Paper Flower

I found this at http://www.thecraftpatchblog.com/2013/04/paper-flower-tutorial.html#.V5iurfmANBd

Fun, huh?! I'm seriously in love!

Ready for the tutorial? All you need to make your very own flower is scrapbook paper, scissors and a hot glue gun.

Step 1. Start by cutting out petals. You will want six each of three varying sizes. You can experiment with petal shapes and sizes to make all different variations of flowers.  And just to give you an idea of size, my petals were about 3", 4" and 5" and the finished flower turned out to be about 11" across. 

Two sizes of petals. (I had already used one stack when I remembered to take the picture.)

Step 2. Place a small dot of hot glue at the bottom center of a petal.

Step 3. Press the petal together and pinch until the glue cools. Gently curl the outside edges so they are slightly rounded. Repeat with all six same-sized petals.

Step 4. Place a small dot of glue on the bottom right corner of the petal.

Step 5. Press the glue onto the left corner of another petal, lining up the corners with right sides together. Repeat until all six petals are glued together into a circle. Then do the exact same thing with the other sizes of petals. Each size will make it's own ring.

Step 6. Put hot glue on the back of the smallest petals and glue them to the medium layer. Glue the medium layer to the largest layer.

See how I spaced the petals so they overlap and aren't lined up perfectly? Remember that when you are gluing the layers together. You don't want the tips of the petals all lined up or it won't look right.

Step 7. Make something decorative to cover the center hole. I layered paper circles and added a stamped butterfly on this one, but the possibilities are endless....buttons, rhinestones, words, photos...there are tons of cute possibilities.

The last thing I did was to add a paper loop on the back to make them easy to hang up.

Just to show you how versatile this method is, here is another flower I made using the same technique: 

It has a completely different feel to it! All I did differently was cut out rounded petals that were a little longer and skinnier. I also added pointed leaves in another color around the outside and a big yellow button in the center.

Some other ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

- Use glitter paper. Because everything is better with glitter!
- Try crinkling the paper before assembling everything. It will give it a softer, antique look.
- Ink/distress around the edges of each petal before assembling.
- Make two identical flowers and glue them back-to-back to make a flower that looks good from both sides.
- Try using vellum or embossed paper.
- Sew around the edges of each petal before assembling. The stitching would be such a cute detail!
- Make a jumbo flower with layer after layer of petals.

I think I need to make a hundred of these. They are so fun and the possibilities are endless!

Well, I was true to my word. haha. Check out THIS post to see all the different flowers I made!

Lemon Drop Shots

Found on http://tiphero.com/lemon-drop-wedge-shots/

LEMON DROP WEDGE SHOTS

Makes 36 lemon drop wedges

INGREDIENTS

– 6 lemons, cut in half lengthwise
– ½ cup lemon juice (from the 6 lemons)
– ½ cup water
– 3 tablespoons orange juice
– ⅓ cup granulated sugar
– 5 ½ teaspoons (2 envelopes) unflavored gelatin
– ½ cup citrus vodka

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut around the edges of the lemon flesh to separate it from the peel. Scoop it out into a bowl and scrape the peel clean.
2. Place each clean peel into a jumbo muffin tin, or any container that will hold them upright, separate, and prevent spillage.
3. In a small sauce pan, combine the lemon juice, orange juice, sugar and water.
4. Sprinkle the gelatin over the mixture and let it sit for 5 minutes, until the gelatin is softened.
5. Heat the pan over medium heat, and stir until the sugar and gelatin are completely dissolved, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.
6. Whisk in the vodka and remove from the heat.
7. To make it easier to fill the lemon halves, transfer the gelatin mixture to a large liquid measuring cup when cool enough to safely do so.
8. Fill each peel up to the top.
9. Transfer the tins of filled peels to the refrigerator for 6 hours, or overnight, until the gelatin is set.
10. Slice each lemon half into thirds and serve.

TIP

• Squeeze the lemons for their juice before scooping out the fruit to make slicing easier.