Flowers and Bows

Due to some technical difficulties, I was unable to be the guest blogger over at Miss Crafty Pants last Friday.  I was so bummed when it didn't work, but super excited when Erika came up with a brilliant solution.  Thanks Erika!

Whoever you are and however you got here...WELCOME!  I'm so excited you are here today.  I can't wait to show you what I've put together.  I hope you love it!

For those of you who don't know, my name is Sarah and I have a really great life.  I have been married to Mr. Wonderful for almost 10 years and we have 4 of the cutest little pumpkins you have ever seen.  We had all 4 of them in 4.5 years, so it gets a little crazy at our house sometimes.  It's a good thing we like crazy!  In addition to everything that I do as a stay at home mom, I also teach preschool out of my home 2 days a week and I have an etsy store to go along with my blog.  I love to do fun stuff with my kids, decorate my home, crochet, bake, and a ton of other things that I try to squeeze in when I can.  The Pumpkin Patch is full of creative ideas to do with kids, home decor, parenting advice, recipes, and a ton of other stuff.  I just started hosting 2 different linky parties...Messy Monday and Transform Tuesday.  I'd love for you to join in on the fun.  Now, let's get crafty!

I have chosen 2 projects to show you.  The first one I introduced on my blog a few weeks ago and I have had so many people ask me about it I thought I would share it again...with some tweaking to make them even better.  The second one I saw on someone else's blog and I changed it up a bit so it was something that I could use.

Crochet Rosettes

Don't let the name scare you.  I have made a ton of crochet flowers, and I think these are SUPER easy.  If you don't know how to crochet, then scroll down to the next project.  I promise you will love it.

Materials

• cotton yarn ( you can use synthetic yarn, but I prefer cotton)
• J hook (use whatever size hook you need to get the flower size you want)
• yarn needle
• scissors
• coordinating felt (optional)
• tacky glue (optional)

Row 1: loosely chain 51.

Row 2: Starting in 3rd chain from hook, single crochet (sc) across. Chain 1. Turn.

Row 3: Skip first sc. SC in next sc. (Skip sc, 5 double crochet (dc) in next sc, skip sc, sc in next sc.) Repeat from ( to) across. In last sc, finish off, but leave a 15 in. tail.

There will be an extra little bump on one side.  It will become the center of the flower.

You can finish this off 2 different ways.  I like them both depending on what I am using the flower for.

To finish it off with felt, take your felt and cut a 2 in. circle.

Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself and cut the tail off so that only an inch or so is left.

Once you get it to look like you want it to, carefully set it down. Spread glue on your felt and put your flower on top. I just used tacky glue.

Quickly make your final adjustmets and press it down into the glue. After it is dry, trim off any extra felt and you are done!

To finish it without felt, take your yarn needle and thread the extra yarn from the tail you left.

Arrange your flower by spiraling it loosly around itself.

Now flip it over and you can see the spiral patter on the underside.

Carefully take your needle and go through each ring of the spiral and come out the other side.  Do this several times working your way around the circle.  Don't pull the yarn too tight or your rose won't hold it's shape.

Once you have it securely stitched together, cut off the extra yarn and you are done!

What do you do with these little cuties?  Whatever you want.

How about gluing a clip to the back of it and putting it in your hair, or making a headband out of it.

How about gluing a pin to it and putting it on your jacket or purse.

How about pinning it to your daughters sweater?  The possibilities are endless.

If you don't want to make them yourself, but love them, I'll make them for you.  I have several colors already listed in my etsy store and am adding new ones each day.  Go here to see them.

Ribbon Bows

I first saw these made out of paper at a super cute blog called Christy's Creative Chaos.  I loved them out of paper, but wondered if I could do it out of ribbon, so I set to work.

Materials

• 2 yards of 1 in. grosgrain ribbon
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• matches or candle

Cut your ribbon so that you have 8 pieces that are 6 in. long, 4 pieces that are 5 in. long, and the remaining piece should be 4 in. long.

Burn both ends of all of your pieces of ribbon.  (Be careful not to let any little fingers get in the way.)

Glue all of the ribbon pieces (except the 4 in. one) so they look like this picture.

Glue the 4 in. piece into a circle.

Glue the ribbon together following these pictures.

There you have it.  Cute as can be right?  You can use other ribbon too, it is just easier to start with grosgrain because it holds its shape well.  You can also use thinner ribbon.  If you use 1/2 in. ribbon, cut the length of each strip in half.  It will make a smaller bow.  If you want a bigger bow, use 2 in. ribbon and make each strip double the original length.  For big bows, wired ribbon works really well.

These would be so cute on birthday presents, in little girls' hair, as a pin on a dress or jacket, as ornaments on a Christmas tree.  There are so many possibilities!

I hope you've had a great time visiting The Pumpkin Patch and hope you come back again.