Ok...  It's been awhile since I've posted anything...
I am covering floral headbands right now.
My mom came across literally around 1,000 unmade silk flowers.
I've been cranking them out like crazy!
They are a blast to make!!!

First off...  I have not done a tutorial for wrapping the head bands with ribbon...
Simply because this is the WORST part of doing them.
I have found some prewrapped headbands at the craft store(also at dollar tree), and I am seriously considering buying them instead of wrapping on my own.
Here's finished pictures of my very favorite one.

Ok so first, find a headband you like(or you can hold off and I can show ya how to wrap one in another tutorial).
Second, go to the floral department at your local craft store and look for packages of unmade silk flowers.
I used white starflowers on the head band above, and in the one I am doing the DIY on.
You will also need flower stamen.  As well as a good adhesive glue(I use loctite crafters glue..indoor safe version), nylon thread and a needle.

Next you will need to get some felt, small buttons(or larger depending on what size flower you picked) and some metallic sharpie type markers(craft style not the stinky ones).
I used metallic Elementz markers.  I am using brown felt for mine.  I recommend folding over a piece and cutting it in half.

So first you take your Metallic markers and gently color the edges of the flowers(as far as this goes you can leave the edges uncolored if you wish...or paint them with acrylic to keep them from fraying so much....it's very much up to you!).  I did two flowers at a time so it didn't take so long.

Next, you will be attaching the flowers and buttons to the felt.  I suggest laying them down first to get a feel of how you want them(also helps if you do this on the exact match to the piece you are working on...so you can lay them out and transfer one from another).  I also recommend sewing the buttons thru the flowers several times to make them very secure.  These will be fine on an infant that doesn't mess with their hair things yet, but use caution when making for a curious toddler.  The buttons on mine are very small, so they would likely not be an issue if swallowed(mine are pencil eraser sized), but buttons bigger than these could be.  The picture below is my almost finished flower square.  I rearranged the petals the way I wanted them. As you can see I used different buttons all over it.  I also fill in the brown parts showing with buttons or beads sometimes.

Now you add the stamen.  The placement will be completely up to you.  What I like to do is wrap them around under the petals and secure them  under them.  That way you can't see but just a lil bit of the stems.  Tack them down several times so they are secure..  

Use your filler buttons(or beads) and then seal the other piece of felt to the back.

This is what the finished square will look like before you attach to the headband.

I will show you how to attach to a headband after you are done(even though this is an unfinished and ugly band).    Basically you will cut a slightly smaller piece of felt.  Cover the smaller piece of felt with glue(be generous, but not TOO generous).  Cover the band where the felt with flowers will be touching it as well.  Squeeze together tightly and set aside to dry.  I would catch it in between a drawer(or standing up between books so it's not laying on it's side(this will cause the felt to slip).

If you have any questions feel free to mail me at josieposie1976@gmail.com.
Enjoy!!!

Making Molds

If you get into making bows, and jewelry with buttons you are going to find your beloved button supply dwindling very fast(and new buttons are EXPENSIVE).  I have almost extinguished my vintage button collection.  The thought of this makes me very sad, since most of them came from my grandmothers.
So imagine how excited I was to find Amazing Mold Putty at Michaels!

At first I was skeptical, and it was $19.99.  I am ALL about saving money where I can.
First have the items you want to make molds of handy.
You can literally use ANYTHING(but if you use things like the two plastic ones below, make sure you keep your finger in there while forming so it does not collapse) that can be molded.

The next pictures shows the ratio parts before mixing.
Also, they are dead serious about mixing equal parts of it together.
If you don't do it equally, it will not ever turn rigid, and it will be slimy!

Next it's the blending part.  You have to do this FAST.  Blend em together super fast and then roll into a unified ball...trying to avoid having creases(that part I can't show you otherwise I would have wasted some putty).

Next you form over your mold.
When you do this you start rolling at the highest point and come down...
You have to make sure it is flesh against what you are molding, otherwise you will end of with air bubbles, and that's a disaster right there.

You wait 20 minutes til it's rigid and you are done!
The cool things about these is you can bake your sculpey clay in them and it will NOT ruin the molds!
As a matter of fact I have used most of my molds up and around 20 times now, and still have no issues.
Also, you can bake food in these!  It does state not to switch between food and clay because you don't want to contaminate the molds.  Can you say dinosaur shaped eggs anyone?  :D
Below I am posting some molds that I have made as well as finished projects I have completed.
The molds below saved some of my favorite buttons.
You do have to puncture the button holes after you finish baking your sculpey.
The shamrock in this picture was one that I made myself by hand, and then molded my finished shamrock so I never have to make that particular one by hand again.  :D

My Shamrock

The little shamrocks were taken off a charm bracelet I had back in the 80's.

You can see on the purple and yellow flowers buttons that there is a flaw(from not properly rolling the mold out).  I think it still looks fine, so I went ahead and painted them.

This one is from a button off my great grandmothers favorite blouse.

I really hope you enjoyed this.

I know it's not the best, but it's my first one and I will get better as I go along(or at least I hope so anyway).

Feel free to message me with any questions and or comments you have!