For this week’s Show & Tell Wednesday I thought I would shake things up a bit by doing a “How To” post with a little giveaway thrown in the mix.
{the giveaway is officially closed}
First: the “How To” portion of the post~

How to make flirty flowers for your hair.
A few years ago I started seeing these lovely fabric flowers popping up all over the internet. I was fascinated and determined to figure out how they were made. My mom and I put our heads together and figured it out. So, if you would like to make some for yourself here’s how it’s done…

I like to use a small torch to make my flowers. I think the torch makes better petals, and it allows you to have better control of the heat. If you don’t have one you can use a candle instead. You also need large, medium, and small circle templets for tracing (different sized cups and plates will also work).

You need small amounts of polyester satin fabric in a variety of colors. It needs to be polyester so that the fabric will melt. Natural fabrics like linen, silk, or cotton, will just burn (burning is not good).

Start by tracing circles onto the wrong side of the fabric. Begin with the largest circle and move down to the smallest size. Keep in mind that the circles will get smaller once you have melted the edges.

Cut out the circles.

These circles will be the petals of your flower. You can make them all the same color or you can create a variegated style flower by using different colored circles. The more circles you cut, the fuller your flower will be.

Now for the fun part; burning the material. Hold the edge of the circle up to the candle and carefully glide the edge along the flame. As you do this the edge will begin to melt and curl up. The more you melt the curlier and more ruffled you flower will be. Don’t go too crazy though, or you will end up with a little puddle of goo… and that’s not the look we’re going for.
Learning to control and manipulate the heat is the key to making really pretty flowers. It takes some practice and experimenting. Every fabric melts and curls a little differently. I’ve certainly incinerated my fair share of petals over the last few years.

Once you’ve sealed the edges of all your circles, stack them up largest to smallest. You can re-stack the petals, twist and turn them until you are happy with the shape.

Next, thread a needle and stitch about a half a dozen stitches in the center of the flower. You don’t have to be real neat and precise you just want to keep your petals together. The stitching will be covered up later.

As you can see, you can use a variety of materials and layer them together to create different looks and styles. I like to add netting, lace and tulle layers in between the satin petals. It’s not necessary to seal the edges of the lace, netting and tulle… they won’t fray. Now for the fun part: the finishing touches.

Sometimes I like to hot glue leaves to the back.

You can put lots of different things in the center of the flower. Seed beads, pearls, antique buttons, small gems, vintage velvet flowers… the sky is the limit. I like to use extra strength glue for gluing any nonporous items like bead or buttons.

Just put a dollop of glue in the center and pile up the pearls or beads. Have fun with this step, use your imagination. I just keep messing with mine until I like the way it looks. Once it looks right I walk away… you gotta know when to walk away.

I like to finish the back by hot gluing a felt circle to the center. It covers up the stitching and gives the hair clip or pin back a level place to stick to.

Last, I use a little bit of the extra strength glue and apply it to a metal hair clip (or pin back). I hold the clip open with a pencil so that it doesn’t get glued shut. Then I center the back of the flower onto the clip. Let the glue dry completely before using (duh).
Here are some other variations of flowers you can make~




Alright, here’s the “Giveaway” portion of the post.
If you leave a friendly comment on this post, your name will be entered to win your choice of 4 flower clips, from the selection shown in the following pictures~

I will close the giveaway on Monday, May 2nd, and announce the winner Wednesday, May 4th. Be sure to check back to on the 4th to see if you won! Comments on my FaceBook page will also be entered into the drawing. Don’t be shy, even if you are a first time visitor please feel free to say “hi”.


Thanks for stopping by! I hope you feel inspired today!
~ April