Sometimes being “on the road” is a drag, but it never fails that I end up meeting someone awesome that makes the hassles of traveling all worthwhile. :-) That was the case when I went to BlogHer in Chicago back in July. I had the good fortune of ending up at the same lunch table with a talented, up-and-coming blogger name Heidi from North Dakota. Since I started my career in TV news MANY years ago in North Dakota, we immediately struck up a conversation about cold weather, being Norwegian, and, of course, blogging!
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I found out she had an adorable blog called Hands Occupied that features fun and affordable crafts and DIY projects! The blog is ALMOST as adorable as SHE is…but not quite. :-) Can you tell I’m smitten with this girl?
Heidi kindly agreed to do a guest post for me this week and share one of the fun projects from her blog. Thank you Heidi! Can’t wait til we can chat again!
Hi, guys! This is Heidi from Hands Occupied, the blog that brings you projects, instructions, and inspiration for adding a little DIY to your life. I met Jillee this summer and we immediately connected over a shared love for DIY, as well as a Norwegian heritage connection and time spent in North Dakota. Nothing connects people like time spent in America’s icy tundra ;).
When Jillee invited me to guest post, she recommended that I share a DIY that’s affordable and easy. A girl after my own heart! These fake flower headbands and boutonnieres are super cute, and don’t require crazy scary (or spendy) supplies.
DIY Faux Flower Accessories
Supplies
- fake daisies (leaves optional)
- elastic headbands
- hot glue gun
- scissors
- felt
- pin button backs
Directions
Disassemble your daisies. For most brands of fake flowers, this will simply involve popping the tops of the daisies from the straw-like stems.
How to Make Boutonnieres
Heat up your glue gun, and cut some white felt into small rectangles. Put some hot glue on a button back and stick a felt rectangle to it. Next, apply a generous layer of hot glue to the other side of the felt and stick a flower top to it. Tightly hold the whole mess together until the glue dries.
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See how much glue I used below? Since the backs of the daisies aren’t nice and flat, lots of glue is the key to getting them to stick to the flat button back.
How to Make Headbands
Just like with the boutonnieres, your glue gun should we warmed up, and you should have some felt cut into rectangles. Place a daisy head face down on your table and lay an elastic headband on it as shown. Slather a thick layer of hot glue over both the headband and flower, then lay a felt rectangle on top. Also like the boutonnieres, hold the whole mess in place until the glue hardens (which won’t take long).
I played around with a few variations on the headband idea, but my favorite was incorporating more flowers and the leaves from the fake flowers. Here’s how the alternatives turned out:
To incorporate more flower tops, simply use a longer felt rectangle to adhere the flowers to a headband. To include leaves, hot glue them to the back of the felt piece after the flower, headband and felt backing are secure.
The purple headband I made is kind of ginormous, but I like it! It’s like wearing a big hat.
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Another version of these fake flower accessories is available at Hands Occupied, and you can check Heidi out on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest for more projects & inspiration.
This is very cute. I love flower headbands.
Tyler
onelittleblackdress.com
I love your ideas for home, health and crafts. I love it all. I could spend hours looking at all your stuff. As a matter of fact. I have! Thanks
When I make my headbands and hair clips with the fake flowers I take off the green plastic backing from the flower and put a little glue between each layer of flowers petals and then adhere to the clip. This way you have a flat surface to work with.
Super Cute ideas! Under supplies it says “pin button backs”.
I just took another look…that is a button back but I have seen pins that look just like that in craft stores.
May I ask, isn’t there some instructions missing from the ’boutonniers’ – ? what do you do after the stage illustrated ? they can’t be used as buttons obviously, how would you use them as a brooch for example it they are attached to a button blank ?
My guess is that you would attach them to a pin like the one shown in the picture. Just saying….:)))
Those button backs have pins already attached. You could probably also use “pin backs.” I already have some of those, so that’s what I will use. However, the button backs would probably work better to keep the flowers flat.