Sweet Post It Note Flowers Tute

Here are the simple book page ornaments we've made for our little tabletop trees. 

 I call them Post It Note Flowers because they work up beautifully using a 3" x 3" square of paper,

 so in a leap of naming logic there ya go. 

 They are really origami kusadama flowers and they've been around forever.

 I'll give you a link to an origami website at the end of this post in case my instructions lead you hopelessly astray. ; 0 )

                     Start with a post it note or any size of paper as long as it is perfectly square. 

                 IF YOU USE post it notes, you will start with the gummy side at the bottom right

                                        and gently separate the layers if they become stuck.

Fold bottom to top, then sides in to form a diamond, then fold each side out from the middle.
Unfold each side "wing" so it looks like a kite, then fold the top of these side kites inwards so now you will have a middle kite shape with matching side triangles. Fold each triangle once inwards.
                                  Roll into a cone and hot glue the two folded sides in the middle. 

                   You need at least five to form a flower shape, tho I have seen them with more. 

               Hot glue all the cones together and don't worry if you have a little gap in the center, 

                                     even real flowers have a little opening in their middle.

We've made ours out of vintage dictionary pages to go along with our simple white Christmas theme.

And the Live, Laugh, Love ornaments?

 Simply book pages cut into small rectangles then Mod Podged onto Christmas balls.

 I hand wrote the words on each ball with a Pigma pen, then sealed them all with clear acrylic. 

 You could also use a Cricut or Silhouette for the words,

 or print them and cut them out to match the book pages and Mod Podge them on. 

 Simple, pretty and inexpensive. We like!

Here is a link to a real origami website with great instructions and lots of samples for these pretty flowers...

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/origami_kusadama_flowers

Projects Projects Projects

I am not going to give you alot of excuses but I will give you lots of pictures. It has been a busy year. Baptisms, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, reunions, holidays, plus my Etsy shop....Lol. You get the idea and most of you are also living it. And so.... 

Look, shiny!






Restyling books to look like vintage editions...

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-restyle-books-to-look-like.html

......and in January, another big family wedding!

But you know, it is life and I'll take it!

I'll try to post more in the new year but know that I am still here and boy, do I have projects!

Rosettes for Christmas

I'm still working on my Christmas decor, but I already know I'm making more rosette projects this year!

Here are two of the balls I've already made and I love their texture and color. They add so much interest to my decorating, I want to make more!

I punched out 1" circles for the backing, then tore crepe paper streamers into 6"-8" pieces. I stretched them slightly then rolled and scrunched each one into a rope shape.

Curl one end into a tight spiral then hot glue to the paper disc. (Please ignore the silver paint on my thumbnail!) Twist and glue the rest of the paper down until you have a nice round rosette about 1" across. Make more than you think you will need, a Christmas ball takes lots of rosettes.

This Christmas ball is 4" across and it was on clearance at the Dollar Store for fifty cents. Score! It took one entire roll of crepe paper streamer to make enough rosettes to cover it completely. I added fake gems from my stash to give it a bit of bling. I like it alot!

Also in my stash I had this old foil twist that was SOOOO popular about 15 years ago. I used bunches of it back then and this is what I had left. I cut it into 8" lengths, unraveled it flat and cut each piece in half longways so each 8" piece gave me two rosettes. I love it on this ball, it is so bright and shiny and has great texture. Great bang for the buck!

And here's my lucky find of teal foil twist that was PERFECT for my wreath recycle project. I made more rosettes from this pretty foil and glued them to another ball.

It is gorgeous and sits front and center on my door wreath.

I've got the rosette decorating bug, people! I have another 4" ball that I'm covered with silver fabric rosettes, and then maybe another cone Christmas tree, and maybe some smaller balls with muslin rosettes...if and when I get them finished, I'll blog about them here, don't you worry!

What about you? What has grabbed your creative attention this year? New color combinations? A retro Christmas foil tree? Totally natural with pine cones and twig stars?
Please share!

Post It Note Christmas Flowers

Here are the simple book page ornaments we've made for our little tabletop trees, including a punched paper snowflake garland, Mod Podged balls and these pretty little origami flowers. I love the look of a vintage black and white Christmas with all these elements.

For cheap and easy Christmas decor, you can't go wrong with recycled book pages. One of my favorite projects are these book page flowers.

I call them Post It Note Flowers because they work up beautifully using a 3" x 3" square of paper, so in a leap of naming logic there ya go. They are really origami kusadama flowers and they've been around forever. I'll give you a link to an origami website at the end of this post in case my instructions lead you hopelessly astray. ; 0 )

Start with a post it note or any size of paper as long as it is perfectly square. IF YOU USE post it notes, you will start with the gummy side at the bottom right and gently separate the layers if they become stuck. I LOVE these in hot pink, but I don't have any paper that color right now.
Fold bottom to top, then sides in to form a diamond, then fold each side out from the middle.
Unfold each side "wing" so it looks like a kite, then fold the top of these side kites inwards so now you will have a middle kite shape with matching side triangles. Fold each triangle once inwards.
Roll into a cone and hot glue the two folded sides in the middle. You need at least five to form a flower shape, tho I have seen them with more. Hot glue all the cones together and don't worry if you have a little gap in the center, even real flowers have a little opening in their middle.

We've made ours out of vintage dictionary pages to go along with our simple white Christmas theme.

And the Live, Laugh, Love ornaments? Simply book pages cut into small rectangles then Mod Podged onto Christmas balls. I hand wrote the words on each ball with a Pigma pen, then sealed them all with clear acrylic. You could also use a Cricut or Silhouette for the words, or print them and cut them out to match the book pages and Mod Podge them on. Simple, pretty and inexpensive. We like!

Here is a link to a real origami website with great instructions and lots of samples for these pretty flowers...

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/origami_kusadama_flowers

I'll be joining the parties on my sidebar. Come join the fun and see the neat projects posted this week!