In the world of gift wrapping, I was once overwhelmed. I’d stand, lost, in the aisles of my local Target, one tube of colorful wrapping paper in each hand, trying desperately to find a bow that wasn’t so 1987. By the time I hit the checkout, I was out $10…and frankly, I didn’t even like what I purchased.
But, after a bump in with a pricey Martha Stewart felt flowers craft kit, I spent a few inspired minutes in my craft lab recreating the blossoms. Now I’ve got gift wrapping down to a science: kraft paper, a little ribbon and a simple felt flower which costs me no more than five cents.
To make these little cuties, you’ll need five minutes and:
A scissors, a needle, embroidery thread, your glue gun, a small piece of felt (6”x6” will do) and an assortment of buttons. Oh, and a pencil and paper.
Step One: Freehand a small petal outline, like the one above. Mine are usually about 2” long, and 1.5” wide, but you can certainly create a larger or smaller template.
Step Two: Lightly trace the template onto your felt, creating five petals. Then cut out each petal, being sure to cut off or carefully erase any leftover pencil markings.
Step Three: Knot one end of your thread, and thread your needle. Using a simple running stitch, place two stitches at the base of each petal, one right after another, stringing together all five petals. Knot the needle end of your thread and cut off any excess.
Step Four: Slowly pull one end of the thread, allowing your petals to pucker and bunch. Keep pulling until the petals are closely bunched. Then, tightly tie both ends of the thread together to keep the petals in their new floral shape.
Step Five: Simply hot glue your button to the front your flower, and attach to your package! Ta-da!
You can play with a myriad of colors, sizes and shapes while making this project—felt is cheap as it comes and one flower takes only a few inches of it—so don’t sweat a bud that doesn’t blossom!
11 comments:
Perfect timing! Just yesterday I was thinking, "I need to learn how to make felt flowers so I can use them for ornaments and present toppers." Done! Thank you! And I love the button idea on these!
Yay! I've been looking for a good felt flower tutorial and this is exactly the look I was going for.
PS, your fingernails look so cute and festive! :)
those are adorable! perfect gift wrapping idea!
Ok. So I am in love. :) I love this idea. :) So perfect. Now I wish I could find paper like that...we don't have a local 'butcher' here. :(
@Melinda:
You can find brown craft paper in the framing section at Michael's or Joann's.
Jess, thanks so much for sharing my tutorial!
Ashley: Thanks for noticing my nail effort! I try a little harder 'round the holiday season. :)
Melinda: Like Jess said, check Joanns! I snag my craft paper at the dollar store...50 feet for a buck! Otherwise, Walmart carries it in their mailing aisle for about two dollars. :)
I was actually shopping for wrapping supplies last week, and thought how out of date everything was! I was going to wrap everything in brown paper and string, but this is the perfect pizaz I needed! Love it!
So cute and they even look easy enough for me to try.
I bought a roll of butcher paper 4 years ago to cover the tables at my wedding reception.
Since then, I have used it to wrap every single gift that we have given, we have used it to move 3 times, and I can't even remember everything else it's been used for. Best 30 dollars I ever spent.
I don't think I'll ever by wrapping paper again.
Thanks so much for sharing these-they are great! I almost always wrap with kraft paper and I am always on the look-out for inexpensive ways to dress it up! Fun!
Thank you. I love these. I just need to buy felt! I think I will use the paper grocery bags I have.
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