Foam Flower Basket Tutorial

Foam Flower Baskets

            Personally for me one of the best things about having a crafting hobby is being able to make little little things for my daughter [she is so super appreciative!! Wink!]. Well all the little flower baskets you see are going to be party favours [ or return gifts as we call them here in India!] for my daughters Birthday in May. Last year we had an Egyptian theme party and you can read about it here : Picture frame tutorial , Scroll Invitation card tutorial , DIY Mummy tutorial ]

I am not a party girl and find organizing parties very very stressful but my little girl just loves to plan even the tiniest details of her birthday party so this year I decided to have a headstart to decrease my birthday party organizing jitters !

Foam Basket

Foam is an ideal material to gift to kids as it can withstand quite a bit of squishing , dropping and tugging without falling apart!  We plan to fill our little baskets with candy to gift the kids! Making these flower baskets were super easy and FUN FUN !

Materials Required

Foam - Though I generally say use thin foam for foam flower tutorials , to make these baskets, thick foam is preferable as you need your basket to be sturdy

• Cut foam in Flower shape in contrasting colors to make the leafy base and flower basket.The base flower is slightly smaller than the flower used to make the basket
• Foam strip approximately 1 x 7.5 inch long [ cut from an A4 sheet to foam] to make the basket handle
• Optional - foam to make foam bows

Glue gun-- indispensable when working with foam!

Scissors- the one you see is the Tim Holtz scissors- I love using it to cut foam as its serrated teeth grasps the slippery foam so beautifully!

Foam Basket Materials

To cut out the  4  1/4 inch dia and 3  3/4 inch dia flower shapes,  I used the 2 largest dies from the Sizzix framelit flower set [ also used in this Interactive Swinging card]

Sizzix Framelits

If you dont have this particular die dont despair... the tutorial works for any hand drawn and cut flower shape...you can even click on the image below [to enlarge it] and trace over the shapes shown below to use as a template

Flower Template

I got the idea for these cute baskets from this site [and she even has proper hand drawn templates]
How to Make the Foam Baskets
Cut the larger foam flower in the groove between the petals towards the center but not reaching it as shown in the pictorial below

Foam Basket tutorial 

Apply a little bit of glue...[not too much or  the excess glue will not only burn you but give unsightly glue marks on your project] on the edge of a petal as shown and overlap an adjacent petal over it and hold for a few seconds!

Foam Basket tutorial 

Keep applying glue and sticking adjacent petals

Foam Basket tutorial

And soon you have a flower shaped basket!My first basket didnt look as neat as this one as I applied far too much glue and it left marks !

Foam Basket tutorial

The green foam flower shape you are going to use as the base for your basket can be left as such or jazzed up a bit with inks and white/ silver pens.

Foam Basket tutorial

Apply hot glue to the center of your base

Foam Basket tutorial

And stick on your flower shaped basket.

Foam Basket tutorial

I made smaller flower baskets and inserted it inside the large one to give a fuller look! You can leave it as such to hold candy or other knick knacks or convert it into a proper basket by adding a handle

Foam Basket tutorial

I used a 1 x 7.5 inch strip of green glitter foam and used hot glue to stick it inside my foam flower basket

Foam Basket tutorial

Since foam is such a malleable material this will be one of the easiest handles you make!

Foam Basket tutorial

Added a scalloped foam die cut [ Spellbinders ] on some of the basket handles .

Foam Basket 

Nothing can beat a "bow" to make something look cute !I used a Life style crafts die to make a glitter foam bow to add to the basket handle.

Bow

My little girl suggested we add pearls to the bows on some of the baskets!

Foam Baskets

Added Tattered lace rose die cuts to glamorize the inside of the baskets.

Foam Flower Basket 

Experimented using felt too and the violet basket you see in the picture below is made of felt!

Foam Flower Baskets

Our baskets are in a riot of colors...and I am hoping the children will like them!

Foam Flower Baskets

My little girl had so much fun coordinating the colors of her baskets  In all we made 21...I think we need to make at least a dozen more!

Foam Flower Baskets

I hope you  like these little Party Favours!
Edited : Where to buy Foam ? : Check local stationary shops and dedicated craft shops listed in this link Craft Supply Stores in India

DIY Fashion Accessories Tutorial

DIY Fashion Accessories

          Hi friends...it feels like its been ages since I posted online though actually its been just a fortnight. Here is a fashion accessory tutorial brought to you by my little girl! Yes she made the gorgeous flowers on her head band!

The flowers you see are made from special " Sospeso Trasparente" printed plastic films.Click this link to read more about the beautiful Italian craft of Sospeso Trasparente

Sospeso Transparente 

After cutting out the flower designs, they are heated and embossed using wooden [wood because of its heat conduction properties]embossing tools on a special embossing pad.

Sospeso Trasparente technique

It is indeed magical to see such flat flowers transform into 3 dimensional beauties!

Sospeso Trasparente flowers

Layered 2 daisies atop with hot glue to create a fuller flower .

My little girl has been coaxing me to allow her to make a video tutorial ..and finally I relented! Here is my little girl showing you How to use Diamond dust to make Sparkling Flowers

You  can also jazz up Sospeso Trasparente flowers  with ice crystals ,inking or glitter!

Hairband tutorial 

Here is how to make any kinda hair band using not only Sospeso flowers but felt, foam, fabric or any other crafty thing you make and want on your head!

Hair Band tutorial 

Materials required 

• Hairbands : plastic, metal or felt  hair bands - the plain plastic ones are super cheap and ideal for your first experiment!
• Foam- thin craft foam is the best but if you only find the thicker one-- that's okay too
• Glue Gun

Hair Band tutorial  

Cut a thin rectangular piece of foam long enough to wrap around your hairband.Keep its width smaller than the size of your flower so that the foam base is hidden when you stick your flower

Hair Band tutorial 

Hot glue the foam strip around your hair band.

Sospeso Trasparente hair band

Apply your flower directly on to this foam strip or for a more secure attachment, stick a  circle/ square foam piece atop this foam strip with hot glue. You can use a glue dot also to stick foam to foam but the best adhesive for foam is hot glue!

Sospeso Trasparente hair band

And if you are wondering why I chose foam rather than felt or any other material to form the base for our Sospeso Trasparente  flower- its because when using the hot glue..the plastic and foam melt and fuse to each other giving a very firm adhesion which can survive the many antics a little girl's hair band is bound to be subjected to!

Sospeso Trasparente hair accessory

We made one more foam strip - disc to attach a 2nd diamond dusted Sospeso flower!

Sospeso Trasparente hair band

Every girl loves matching accessories! So we made a matching necklace using more Sospeso Trasparente flowers

Sospeso Trasparente Necklace

We made a Sospeso Trasparente flower with ice crystals following this tutorial : Sospeso Ice crystal effect and added them to a plastic base brooch

Sospeso Trasparente jewelry 

You can use the brooch as such and pin it to dresses , curtains, bags etc or add it to a chain and use it as a pendant!

Sospeso Trasparente jewelry

Making a Sospeso Trasparente brooch is super simple- hot glue a foam piece to a plastic brooch and stick your flower to the foam disc

Sospeso Trasparente Jewelry tutorial 

Here is another Sospeso Trasparente Neckalce design we played with!

Sospeso Trasparente jewelry

I hope you liked my little girl's fashion accessories and her little tutorial !
If you are interested in Sospeso Trasparente tutorials , see my Sospeso Trasparente Pinterest Board

A question I am always asked "Where  to buy Sospeso Trasparente material in India ?" : Crafters Corner 

CD Crafts - Marble Plaque

CD Craft

Hi friends , recycling crafts give me a big kick and if you have been following my blog you'll have seen quite a few recycled CD cases, recycled styrofoam/ thermocol crafts etc! A CD apparently takes a million years to decompose, so yeah we crafters can do our bit to use them up to make our pretty creations!

CD Recycling

          This month for my DT project for Crafters Corner I got a chance to work with some fantastic adhesives.CDs with their slick surface always pose a "what glue to use" problem and since I wanted to test out the much hyped wonder glue "E6000" , I chose a real toughie to glue on - super smooth marbles!

CD Craft tutorial 

            I love marbles-- they somehow bring back sweet childhood memories and recently I got a bag of the most gorgeous blue marbles!

          The glue gun is my go to adhesive for any quick fix gluing but its adhesive properties are not long lasting and objects tend to  fall off over time [only exception is when using on felt and foam - its awesome for these materials ] E 6000 is purported as an industrial strength glue which works on most materials except Styrofoam and certain plastics.

CD craft

      Because E6000 has toxic fumes you have to work in an area with good ventilation ! Unlike super glue/ feviquick one does get time to arrange things as there is a nice 2- 5 minute window before the glue starts sticking! And it wont stick like crazy to your hands either !

Cd craft

The E 6000 glued projects need to be left un disturbed for at least 24 hrs so this project was not the quick job it looks! The next test for the E 6000 was gluing on a metal - glass cabochon to the marble! [Here is how to make your own glass cabochons: Glass cabochon tutorial ]

Glass Cabochon

The next day I was thrilled to find all my gorgeous blue marbles and cabochon firmly stuck on. The adhesion was a rubbery style and the glue had dried perfectly clear!

CD Home decor

I made this CD- Marble plaque with the word " Believe " especially for my little girl as she is such a gentle soul and we are forever trying to boost her confidence and  make her " Believe" in herself !

Shell Craft

Do shells and butterflies go together...well maybe not but somehow the blue of the marbles made me add the pearly white sea shells!

CD Craft

            I think the sentiment " Believe" is a good one for all of us...we each need to believe in ourselves ,believe we can achieve anything we put our minds to!

            And crafty wise I think I have to give a thumbs up to the E6000 ! Being able to stick marbles on to a vertical smooth surface so firmly is a feat indeed! No wonder the internet abounds in crafters singing its praise [ See my Pinterest board on Adhesives]

What do you say friends?
Supplies : E6000 [from Crafters Corner], Cheery Lynn  Butterfly Die, Glass Cabochons and Butterfly pendant [from Crafters Corner]

3 D Pop Up Card Tutorial

Window Pop Up Card

Hi friends , I have a passion for making pop up cards and one of my favorite objects in card making is "windows".[Here are earlier cards using the Cheery Lynn  window die : Fancy Fold Card, Pop Up Window Card, Window Frame Card, Pop Up Christmas Card]

Pop Up Card

This Pop Up Card stands on its own like a box and can be hung like a decoration too! There are see through windows on all 4 sides and you can see a pearl and sequin studded tree inside [Yes I am still not over the Christmas /Winter effect!!]

Pop Up Card Top view

I added a Happy New Year inside the pop up card!

Pop Up Card folded flat

And this is how the 3D Pop Up Card folds absolutely flat for mailing!

Cheery Lynn  Butterfly

A closeup of my fav butterfly which you keep seeing all over my projects!

Pop Up Card tutorial 

I know most people are scared of making Pop Up Cards...I love making Pop Up cards and feel so euphoric when I design my own Pop Up Card design and it actually works!

Ha Ha so yeah...sharing how I made it!

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Since I designed my Pop Up card to fit my Cheery Lynn  window die, I had to choose a card stock size large enough to fit my windows! I used an Ivory sheet 16.5 x  6 inches and scored at 0.5 inch and every 4 inch.If you dont have such a huge piece of card join together 2 pieces of 8.5 x 6 inch long cards.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Die cut or handcut windows on each 4 inch panel.I left a 1.5 inch space below the  windows to add my pop up elements within the card.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Fold the score lines and you will get a box like shape. Stick the 0.5 inch tab and you have actually made a simple box style pop up card!

But if you want to add pop up elements within your windows....
Score a 5 x 1 inch piece of card 0.5 inch from either end

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Fold the 0.5 inch tabs in opposite directions as shown in the pop up card tutorial photo below.I like to snip off tiny triangles on the ends of gluing tabs to get a wedge shape which makes gluing so much more neater.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Add your pop up element to this piece of card. I dressed up a Spellbinders tree with pearls and sequins and centered it on my Pop Up Card strip.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Apply glue on one tab and stick it to the area under the window.Keep the card strip nicely horizontal or your pop up element will look wonky!

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Fold over the pop up card strip as shown and apply glue to the other tab as shown in the pop up card tutorial photo below.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Making sure the tab is kept folded with glue surface above...fold over your window panel card and stick firmly...your pop up element will have found its place on an area below the opposite window and will pop up nicely on opening!

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Once your pop up element is looking good...if you want you can add more layers inside in the same way . you can even add pop up elements on the top part of the box like hanging stars or ornaments to accompany your tree!

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

Finally glue the tab on your window panel card and complete your 3 D pop up card!

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

I added Spellbinders Borderabilies to form an arch above my window and  added double arches Martha Stewart  punched elements under the windows.

Pop Up Card Tutorial 

The most challenging part about making a Pop Up card in white was keeping it clean with all the tab gluing that was involved!!

I hope you liked my Pop Up Card design !
Here are links to more Card Tutorials

Supplies : Dies : Cheery Lynn  Butterfly , Cheery Lynn  Window A, Cheery Lynn  Embellishments, Spellbinders Curved Borders 2  , Spellbinders Christmas tree, Tattered Lace Rose [ the skirt of the tree],Elizabeth Craft Dies Happy New Year Punches : Martha Stewart double arch.

Edited: this project came top 3 at Decorate to celebrate anything goes theme

Also got a honorable mention at Scrappy Land