DIY Scrap Fabric Wreath – St. Patty’s Day

Posted on April 29, 2015 by simplyschulze

After creating my very first DIY wreath last April (hey, I’ll have to pay it a special tribute this year for prompting twelve months worth of creative wreath making! lol), I was determined to try out a different style of wreath each month. Since I gear each wreath toward either the season or whatever holiday happens to fall within that month, I wanted this wreath to be St. Patrick’s Day themed. While browsing Pinterest for style inspiration I came across this adorable St. Patty’s Day Rag Wreath (pictured below) via The Magic of Ordinary Things blog. I immediately knew that this had to be my next wreath since scrap fabric banners are basically my favorite go-to party décor item of all time (check out my tutorial here). Additionally, I already had a ton of left over green fabric from the various DIY décor projects I had created for Baby P’s “Wild One” party so I was happy to put that to use and the rest of the fabric I found at my local fabric store on the sale rack and in the remnants bin. This wreath is now in my top three favorites (I’ll have to do a “wreath year in review” come April and rank them all, lol), mostly because it resembles my beloved scrap fabric banners but also because it is SUPER cost effective, coming in at just under $7.00!!! If you’re ready for a little more variety among your conventional DIY wreaths, this is super fun and different and can be customized to fit any holiday or color scheme, so dig into your scraps and give this one a try!

my inspiration via “the magic of ordinary things” blog

SUPPLIES

wire – since lovely home *eye roll* is the only one in the neighborhood without a storm door my wreaths need a fighting chance of standing up to the elements so I used about 3 feet of thick plastic covered wire that I found at Lowes (near the rope) this way the wire couldn’t rust and turn the color of the fabric, it cost about $0.30/ft. (so less than $1 to create a makeshift 12″ wreath frame). If you have a storm door or sheltered front door you can do what was done in the previously mentioned tutorial above and form a wire hanger into a circle.
fabric – the amount you need is entirely up to you and depends on how full you want your wreath to be and how many colors you would like to use. I used well over 100 strips, measuring about 1X6″ (as per the first tutorial).
duct tape

INSTRUCTIONS

Begin by forming your wire into a circle and securing it with duct tape (shipping or packing tape will also do). Mine was about 12″ in diameter.
Next, tie your fabric scraps around the wreath until it is completely covered and none of the wire is showing. You don’t even need to knot it, just a simple single tie will do! At this point you can embellish the wreath in any additional manner that you please. I added a mini St. Patrick’s Day sign that I found at Hobby Lobby for 50% off.

Finished product!

Click on this photo to check out my post on how I created my giant reversible “lucky” sign!

Baby Rocking Chair Re-Do – My first re-upholstery project!

Posted on September 24, 2014 by simplyschulze

One of my biggest (and smallest, lol) inspirations for so many of my DIY projects has been none other than my own baby P! Whether it be items for is nursery or coming up with ways to work all of his adorable photos into our decor (check out my DIY Rustic Picture Display!) I am thoroughly amazed by the creativity that this little guy has prompted in me. One of my latest projects was upcycling an old rocking chair that I found at a used furniture store (at the same time I picked up my old shutters that turned into my DIY shutter shelf!) for $8, actually funny story: it was actually $15 but jokingly as I was checking out I said “how about $8.00?” and the guy said “Ya know what, sure. That’s what my wife gets for making me work today instead of fishing!”, haha. Honestly, although the chair is good quality wood, in the state it was in at the time of purchase it wasn’t worth more than $8.00, haha, the seat was covered in a raggy, dirty old cowboy print cloth and smelled like old people (don’t even pretend you don’t know the smell I’m talking about, lol) but despite all of these factors I saw potential!

As soon as I got the chair home I got super motivated and removed the upholstered part of the chair as well as all of the staples that were holding it in place. I even went as far as to borrow a staple gun from a friend for the re-upholstery part of the project, but that was as far as I got before getting swept up in another project and forgetting all about the little rocker. Flash forward to last week, I had used the same paint that I was intending to use on the chair for my DIY Owl Themed Coat Rack/Hooked Sign and knew that this would be a good opportunity to get cracking on the chair. For the fabric I chose a beautiful grey/brown chevron print decor fabric that I happened to find in the remnants bin at my local fabric store for only $7.00, making the grand total of this project just about $20.00! Now I know that a random $8 cowboy-themed rocking chair probably isn’t an option at your local thrift shop BUT lucky for you this project can be duplicated with any kid-sized chair (or an size for that matter) that you happen to find, even if it doesn’t already come with a piece to reupholster (I was able to salvage the original seat from my piece) you can absolutely fashion your own using a small piece of plywood and simply attach it to the existing seat! You will not believe how easy this project is, especially for how amazing the result. If re-upholstery seems daunting to you don’t let it deter you, I was extremely skeptical about this project as it was my first time working with upholstery but now that I know how easy it is I can’t wait to try my hand at it again! Happy stapling, watch those fingies 😉

SUPPLIES:

*For this project I used chalk paint (find out how I mix my own here), feel free to refer to my re-finishing wooden furniture with gel stain or latex paint posts for alternative painting methods. If you want to add a cushion to a chair that did not have one to begin with simply follow my steps below but use a piece of plywood (something cheap but sturdy), you can even have your local home improvement store cut it for you for free!

Kid-sized rocking chair
Chalk Paint – I mixed my own (refer to this tutorial to find out how I made it using a sample sized latex paint), the color is “Opera Glasses” by Valspar which is now one of my favorite paint colors as I’m always looking for a good “greige” which is oh-so popular right now.
Minwax Finishing Paste Wax in “Special Dark”
Sanding blocks or sand paper
Black foam paint brush
Manual staple gun (if you’re super hardcore and have a power stapler you can use that as well, I’m too clumsy to be around things that shoot out metal, lol)
Foam or fiber cushion – I used this one that I purchased at my local fabric store (with a coupon, yay!) but it is also available online via Amazon and most other retailers of fabric.
Fabric of your choice – the amount you will need depends on the size of your seat (you won’t need much though, I used about 1/4 of a yard!)
Heavy Duty All-Purpose adhesive – anything that says it will bond to most all surfaces, you can’t go wrong with E-6000 or any of those “E” adhesives or Gorilla glue)
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: I began by ripping all of the original fabric and batting from the chair to reveal the frame. I kept the board that made up the seat as it was in good condition and I wanted to reuse it. I then removed all staples that remained in the wood using needle-nosed pliers.

Dirty and torn, but still promising!

Step 2: I sanded down the chair by hand using a sanding block (150-grit), while I do have an electric sander I feel some projects move quicker when they’re done by hand, especially ones with a lot of nooks and crannies like this chair. Once I had finished sanding I wiped the chair down with a damp cloth to remove any remaining dust particles.

chair post-sanding

Step 3: Using a black foam brush (I prefer these to regular paint brushes because they don’t leave streaks) I evenly painted the top half of the chair with an even coat of my chalk paint, I then waited about 2 hours before returning to my chair, flipping it upside down and applying the first coat to the bottom. I continued in this fashion for two more coats (three total). I found this was the easiest way to paint the chair on all sides and on the bottom of rocking part.

Step 4: Once my final coat had dried I waxed the chair by applying a thin coat of paste wax using an old rag, waiting the appropriate amount of time (15 minutes I think?) then buffing it out using another rag. At that point the re-painting part of the project was complete – yay!

After the chair was waxed. I like that the wax gives it an antiqued look. You can also get a natural or clear wax for protection and sheen without color!

Step 5: I began my reupholstering part of the project by cutting a piece of fabric that was about 4-5 inches wider than the piece of wood that would make up my seat. NOTE: If you are using a thinner fabric that you think may be prone to ripping use a sander to dull down the corners of your wood or cut the tips of your corners off so that they are flat, this won’t make a difference in the look of the chair but will prevent the corners from protruding through the fabric over time. After cutting my fabric, I cut my foam piece to be just big enough to reach over the edges of my board.

Baby P playing peek-a-boo with the fabric, lol!

Step 6: Once all of my components were ready I laid my fabric face down, my foam piece atop it in the center and then my wooden seat atop the foam. This step is best done using two people but if you’re all by your lonesome just use your knees to secure the board in place while you tighten and staple – but be careful! Pull one edge of the fabric taught over the edge of the wood and make sure that the foam will wrap nicely around the edge of the wood, if you are happy with the way it looks staple along the edge of the wood, about 2- 3 inches in, I used about six staples per side for good measure! NOTE: The corners will be a little trickier so do your edges first and then your corners last because you may need to manipulate and fold them a bit to get them right.

Step 7: After I made my cushion I trimmed any excess fabric from the bottom that was sticking out too much. Then I was ready to bond my seat to the base of the chair. I did so by applying a generous amount of adhesive to the bottom of the cushion (not too close to the edges, you do not want it oozing out!) and to the base of the chair where the cushion was to be attached, then pressed down firmly to secure it. You may want to place a book or something else flat and heavy on top the seat to hold it in place as it dries (this would be a great job for a kid in time-out! Just kidding, haha). Voila! Finished and beautiful and ready for baby P’s adorable squishy butt to sit on it 🙂

Finished product!

NOTE: An optional Step 8 would be to add decorative upholstery nails or trim along the edge where your seat meets your chair. My hubby was opposed to this idea so I left the chair as is (and it looks just adorable without them so it is not necessary to do this by any means). However, this is a great way to add a little extra flare or elegance to your chair and to hide the area where the seat meets the chair.

The most rewarding part of this project was seeing how much baby P loved the rocker, which completely took me by surprise because I was sure he wouldn’t want anything to do with it because it’s just a chair, however he loves rocking it and sitting in it and when he sees it he gets so excited, points and says “this! this!”. What a warm feeling to have my crafts appreciated by even the tiniest of people 🙂

DIY Fabric Covered Photo Mat – Made from a Cereal Box!!!

Posted on September 7, 2014 by simplyschulze

Who doesn’t love free stuff? I actually have quite a few “free” projects in the works currently that I’m super excited about, but for now I’ll share this one with you as it was part of our gallery wall which I will reveal soon! This project actually happened by accident when I realized that the frame I was using wasn’t a standard photo frame and I was going to need to cut a photo mat to fit it. Since the piece of art (I shouldn’t say art, it was a weird picture of a cat or something, lol) that was originally in the frame had an ivory mat around it I was going to have J cut it to fit using a box cutter. Of course he misunderstood me (anybody else have an issue with their men having selective hearing when it comes to their crafting requests? lol) and cut the wrong part of the mat, rendering the part I needed useless. Boo-hoo! It was time to come up with a plan B, which I thought would be just to buy and cut a standard mat to size but then I realized that a standard mat wouldn’t fit this frame either (gahh!). Just as I was getting super frustrated and about to ax the use of that particular frame altogether, I remembered that I had seen a picture mat that somebody had covered in fabric by simply mod podging fabric onto a plain picture mat. Now, that still didn’t solve my problem of not having the right mat size, but if I thought that if I could only find a thin cardboard to fashion my own mat I could take advantage of my left over fabric from past projects. I knew that a poster board cut to size would work just fine but in the interest of not having to traipse into town to get one I thought to myself “what do I have in the house that is of similar thickness/material to a poster board?” and then it came to me – a cereal box!!! About a half hour and a little mod podge later I had myself another fancy photo mat (check out my first DIY photo mat here) that not only matched the fabric on our side-light window panels but was free!!! All it required was a little thinking outside of the “box”, so to speak (get it? cereal box, ha.ha.ha). I hope this inspires a free photo mat on your end (you need not use a cereal box like I did, any thin cardboard will do) and should you not have the need for a photo mat right now, keep this one in mind as a great DIY gift opportunity come the holidays!

I’ll have plenty of more frame projects in the works if I keep catching more adorable moments like this! These two melt my heart ❤

DIY FABRIC PHOTO MAT

SUPPLIES:

1 large cereal box or poster board of some sort
fabric of your choice
mod podge (I used matte finish but it doesn’t matter what you use)
glue gun & hot glue
foam brush
measuring tape
scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: If you are using a cereal box break the box down by cutting along one of the corners so that it can lay flat like a piece of cardboard. Then measure and cut four strips of equal length or four pieces that can come together to form a rectangular mat since it wont matter what your pieces look like beneath the fabric as long as the shape of the mat is even (depending on the size of your box you may not be able to get four equal pieces but rather four pieces just long enough to overlap and connect to form a rectangle). If using a poster board simply measure and draw out your mat and then cut it out already formed.

My cereal box! In the interest of pinching our pennies I opt for “crisp rice” instead of rice krispies haha

Step 2: Once you have your four pieces connect them so that your print side (if using a cereal box) is all facing one direction using hot glue to form the mat. Ignore this step if you have used a poster board and your mat is ready to go. Now you are ready to measure and add your fabric!

ensuring that it fits in the frame

Step 3: Measure your fabric by laying the fabric print side down (upside down) and laying your mat on top, use a pencil or pen to mark an area just a tad bit larger than your mat size or enough to be folded over the edges (I will explain in the subsequent steps). Once you have marked your rectangle on the fabric, cut it out using your scissors (this should be obvious but keep the rectangle in tact! To cut the center simply puncture a hole in the center of your fabric and cut along the insides).

Step 4: Place your mat so that the non-print side is facing up and lay your fabric cut out over the mat to make sure that it will line up correctly. In each of the inner and outer corners cut a small slit that extends from the edge of the fabric to the corner of the mat (this is so your fabric can be tucked underneath without puckering at the corners).

Step 5: Now you are ready to attach the fabric to the mat. Using your foam brush, brush a generous amount of mod podge onto the mat surface and then lay your fabric atop it and press down to secure. Some mod podge will likely seep through the fabric, this is fine, simply use your foam brush to brush it off so that it doesn’t form clumps. At this point your fabric will still be larger than necessary for the mat but allow it to dry this way before moving onto the next step.

Step 6: Once your fabric has dried for the most part, turn your mat upside down and use hot glue to attach your fabric’s edges to the underneath of the mat, making sure to pull it tightly so that isn’t loose along the edges and holds to the mat securely.

Step 7: Now turn your mat back over and add another coat of mod podge to the top of the fabric, ensuring that you are adding and even layer and are not allowing it to pool or clump along the top. Allow it to dry and you are ready to use it in your frame!!! Ta-da!!!

My DIY frame displayed on our gallery wall!

To see more of our family pictures from baby P’s 6 month photo session see this post!

Quick No-Sew Sink Skirt

Posted on August 28, 2014 by simplyschulze

So this post is one of the prequels to my long anticipated laundry room/command center makeover! I’m so excited to finally reveal the project as a whole but for now I’ll share this quick little DIY job that was one of the finishing touches. The sink in our laundry room doesn’t see much action (although I am grateful to have a larger sink basin available to wash off baby P’s high chair trays as they will not fit in our dishwasher or kitchen sink) and is quite honestly an eyesore, as it is just a big ol’ stained plastic basin. Needless to say when I decided to give our laundry room a style makeover, I knew that I needed to do something to downplay the ugliness of the sink. Since I had seen lots of examples of sink skirts and had lots of fabric left over from my DIY no-sew side-light window panels, so I thought that it would be a cute and quick no-sew addition to the room. We are technically “renting” this home so when figuring out how to rig up a sink skirt that wouldn’t require any kind of permanent hardware, I decided the easiest solution would be to either suspend a tension rod between the wall and the washing machine or to use temporary velcro to attach the fabric directly to the outer basin of the sink. I chose to go with the latter, simply because I already had some removable Command velcro strips on hand (I may decide to go with the tension rod idea later on but for now I think this looks good enough!). This project is easy-peezy and could work anywhere you need to cover an empty (or cluttered, lol) space or ugly appliance! Additionally I love that the fabric lends a lot of style to the space, even though the skirt really serves no purpose, sometimes it’s all about looks 🙂

May not look like much now, but when I reveal the whole room it really adds a lot 🙂

QUICK NO-SEW SINK SKIRT

WHAT I USED:

Indoor/Outdoor Decorator Fabric in “Vertical Stripe Ebony” – purchased on sale at $8.00/yard, left over from my side-light window panels.
Iron-On Hem – Available at your local craft store, Walmart etc.
2-3 Command Damage-Free Hanging Velcro Strips
Glue Gun/Hot Glue
Iron
Scissors
Measuring Tape

WHAT I DID:

Step 1: I began by measuring out my fabric to the correct length and width (allowing for an extra 2 inches on top, bottom and sides for creating my fold-over hem) and cutting it accordingly.

Step 2: I then used iron-on hem to fold over the edges (top or bottom first doesn’t matter) and create your hem. Check out my DIY No-Sew Curtain Panels to read more about this process, just disregard the instructions for creating the panel pocket. NOTE: If you plan to suspend the sink skirt using a tension rod, follow the previously mentioned tutorial exactly, pocket included.

Step 3: Once all of my hems were made I removed the sticky backing to one side of each my Command strips and used hot glue to secure it to the top, inner edge of the fabric panel. Next I adhered the other two Command strips to the top edge of sink, right below the lip using just the regular sticky backing of the strip (these things are super strong, they’ll hold no problem).

FYI, this is just to show placement, the sticky side will be down and velcro side will be facing up. I removed the paper from the strip, then put my hot glue directly onto the sticky part and firmly pushed the strip onto the hem.

DIY Scrap Fabric Banner

Posted on July 8, 2014 by simplyschulze

Let me start by saying I am in love with this craft. This is the quicker, shabby-chic version of a traditional fabric pennant banner (if this isn’t quite your thang, check out my DIY no-sew fabric pennant banner tutorial or my DIY rustic burlap pennant banner tutorial). I plan to come back to this craft time and time again, especially for holiday and party decor. I have seen these done before, however, never had a reason to attempt one until it came time to throw my friend a baby shower and of course I got way carried away when it came to decor and decided that this would make a great last minute addition. Using scrap fabric left over from the wreath I had made the mama-to-be (I will post about the wreath and the shower itself soon!), I was able to create this adorable scrap fabric banner in about 20 minutes! I think my favorite thing about this banner (aside from the fact that it was free to make since I reused left over supplies), is that while it is simply strips of fabric tied to a string, it is a great way to tie all of your decor together by incorporating all of the colors in your color scheme. This would also make an adorable addition to a nursery, I will absolutely come back to this idea for any future nurseries I may be decorating in the distant future! If you have an event coming up and are looking to add a little something extra, just dig around in the depths of your fabric scraps and chances are you can throw something together with scrap that you already have. If you are making this with no fabric on hand, no problem – hit up the remnants or clearance bin at your local fabric store or Walmart, you can often get close to a yard for under a dollar which is much more than you will need for this project anyway! I hope this inspires your next holiday or party decor project and remember not to throw away any of those fabric scraps along the way 🙂

The banner as we displayed it at the baby shower over a chalkboard with baby’s monogram!

DIY SCRAP FABRIC BANNER

YOU WILL NEED:

Fabric – the amount and color will depend on your color scheme and the size/length of your banner. There is no limit to the kind of fabric either, mix textures and prints and get creative!
Twine/Ribbon/String – to tie your scraps around, I used left over twine from another project but a ribbon of a complimentary color would have been nice as well!
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1: Begin by cutting your strips of fabric. Whether or not all of your strips are the same width and length is up to you. When cutting my strips I started with one fabric and cut a bunch of the same width and length, then moved onto the next fabric and cut them about the same width but a different length from the original group.

Step 2: Lay out a piece of twine or ribbon, the length will depend on how long you want your banner to be. Make sure you leave enough slack on either end for hanging.

Step 3: Fold a fabric strip in half (as shown) and lay it across the twine or ribbon, then pull the two “tails” of the fabric under and through the “loop” (see picture), pulling it tight to form a knot.

Step 4: Continue in this fashion, after each knot is made slide it down so that it fits snugly against the one before. I arranged mine in no particular order but you can follow a pattern of colors to make the banner look more uniform if you wish.

Finished product! This would be great to hang above the crib in a nursery, I know my hubby was too paranoid to let me hang anything heavy over baby P (even wooden letters lol) so this would be a great worry-free piece of decor! 🙂

DIY Spring Chevron Wreath with Pennant Banner

Posted on May 21, 2014 by simplyschulze

With J gone for fleet week, I’ve been staying up far too late, watching Hulu (I started Nashville, not my fave show so far, but it’s alright) and crafting my little bootay off. I may have mentioned in previous posts that I love to decorate for holidays/seasons and made a promise to myself to do so, especially while baby P and any future babies are growing up. So far I have made good on my promise, and although most of my decorations come from the dollar store, it still counts, haha! I recently found myself at a loss as to what to do decor-wise between Easter and Memorial Day/Independence Day, so I decided to leave the inside be and just make another cute front door wreath since I was so pleased with the way my Easter wreath came out. Since I had picked up a few yards of burlap for some larger pennant banners I plan on making, I thought it would be fun to add a teeny tiny pennant banner to my wreath, especially because it would act as a trial one for my future banners. This wreath was super easy to throw together, once I had created my mini pennant banner and fabric flowers, it took me under 10 minutes to assemble the whole thing! The best part is, with the exception of the ribbon and Styrofoam wreath, I used items I already had on hand so the project cost me about $8 – BOOM! Give this one a try, if you don’t want to make the fabric flowers yourself you can always purchase ready made ones at your local craft store (but first read my tutorial on fabric roses and see how easy they are to make!), the rest is easy breezy!

DIY SPRING CHEVRON WREATH WITH PENNANT BANNER

YOU WILL NEED:

Styrofoam wreath (I purchased mine at Michael’s using a 40% off coupon, download the Michael’s app if you haven’t already, they will scan coupons right off of your phone)
Chevron Ribbon (Mine was wired but it doesn’t have to be, they sell large rolls of chevron ribbon at Walmart for $3.99)
8-12 Fabric Flowers (Tutorial Here)
String or Twine
Burlap (since the banner is so tiny just ask for the smallest piece they can cut for you, burlap costs $2.97 at Walmart so a 1/4 yard will cost you about $0.75 and you’ll still have left over fabric)
White Acrylic Paint
Small Letter Stencils (I had picked some up for another project I’m working on but I’m sure the dollar store has stencils that would work)
Paint Brush
Glue Gun
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Assemble your fabric flowers by following this tutorial. The amount you will need depends on the size of the flowers you make and how much area you want them to cover on the wreath. If you are using store bought flowers or none at all skip this step.

Step 2: Start creating your pennant banner by fashioning a triangle guide out of paper (I used a post-it haha), the size of your pennants will depend on the length of your name or words you are using. My last name is seven letters long and a 2″ wide by 2″ long triangle was perfect for mine. Using scissors, cut out your triangles. NOTE: It is optional to use modge podge or fabric stiffener to seal the edges of your burlap triangles so they do not fray. I skipped this and they are fine.

Step 3: Once your triangles are cut out, using your stencil, paint and paint brush, carefully paint your letters onto the burlap triangles. Be sure to protect your work surface with a piece of paper or wax paper since the paint will seep through the burlap. Allow a few mins to dry, this is a good time to start working on the body of the wreath!

Step 4: Take your wreath and ribbon and attach the end of your ribbon to the styrofoam wreath using hot glue. Keep wrapping the ribbon around the wreath, overlapping the previous section each time, place a dot of glue underneath the ribbon each time you wrap it (I suppose this isn’t totally necessary but I didn’t want my ribbon to move at all once I was finished covering the wreath).

Step 5: Your burlap letters should be dry by now. If so, take a piece of twine, ribbon or string and use hot glue to attach your burlap triangles to the string by applying a line of top glue to the back top of each and pressing onto the string, it is best to do this over wax paper so that the glue will not stick to anything. Make sure you leave a decent amount of string before the start of your first triangle so you will have a means to attach that side to the wreath.

Step 6: Attach your banner to the wreath by tying each end to each side, you be the judge of placement and tautness of the string. Once I got the banner tied how I wanted, I used a small dot of hot glue on each side to secure the string (again, overkill with the glue but it can’t hurt right? lol). Now, attach your flowers however you see fit, I alternated sizes and colors but feel free to arrange them however you’d like! The bow is optional, I just thought the top looked naked. Now throw that bad boy on your front door and know you’ve now got the best wreath on da block 😛

Fabric Rose Tutorial

Posted on May 21, 2014 by simplyschulze

I’m so excited to share this craft with you! These little fabric roses can be used in SO many ways from decor to jewelry the applications are endless, so if you like shabby or cottage chic style decor this craft is right up your alley. I began making these little flowers when I was selling shabby chic style rosette lampshades (pictured below) on Etsy for a short while. Although I didn’t think my lampshades would drum up much business it turns out they were extremely popular and for the year that my Etsy shop was open I made HUNDREDS if not thousands of these little fabric flowers, so needless to say I’m pretty sure I have it down to a science, haha. Unfortunately, when baby P arrived I had to close down my shop indefinitely, as the lampshade process is pretty labor intensive and I was just simply not going to have the time to devote to the shop with a new baby (hopefully I can reopen it one day!), so now I just make lampshades as gifts for friends and use my little flowers in other craft projects. Since I love a project that can be used in multiple ways, I knew that a lot of my future crafts would feature these little fabric flowers and that is why I’d like to share this tutorial with you! Obviously there are lots of different fabric flower tutorials out there, as well as lots of craft stores that sell them ready-made (but after reading this post I hope you are inspired to make them yourself and save some coin!), so this is just my personal method to my fabric flower madness! I think it’s also worth mentioning that these make great embellishments for just about any decor project (I will give some suggestions below!) and are a great way to dress up something simple if you’re looking to decorate on a budget, all you need is a glue gun and the fabric of your choice! Happy “flowering” (as my husband calls it lol)! P.S. I plan to write a separate post on DIY fabric rose lampshades, so be on the lookout for that!

FABRIC ROSE TUTORIAL

YOU WILL NEED:

Fabric of your choice (anything will work with the exception of maybe organza, tulle and silk where the dried hot glue might show up or wreck the material. The amount of fabric you need is dependent on how many flowers you would like to create.)
Glue Gun
Scissors

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Begin by cutting your fabric into 2″ wide strips (this is an approximation, just eyeball it, no need to measure the width of each strip).

all of the fabric I used to make these flowers for my wreath was left over from previous projects, the peach fabric was a thrift store find – 2 yards for $1!!!

Step 2: Starting with the end of one of your strips, fold the corner down to form a point and use a dab of hot glue to secure it.

Step 3: Begin to roll your point as if it is a cinnamon bun, then place a dab of hot glue to hold it. Next, begin folding or rolling and turning your fabric simultaneously, placing a dot of hot glue after each fold (or every other fold depending on how tight you want the rose to appear, I do every fold, but if you’re going for a more shabby chic look you can let it appear a little looser). NOTE: For the particular roses shown, as I was folding/turning each piece I was sure that there were no raw edges apparent because that was the look I was going for, if you are looking for more of a shabby chic raw/frayed edge look, instead of “folding” as you turn simply use more of a twisting motion so that there are some raw fabric edges visible on your rose.

Step 4: Once you have reached the end of your fabric use a final dot of hot glue to tuck the tail end of the strip underneath or tight to the side of the flower and you are done! Yup, it was that easy! If you would like your flower to be bigger simply repeat the beginning of step one, but instead of rolling the point into a cinnamon bun, simply fasten it to the side of your finished flower with a dot of glue and continue your folding/rolling and turning process.

Here are just a few ideas for using these roses in decor/fashion (since I have done most of these I will be posting examples of each of the following soon!):

Shabby chic lampshade (tutorial coming soon)
Embellish a chalkboard, mirror or frame
Create a hair band or bow (perfect for a baby shower gift!)
Create a necklace or earrings
Embellish a wreath (see my spring/summer wreath post here)
Embellish a vintage sign

	simplyschulze on “Where the Wild Things A…
	Sarah Wilson on “Where the Wild Things A…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on Easy DIY Nautical Frame…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on Coastal Chic Side Table Re-do…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on DIY Hand Painted Sign

	simplyschulze on “Where the Wild Things A…
	Sarah Wilson on “Where the Wild Things A…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on Easy DIY Nautical Frame…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on Coastal Chic Side Table Re-do…
	DIY Hanging Beach Si… on DIY Hand Painted Sign