Come And Join The Easter Parade!

Come and join the Easter parade!

I fell in love with this picture:

Shirley's (Zetta's Aprons) lamb inspired by Sandy's (Sandy's Show and Tell) lamb.

I first spotted it on pinterest. Then Elizabeth (Creative Breathing) blogged about it and then about her Easter parade:

Oh my stars! How could you not fall in love with a parade like that? Of course I had a few nursery planters hanging out in the craft room. Wouldn't they just look adorable all fancied up to join in Elizabeth's parade?

I looked closely and carefully at Shirley's and Elizabeth's lambs. I have crepe paper, paper Easter grass, doo dads to ride in the back, but what about the vintage millinery forget me nots? I don't have any of those. I looked on ebay and etsy. It's around $10+ to buy about 40 individual flowers. Bummer.....it's going to take a lot more than 40. Time to dust off the old thinking cap. How about cutting 100 individual flowers out of felt? Crazy!! What do I have that will cut multiple things out at once? A flower punch? No, not strong enough for the wool felt. Hmmmm....how about my Cuttlebug? A Cuttlebug machine is usually used to cut shapes out of paper but I have used it for felt before. I love cutting perfect circles out with it. Beautiful, perfect circles....now that ROCKS! It is hand powered, so it is not very expensive. There are some demonstrations on youtube if you are curious. You can get the die cuts (& machine) at Hobby Lobby and with the coupon they end up being less than $10 for around four dies - if they still let you use them on ProvoCraft products or actually if ProvoCraft lets you. Sorry, I can't remember the cost of the Cuttlebug, you might find a nice used one on ebay. Now the big question....do I have a tiny flower shape die cut? Yes!! 

Cuttlebug, "plates" and die cut. I used plates "A", "B" and the other "B". 

I used the flower in the paisley. There is a hole in the center of the flower. The hole was too big for my stamen stems so I used a hole punch to cut some paper holes and glue them to the back of the flower with the felt "plug" still in place. 

Sandwich "A" plate, "B" plate, die cut sponge side up, felt (I did a few layers of felt to make more flowers quickly), other "B" plate.

Cuttlebug sandwich. Using the hand crank on the side run the sandwich through.

Felt flower.

Paper hole glued onto the back of the flower. I used a contrasting color for demonstration purposes.

Pierce a hole through the flower using a large needle.

I like to put a lot of flowers on the needle at once. This way I can shape them all at once instead of one at a time. The stamens are on the right. Cut them in half.

Insert the stamen into the flower. I like to bend the stem at a 90 degree angle right at the flower so that the flower doesn't fall off. I found the stamens at Hobby Lobby, I think on the cake decorating aisle, can't remember, but not in the floral section. I believe they were made by Wilton.

Don't they look vintage. I am so excited that this project worked. I was really sad that I couldn't find those sweet vintage flowers :( at a reasonable price, but necessity  is the mother of invention.

See her sweet little party hat? That is a copy of some vintage wrapping that I found at an antique store. I will scan some more for a future post. 

Vintage wrapping paper scan for your personal library. I think the girls are the sweetest. Wouldn't you have just loved to receive a present wrapped in this paper at a Birthday party when you were a child? Why don't they make paper like this anymore?

I hope that you join the Easter Parade! Have a wonderful night and a crafty day,

Holly