SOS – Save Our Scraps!

By Julie McGuffee

Like every self-respecting crafter, I hardly ever throw anything away, especially leftover scraps of felt and pieces that I cut out and never used! I store them in a box and, since we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, I thought this might be a good time to sort thru what I had and put them to good use! If you don’t have these particular shapes, the patterns are included below and you can find detailed instructions on how to cut them out on a Cricut® Maker™ in this earlier post: https://www.kuninfelt.com/2018/01/09/heartfelt-pocketful-of-kisses/

This is the selection of scraps I had to start with: filigree hearts, simple hearts and lots of green curly Q’s weeded from the March shamrock shapes, plus all the pieces that were left after the shapes had been cut out.

I couldn’t use everything, so I decided first to see what I could create with the larger pieces of felt, which remained after I had removed the heart shapes. I also had some iron-on embroidered letters and played around for a while to see how many words I could come up with in the heart shaped spaces.

I liked the idea of a scrabble type banner using the red felt, but ended up using the white felt piece instead. It was the perfect size to go around an empty tin can. I didn’t stop there! After I finished covering the empty can, I had even more fun creating a flower with the pink filigree hearts…

You will need:

  • Filigree and simple heart shapes (from previous projects), or
  • Kunin® Classics Felt 9” x 12” – Candy Pink
  • Kunin® Classics Felt 9” x 12” – White
  • Kunin® Glitter Friendly 9″ x 12″ Felt – Black
  • Cricut® Maker™ with Rotary blade
  • Joy® Embroidered letter sheet – Pink
  • Xyron® Creative station and permanent adhesive cartridge (Optional)
  • Glue Gun and lo-temp glue
  • Scissors
  • Craft knife and metal edge ruler
  • Silk flower bunches
  • Empty can
  • Small bottle of water – empty

Up-cycled Flower Container:

1. Upload the filigree heart*, (or simple heart design) into Cricut Design Space, spacing them as shown below to create the pattern. *If you use the filigree heart pattern, you’ll also have the shapes to make white flowers. The openings in the felt will be the same.

Download here: http://bit.ly/FiligreeHeart

Download here: http://bit.ly/BasicHeart

2. Place the white felt on the pink mat then cut using the rotary blade. Remove the felt from around the hearts, then use a spatula to carefully remove the heart shapes on the mat.

3. Cut the felt about ¼” less than the height of the can you want to cover, then place on top of the black glitter felt about 1/8” from the edge. Cut the black felt 1/8” from the upper edge of the white felt piece.

4. Wrap the black felt around the sides of the can. Trim the length so the ends overlap about ½” then glue the ends with lo-temp glue. Wrap the white felt around the side of the can on top of the black. Trim where the ends meet then glue the ends in place.

TIP: I like to work on a mat with a 1” grid when cutting. I line up two adjacent sides of the felt with the grid lines then place the ruler on top aligned with another grid line for a perfect 90˚ cut every time.

5. If you have a Xyron sticker maker, or Creative Station cartridges, run the embroidered letters thru the machine.

6. Glue a letter in each opening – L O V E in the upper row and Y O U underneath.

6. Place a plastic bottle inside the can to use as a “frog”. Cut the bottom from the bottle if needed to shorten so the neck is about ½” below the top of the can. Place the flower stems inside the top of the bottle. The narrow opening will keep the stems of the flowers together. Fill the top with the leftover green curly Q’s of felt, or use Easter basket shreds to camouflage the top of the bottle.

Cans and plastic bottles make great containers for fresh flowers too! Just add water!

Filigree Flowers

1. You will need about 7 filigree hearts to make this flower, plus the stem and calyx from a silk flower.

2. Remove the flower head and calyx from the flower stem. Glue the bottom of one felt heart to the top of stem. It’s easier to add a little lo-temp glue to the top of the stem then press it on to the bottom of the heart. Pinch the felt around the stem being careful not to get the glue on your fingers! Fold the second heart in half then glue to the stem next to the first heart then add a third. This will create the center.

3. Add 4 more hearts around the outside of the center then slide the calyx up from the bottom of the stem to cover the base of the flower. You can also wrap green floral tape around the base if the calyx doesn’t fit.

4. Fluff the petals then glue stamens to the center if available. The flower I removed from the stem (large daffodil) had long yellow stamens to use. I also glued a leaf to the base of the stem.

I had originally thought of making a bunch of these to display in the decorated can, but I was trying to only use what I already had available, plus there’s so much that can be done with the single flower. Not only can you display it anywhere in your home in a small glass container, the flower would be pretty as a lapel pin, a little girl’s headband, an embellishment for a bag or purse, or to give to a friend to celebrate Earth Day….. Enjoy!

You can now find an expanded color line of Kunin® ClassicfeltKunin® Premiumfelt and Corduroy non-wovens fabrics in cut by the yard at your local Walmart; please inquire as to what is available in your area.

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