How to make paper flowers for Easter twigs

Now it is time to get your Easter twigs inside so that they have time to grow their green leaves. These little paper flowers are simply to make and make poetic and delicate combination with new green leaves.

You will need:

white paper twine

artificial flower stamens

watercolors

wire

flower tape

(scissors and brush)

Cut about 7 cm long piece from the paper twine. Open the other side. Cut it to roundish shape.

Paint the middle of the petal with watercolor.

Take two petals and place 4 artificial flower stamens to form the middle and then collect the other four petals around the stamens.

Attach the petal bouquet with wire. Use flower tape to cover the flower stem.

You are ready! Now you can make these in multiple colors and attach to Easter twigs with some flower tape.

Now I am waiting for the little green leaves to come. My last week and whole weekend went painting Easter eggs. I am working on to make a big post about glamorous egg painting ideas for this week. It is only three weeks till Easter. Where did the weeks go? :)

Do you have any plans to craft for Easter? What kind of Easter decorating traditions do you have?

Sannu

Project of the week: Pom pom chandelier

This project took several days because felting balls and making pom poms is quite time consuming. I have noticed that when I have a strong vision on something I find myself able to do monotonic work for days just to see the result. This was one of those projects. I also needed the color therapy this felting/pom pom workout offered. It was just plain lovely to be surrounded by all this amount of color! And wool as a material is so soft and warm. During the hours of work I watched DVD boxes and listened to radio. Penny Dreadful is one of those series I would not be watching at dark, but when felting bright colored pom poms in a daylight it was not too scary. It is a brilliant series but almost too scary to get through. Now that I got hooked I can´t wait for another season to come. Maybe then I will make more pom poms :)

The chandelier makes me smile. I am enjoying so much this combination of different colors and materials with soft light. 

Do you have similar need for color this time of the year? Does your color palette change according to the seasons? 

This week I will share more ideas for spring and coming Easter. Keep in touch!

Sannu

DIY: crocheted hangers

Today I will share three easy patterns for crocheted hangers. I got the inspiration for this little DIY project from an old hanger that was beautifully decorated with blue cotton yarn (the one in the middle). I found eight bare wooden hangers from flea market that were waiting for some decoration. As it is spring and I have a strong need for bright new colors I picked three pastel/neon colors: two shades of green and raspberry. All pure cotton yarn.

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So you will need:

a wooden hanger

a hook (1,75-2,5 mm is good)

cotton yarn 

scissors 

and a needle (to combine parts together).

In all the models you have to make two similar pieces that you put in from both sides of the hanger and combine in the middle. Fit the piece to your hanger and make as many rounds as you need. The small part that comes from the hanger and forms a hook is crocheted separately (=chain 16, crochet double crochet rounds so that the piece covers the part and you can sew it to a tube and sew to the bigger hanger part).

Model 1. Chain 4 and combine to a ring. Round 1. Chain 2 and crochet 10 double crochets to the ring and close the round with a slip stitch to the first double crochet in the round. Round 2. Chain 2 and crochet a double crochet in every stitch and every fourth stitch crochet two double crochets. In the end of the round you will have 14 stitches. Close the round as in the last round. Round 3. Now you can start the pattern. Chain 2 and crochet a double crochet in every of the following 8 stitches, then chain one and miss one stitch, after this crochet a double crochet in every following 4 stitches. Close the round. Repeat the round 3 as many times needed that the piece reaches the middle of the hanger. Make another piece but note that when making the pattern turn it to fit the opposite side! Round 3. so being: chain 2, crochet a double stitch in every following 3 stitches, chain 1 miss 1 and crochet a double stitch in every following 9 stitches. Close the round. Put in the parts to cover the hanger and combine.

Model 2. Chain 4 and combine to a ring. Round 1. Chain 2 and crochet 9 double crochets to the ring and close the round. Round 2. Chain 2 and *crochet a double crochet in the next stitch and 2 to the second* repeat. In the end of the round you will have 15 stitches. Close the round. **Round 3. Chain 2 and crochet one double crochet in every stitch. Close. Rounds 4. and 5. make as the round 3. Round 6. Chain 3 and crochet a double crochet to the second stitch. *Chain 1 and miss 1, crochet a double stitch to the following stitch.* Repeat. Close. Rounds 7. and 8. Go to the space between double crochets and chain 3. *Crochet a double crochet in space between double crochets and chain 1.* Repeat. Close the round. Repeat rounds 3.-8. to get the piece to wanted length.

Model 3. Chain 4 and combine to a ring. Round 1. Chain 2 and crochet 9 double crochets to the ring and close the round with a slip stitch to the first double crochet in the round. Rounds 2., 3. and 4. Chain 2 and crochet a double stitch in every stitch. Round 5., 6. and 7. Chain 1 and crochet a simple stitch in every following stitch. Close. Repeat the rounds 2.-7. This is a tighter model, but you can add stitches if needed by crocheting more double crochets to the ring or making round 2. as in the model 1 or 2.

***

I like to have these hangers in my corridor so that when ever a guest comes there is an extra hanger to give. It is even better that these crocheted hangers represent the whole DIY style of my apartment.

You can also make just one hanger for a beautiful garment you want to hang to your wall.

Sunny spring days to you all!

Sannu

DIY idea: Needle felted garland

This needle felted garland is a fun project because it includes different techniques and lots of color and some glitter.

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You will need:

styrofoam hearts

wool rowing (in wanted colors)

felting needle

Marseilles-soap

and

warm water for felting the beads between the hearts

plus

golden crocheting yarn

and

1,75 mm hook > for crocheting wanted letters to the hearts

small nails

golden/ glittery beads

very thin crocheting yarn (to which you can string hearts and beads) and long thin needle.

1. Needle felt the styrofoam hearts. Add a thin layer of felt to the heart and stab the heart with the needle to attach the felt. Add felt little by little to get an even surface.

2. Make felted balls with soap and warm water. Take a little amount of felt and make it a tight bundle. Dip the bundle to warm water and add some soap. Start rolling the wool between your hands (like you´d make a bun). Don´t press too hard in the beginning.

3. Crochet letters of your choice. This could make a beautiful Happy Birthday garland too with more hearts. Crocheting the letters is not difficult because they don´t have to be so precise. Just chain some loops and shape the letter with second round using single crochets and slip stitches. You can also cut the letters from golden cardboard. Attach the letters by small nails (craft shops sell very small nails).

4. Then it is time to string the hearts and beads with thin crocheting yarn. I didn´t go through the hearts as I haven´t got a needle that long. I just sew first in from the other side of the heart and came out from the middle (at the wrong side) and then in and out from the other side.

5. Hang the garland with the yarn coming from both ends of the garland.

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As I made this garland to my kitchen it inspired me to make rearrangements in the whole kitchen :) 

 The text is from Star Trek :) Every day is a kind of final frontier where no one has been before. So lets be bold with tomorrow.

Sannu