously darling? I love the boxy, rough corners. I have a feeling that after this idea, we will see many beadboard projects popping up (that aren't just on walls.) Craftify It has the tutorial HERE.

Valentine's Hair Styles

If you have a daughter with long hair and are skilled at braiding, you will want to check out these Valentines hair styles at The Story Of A Princess and Her Hair. Too bad I'm not good at creating art out of my daughter's hair. She won't sit still more than a few minutes. There are 12 ideas on the post found HERE.

Ruffle Sweater Vest

Turn a drab sweater into an exciting ruffly sweater vest with Adventures in Dressmaking. Go HERE for the tute! So Cute! (That rhymed.)

Not-So-Spicy Spicy Dice

Go HERE to enter to win a free, adorable beanie from SMIRK!


As certain holidays are approaching, I often ask my friends what gift they are giving their husbands (Valentine's, Christmas, birthdays, etc.) Recently, one of my friends responded by saying she got her husband some "spicy dice" for Valentine's Day!

"What is that?" was my reply.

She proceeded to show me these three little dice with eight sides. As she explained what they were and as I read the words on the dice, I turned a bright color of red. Yes, I blushed!!! I learned about these types of "games" after the age of 25. A little naive? Absolutely!

"Michelle, you have been married over 5 years. This shouldn't embarrass you anymore," she responded to my change of color and uncomfortable laugh.

"Yes! I have been married that long and I do have 2 kids, but still....that is just too "spicy" and 'kinky' for me!"

I thought about this disturbing little present that evening. Most men would LOVE a present like that, but women like me are terrified by the thought of "spicy dice." (I was the one who would tear up at MY bridal showers if anyone made comments about 'you know what.') I came up with a compromise to give to my husband - inspired by "spicy dice."

Introduce "NOT-SO-SPICY SPICY DICE." The toned-down version that I can tolerate (thought it is still quite a stretch for me.) My husband will die laughing when I give them to him because this will not be expected. I'm not a romantic person! Poor guy. He probably will think it is a joke! Those out there who know me will probably be shocked that I am going to do this, but I am (working up the courage.) I can't believe I am actually blogging about this too!

On one dice is a body part (none of which I would blush to say out loud to my children). One dice has an action (which makes me squirm just a little) and one has a room in the house. I left a "your choice" side on all three so he could make up his own idea. (Breathe deep. I can do this.) I was told by my friend, you shake the three (or two if you don't want to "play" the different room aspect) and do what the dice says. Sounds like.....fun... to me (I'm talking myself into believing this.) So I might have to give him a back massage in the bathroom. OR kiss his legs in the laundry room. Or nibble his arms in the kitchen. Does this sound romantic to you?

My husband deserves to have a Valentine's present he might like. I'm not great at giving him "romantic" gifts. Isn't this what Valentine's is supposed to be about? So this year will be a first! It will be fun to hear his laugh!

Here is how I made my "Not-so-spicy spicy dice." Sorry about the blurry, dark pictures. My camera is mediocre at best!

First, buy little wood blocks from your craft store. Mine are about 3/4"x 3/4". They should be already sanded and smooth. Paint all the edges the color you want them.

Next, print the words you want for your 3 die on "romantic" scrapbook paper leaving enough room to cute out squares to basically cover the wood die. I used different fonts for the different die so I made sure to glue all the body parts on the body parts, etc. dice.

Using a decoupage medium (Mod Podge), glue the papers on all six sides of each dice.

Let it dry overnight. Using a sanding block or file, sand off the edges of the paper that over hang. (How do you take pictures with one hand while doing something that requires two hands?)

Then dab the paint over the very edge of the paper to give it a distressed look.

Mod Podge the blocks one more time to seal the paper and paint and let it dry! You have your toned down version of "NOT-SO-SPICY SPICY DICE." Discreet enough to hold in your hand or hide in a drawer.

There! I have blogged about it and survived. Let's hope I can survive giving this present to him. ARE ANY OF YOU LIKE ME? I need reassurance, please!

If you don't want to make any "NOT-SO-SPICY SPICY DICE", you can buy them in my etsy shop HERE.

What are you giving your husband for Valentine's Day?

Linking to WATF - Works for Me Wednesday, Blue Cricket - Show and Tell, Thrifty Home -Pinching Pennies, ISVC-Celebrate the Holidays, Creations by Kara - Look What I Made