DIY Burlap Daisies

What You Need

• Burlap
• A button
• Thread or wire
• Hot glue

The Craft

       ~ Cut a strip of burlap about 20-25 inches long and one inch wide. Here I liked the idea of having a bit of colour, so when I found this red burlap bag at the dollar store, I knew it was what I needed. 

       

       ~ If you want a stem on your flower, then use some jewelry wire, but if you are looking for something to use as decoration on something else, use thread. 

     

       ~ First, you want to attach your button securely to your thread or wire. Starting at about 1 inch from the edge of the burlap, thread your button on. From here you want to fold over approximately 2.5 inch loops, threading as you go. If you have a little left at the end, don't worry, it will tuck right under and you wont even notice it. 

       

       ~ Push the burlap together, then spread it out to give it the petals. Here I went in between the layers with hot glue to hold it together. If you are using thread as I am, this might be a good idea, since you may be noticing that the thread is slipping through the holes in the burlap. 

       

       ~ If you are attaching it to anything, hot glue is dandy with burlap because liquid glue just doesn't seem to do anything but ooze between the holes.

       

                                          ~ And so voila! Your flower is ready to be used!

DIY Wine Bottle Vases

What You Need

• Beer or wine bottle
• Twine, hemp or jute
• Glue (I prefer hot glue, but a good liquid glue like Elmer's or Mod Podge will do just fine.)

                The Craft

       ~ First you need to find a beer or wine bottle. I personally preferred to use a bigger bottle for this one, just because it makes a bigger impression on my mantle. So, begrudgingly i dragged myself to the liquor store and much to my dismay, was forced to buy a nice bottle of wine to share over a nice meal. It's hard being this devoted to your craft, but someone has to do it...

       

       ~ Alright, drinking done, I now decided it was time to begin. Make sure you really wash that booze smell out; no one wants that lingering over their bouquet of roses. 

       

       ~ You could spend the next hour being nit-picky and trying to pull every little piece of the label off or soaking it in water until it falls off, but to be honest, I'm not always a patient woman, and decided to skip this step. Don't get the wrong idea about me, I don't cut corners just to give over a half-assed project. I did my research, practice wrapped it, and decided that it wouldn't show through. If you enjoy wine with technicolor labels, it might be best to take the extra time, but as long as your chord is thick and sturdy, it should be just fine. Here I used a rough type of hemp, but you can also use twine or even wool.

     

       ~ I started at the bottom of the bottle because if there was an extra quirky creative bit (ie: mistake) it would be less blatant than it would be at the neck of the bottle. For the first turn, put glue all the way around the base, this will stop the chord slipping off later. As you go along, use the glue as needed (whenever it starts the slip or you feel the need). I found that as the bottle curved into the neck, I needed more glue due to it slipping about.

       ~ Once finished, cut and glue the end, then you can leave it alone or decorate as you like. I preferred to add a little touch of colour with a burlap daisy(see DIY Burlap Daisies).