Handmade: w/ a few of my favorite things!

12.18.12- 

I am really loving anything retro, crafty & homemade to decorate & give this holiday season. Anything that allows me to spend time baking & creating with my family.  

I have loved these colorful winter blooms for years now.  

Miss Mace made the 1st one 

{the bottom left one- that's a bit washed out & aged} 

when she was in the 4th grade.  I hung onto it just because I adored it & it reminded me of the crafts I used to make in Elementary School.  Audrey & Em made theirs last year & I kept them to add to my collection.  I asked their teacher if I could please get the pattern so we could make our own each Christmastime. 

 The chunky glitter, construction paper, punched out dots just say Elementary & old school crafting.

{To be honest I wish kids were able to do more of this kind of stuff at school during the day & not just tons of work- kids need to be kids! Ok, I'll get off my soapbox & won't get into that}

-They are so cute all clustered together-

We got all our supplies together & laid it all out to start our girl time crafting. 
{I should really apologize before we get started, I'm the worst to show a DIY project because I forget to take pictures of each & every step, sorry!  I'll try to be better in the future I promise.}

 Step 1:  Cut out all the shapes.  You need a big petal, small petal & leaves for each poinsettia blossom. 

 Step 2:  The trickiest part.  Dab a bit of glue {we used a glue stick} on one corner of the petal & fold over & place the other tip of the petal {with the glue on it} on top of the other & press down until secure. You can figure out the best system for you to do this- everyone is different.  

 No matter how you do it you want the pedals to end up looking like this.  {Repeat with the other size petal cut out}

 Step 3:  Rub glue onto the center of the smaller pedal cut out & sprinkle glitter into the center of the bloom.  

{You could do this before or after you form the petals, either way}

Then glue as many little yellow dots in the center as you would like. Sometimes the more the merrier!

Step 4: Assemble your flower.  Dab glue onto the center of the larger petals & press the smaller one into place. Be sure to space the petals so that they over lap a little bit.  Then dab glue onto the center of the green leaves & stick the bloom into place & hold until firm.  

The girls & I made up a bunch of these to give to family & friends.  So far everyone who has received one has loved them.  Audrey even came up with this cute idea to place it on top of a gift as the bow.  

{Pretty clever don't you think? What a crafty 10 yr. old I have on my hands}

 I've also had the thought of making some more of these {with my girls} to send back to Sandy Hook Elementary School for the students there & sending the pattern so they could have an art project. 

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Ok... the 1st 6 people  
that comment {on this post} will receive the patterns for these pretty petals to make up a bunch for yourself or to give away. I'll send them in the mail to you TOMORROW.  
{ready, set... go!} 

-Be sure to email me your address pretty please-
honeybee58@gmail.com

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{M}