Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts

Monday, May 23, 2011

How Does Your {Fairy} Garden Grow?

Do you have a fairy garden? We planted our this weekend. It adds so much charm to our yard. If you want to create a special place for the fairies in your garden, you probably need to know a few things:

1~ Fairies love flowers. They use them for all things and are even named for their favorites. They make beds out of them, hide in them, jump on them, and even use some to drink from. Use lots of different plants in your garden.
2~ Fairies like all things shiny, gems, glass, glitter, and mirrors. They love anything sparkly, so make sure to leave some pretty things  in your garden.
3~ Like all magical creatures, fairies love sweet things. We like to leave out crumbs of bread or cake with frosting or honey. Just a little goes a long way because fairies are not very big.
4~ Fairies love color almost as much as they love sparkles. They like bright pieces of fabric and ribbon or any other colorful things to decorate their spaces with. Make sure to add a splash of color sometimes, you will find the fairies may leave things in your garden as they add to the beautiful place you have made for them. We find gems and other new things all the time.
5~ Water, fairies need water.  You can create a small pond, or use a thimble or milk cap to leave some water out for them. 
6~ Fairies like fun music, but they don't like loud noises, so if you are outside hollering or fighting with your siblings, you will scare them away.
7~ If you don't believe in fairies, they won't come to your garden. They want to be celebrated and loved and won't waste their time where they are not treated well. 
 We used some accessories that Grandma Daisy bought from our local nursery. I love the miniature gardening tools, beehive, and birdbath. My little man loves the boy fairy statue. My son wanted a river, so we used some blue glass gems from the dollar store. He collected rocks from the yard to make a stone path from the  house and across the bridge. Isn't it lovely!?!?
When you make your garden, find a container with a large surface area. This way you will have lots of space for all the fun things you wan to put in it. You could use an old wagon, washtub, or a planter shaped like a bowl. Make sure it has good drainage. We punched holes into the bottom of our washtub with nails and a hammer to make sure the water could drain well. Try to find plants with little flowers and leaves, and that don't grow too big, or you will outgrow your space. We used thyme, lobeilia, bacopa, and blue spruce seedum among others. Use your imagination when looking for plants. Look for small plants that might look like tress to fairies or for ground cover that will spread and look like a green meadow. Use your imagination, anything is possible!!!

Do you have a fairy garden? What things do you include? Do you have any tips? We'd love to know more~ if you would share your thoughts we would be grateful!

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Fabric Flower Tutorial {You asked, and now you finally get to learn how!}


A little over a year ago, I started this blog on a whim, not exactly sure where it was going, or if anyone would ever look at it {thanks, everyone, for being a part of Crazy Daisy, which simply would not be without you}. These flowers were posted in those early days.


I had the confidence to share them, but not to tell how to make them. You asked, but I didn't think I really knew how to write a great tutorial. However, in this year I have learned a lot,  found some focus and direction, grown a little confidence, and am finally sharing the how! So, if you are still interested, here you go. Thanks for hanging in there and being so patient as I journey through this adventure.

You will need:

*Fabric
*Scissors (you may want to use a rotary cutter and cutting mat, if you have them)
*Needle
*Thread
*Fabric Glue
*Buttons or other embellishments
*Broach Clips, Alligator Clips, Headbands, or whatever you wish to use your flowers for

Method:

1. Fabric. Think about your fabric. In my opinion, batiks work best because both sides of the fabric are colored which means if your flower is wispy or has movement, there will never be a discolored ugly side peeking through. You can use regular fabrics, but I would reserve them for flowers with shallow cuts so that the petals won't have room to flip or twist showing the wrong side of the fabric.

2. Width. Think about how big you want your finished flower to be. Cut a strip, the width of the fabric, half as wide as you want your flower to be. For example, if you want a flower to be about 5 inches in diameter, cut a 2 1/2 inch strip the width of the fabric. Sometimes when my flowers are smaller, I don't need the entire strip, and sometimes when they are larger, I actually use two strips, layering the flowers for extra fullness. It just depends on how full you want your finished product to be. After you play with it a little, you will get a feel for what works best for you.

3. Petals. Get creative. This is where you design the type of flower you want. Fold your strip in half, carefully lining edges. You can just cut, or draw your pattern first using a sewing marker (the ink disappears with water). Make sure your pattern, specifically your petals, end at the folds and not somewhere in the middle or you will have some funky two-headed petals in your flowers.

You will be able to change the kind of flower you make, by altering the way you cut your fabric. Here are some examples. The sky's the limit!

4. Gather. Thread needle. Tie a knot in the end. Push the needle through the end of your strip, the knot will keep it from slipping though. Keeping pretty close to the straight edge, push the needle back and forth through the fabric until you reach the other end, gathering the fabric as you go. When you reach the end of the strip, knot the thread so things don't unravel as you finish up.

5. Shape. Your flower will naturally curl. Using that curl, shape your flower by curling it into a circle. Use fabric glue, or stitch your flower into place. You may either leave your flower as is, or add a button or other embellishment in the center. Again, glue or stitch as preferred.

7. Finish. Cut a small circle of felt and glue on the back over the center to hide your stitches or glue mess and to anchor things down. You can attach a broach clip, headband, or alligator clip, depending on how you want to use your flowers. You could even glue or stitch them directly onto a bag or other project.

Was this tutorial helpful? If you have any questions, let me know. Hopefully, you can follow my directions. I would love to know how you plan on using your flowers and even seeing your finished projects. Leave me a comment, or even a link sharing your ideas. Enjoy your new flowers!

PS - This is the kind of glue that I like to use.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Mothers Day Flowers







Mothers Day Flowers

The best ever Mothers Day Flowers with their their cheap prices.


1. Scented Pleasure
£19.99

2. Narnian Dreams
£34.99

3. Pink Purity
£29.99

4. Beautiful Smile
£29.99

5. 50 Purple Tulips
£24.99

6. Bali Hai
£19.99

7. Secret Garden
£19.99

8. Sugar and Spice
£19.99

9. Scarlet OHara
£24.99

10. Ocean Whisper
£29.99 You save:£5 (14%)

11. 20 Luxury Red Roses
£39.99

12. Purple Blaze
£24.99

13. Eden
£29.99

14. Twilight
£19.99

15. Pink tulips in giftbag
£24.99

16. Summer meadow
£29.99

Friday, May 14, 2010

Chair Planter Reveal!!!



Remember these chairs from this post?


I bought them off of a neighbor for only $1 each! Can you believe it? Originally, I planned on refinishing them in bright colors with themes to match my boys' personalities. They hung out in my garage for at least a year until I decided that we really didn't have room for anymore pint-sized furniture. I was on the lookout for inspiration when I remembered the planters I had seen at our local nursery. They have the most beautiful things! I have always wanted one of their wheel barrow or chair planters. An idea was born! Why couldn't my old chairs be turned into something like that? 

I don't have the best tutorial pictures for this project because even though I started with a plan, as with most plans, things didn't happen exactly as I had imagined. But that's okay, I followed the path that best worked to make those old brown chairs into my pretty little planters- and that is all that really matters. First I had to figure out how I was going to attach the basket. After considering cutting a hole into the middle of the seat, I opted for taking the entire seat off. This worked for me because I was able to find wire hanging baskets, at Wal-mart, that actually fit inside the chair pretty well. I enlisted my dad's help for drilling through the rivets that held the wooden seat on. I was surprised at how easy dismantling the chairs was.  

Paint. I thought this would be the easiest part. Wrong! I in-visioned a creamy distressed look. My intentions were to paint the chairs blue, only to cover it with a creamy white and then sand the chairs in some places to let the blue peek through. 


However, once I saw the blue, I fell in love with the beautiful color - but I still wanted a distressed look. I took the cream color and lightly spayed over the blue paint. It was totally splotchy and speckled and really uneven. But I was hoping it would give me a worn look. Then I sprayed blue right over the top of it. It ended up looking like this.


After the paint had dried, I pushed the baskets through the bottom and wired them to the chairs. A couple coconut liners and some flowers and just look at how they turned out!





 I have always loved the idea of transforming everyday objects into extraordinary things that are rare and unique only to me and I am tickled with how these turned out! I can't wait for the flowers to grow a little and cascade down the chairs!

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Monday, April 12, 2010

Coffee Filter Flowers and Butterflies: Kids Apply


I love afternoons like these! You know, where you gather around the table with your kiddos creating wonderful projects! This is one of my favorites because the flowers always turn out different and we have such fun laughing together. We like to give bouquets of these fun flowers to grandma for Mother's Day or on May Day.

You will need



and this



and some of these too (aren't they cute)



First use markers (might I suggest the washable kind) and color your coffee filters. Anything goes!



Really, ANYTHING...



Then pinch them together in the center like this



and wrap a pipe cleaner pretty tightly around it, like this



Spread your little flower out and give it a little spray. Make sure your bottle is set to mist and gently spray your flower until it is damp enough for the colors to do their thing.



Now let them dry. They don't take too long. I usually stand them in a vase, jar or even a tall glass so they aren't laying down.



Aren't they fun?
If you would like, you can also make butterflies like this


Pinch them in the middle like this


Wrap half of a pipe cleaner around the center


and twist to make the attennae


Now give them a little squirt, let them dry, and there you have it! Wouldn't they be cute glued to clothespins and magnets?

Grab your kiddos and have some fun!

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