DIY Fabric Flowers

I've been working a DIY wall decor project for my guest bathroom. I used a light pink vintage dress (it belonged to our grandma) for the entire project. Since she loved flowers, I decided to make a fabric flower for a finishing touch on the wall hanging. This is how I made my flower, you can make them smaller or larger, mine was 3 inches.

Directions: 

Card stock or cardboard for a flower template
9-12 small pieces of material (about 3 inches in diameter)
Hot glue or fabric glue
Felt, cardboard, or a heavier fabric for the base

         

1. I made a 5 petal flower template from card stock. I doubled my fabric and cut out the flower using the template as my pattern. It's easier to cut them in layers rather than one at a time. I cut 11 flower shapes because my material was thin. If you use thicker material you would only need 9. 
2. Cut a circle with a heavier fabric or felt to use as the base, I used chenille. 
3. Take one flower shape and fold it in half, then in half again.
4. Glue the bottom of the flower to the base.
5. Repeat this process until you have 4 folded flowers on the base. Keep the folded edges together.
6. The next layer is the same, but glue the 4 flowers opposite of the first layer. These will cover your first layer folds.
7. For the middle of the flower, take the last flower and roll it in the shape of a cone, cut about 1/2 inch from the bottom. Place glue on the bottom and hold in the middle of the flower. 
8. Place a small amount of glue on the petals closest to the middle and glue them to the middle piece. This will help the flower look more like it's blooming. You can glue any pieces together to get a fluffier flower.
9. Glue flower to your project or glue it to a clip on the back if you'd like to use it as a hair accessory.

 Love and peace,
~Simply Tammi

Homemade Painted Ornaments

  

If you are looking for a project to do with little ones, this is a great one for people of any age. Tammi started showing my kids how to make them years ago when my kids were little. They still like to make them. It's fun to look at them every year and see how much more creative they had gotten as they got older.  I bought these clear glass ornaments for under $2 for a set of 6. I put  a couple drops of acrylic paint inside (you can use other paint, that was just what I had). Then roll, shake and turn it until the paint is covering the inside of the ornament. This one was made by a 2 year old that I have in my daycare. After he was done rolling it around I put his name and year on it with a metallic marker, you could also use a Sharpie marker. Then I turned it upside down for a few hours to let the extra paint drip out and dry. If you don't want to use paint, you could also use glitter or pieces of tissue paper or anything small enough to fit in it. He made one for the baby in my daycare, by putting little glittery pom poms inside it. Of course you have to be careful because they are glass. It's a project to do together. It's worth it when you see how proud they are of what they have created!                                                                                                                          

~Simply Angie                                                                                                                                                        

Caramel Corn Crunch

If you need a gift idea or just want to make something for a yummy treat you should try our Caramel Corn Crunch, it’s perfect! I made this for my daughter’s dance class. I doubled the recipe and got about 25 cups.
Here's what you need:

• 1 c butter
•  2 c packed brown sugar 
• 1/2 c light corn syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt-I omitted because I used salted butter
• 1 t. baking soda

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium heat in large sauce pan. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mix well, it will foam up-this is why you need a large pan. Pour over 8 quarts of popcorn and stir to coat evenly. Bake for 1 hour at 200° stirring every 15 minutes. Then pour onto foil or wax paper and spread out to cool. I melted both chocolate and white chips and  drizzled over cooled mixture. You can add nuts, m&m's (or anything else you like) to the mixture. This makes about 10 cups. Enjoy!

~Simply Angie

Edible Gifts Guide Part 1

We put together 20 of our favorite homemade food gift ideas and their links all in one post to help make it a little easier this holiday season to find that perfect homemade gift for someone special on your list. Some made it to the list of our Popular Posts and the rest we gathered from throughout the year. You can still do a search on the blog for more ideas that didn't make the list!
We hope you have as much fun making them as we did!

 Cinnamon Butter served with Simply Sweet Rolls

1. Simply Homemade Marshmallows
2. Simply Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix
3. Simply Homemade Apple Cider Syrup
4. Simply Homemade Apple Cinnamon Granola
5. Simply Homemade 5 Ingredient Caramel Sauce
6. Simply Homemade Brownie Mix
7. Simply Homemade Apple Cider Jelly
8. Simply Homemade Vanilla Extract
9. Simply Homemade Holiday Vanilla Rum Extract
10. Simply Homemade Flavored Sugars
11. Simply Homemade Pancake Mix
12. Simply Homemade Scones
13. Simply Homemade Cherry Lollipops
14. Simply Homemade Lemon Buddies Chex
15. Simply Homemade Cake Batter Chex
16. Simply Homemade Cake Batter Truffles
17. Simply Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
18. Simply Homemade Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
19. Simply Homemade Yummy Gummys
20. Simply Homemade Vanilla Biscotti

Share some of your favorite gift ideas with us in the comments below, or feel free to link up with us to share your ideas!

~Simply Angie and Tammi