A Queen & Co Bouquet...

Happy Mother's Day!  This gorgeous project was designed by Jennifer Perks as the perfect Mother's dAy gift, but I couldn't help noticing how perfect it was for something else as well - read on and you'll see why I left it so late to post this tutorial - it's perfect for other things as well!

Although the school year is only half way through here in New Zealand, I know that things are starting to wind up in schools in the Northern Hemisphere.  As we huddle down into the long winter months, the northern hemisphere breaks for summer break.  Thoughts turn to sun and summer and teacher gifts.  We hope this fun and funky project by Jen Perks will spark some inspiration - it's all 'stepped out' here for you.. have fun!  (and thanks, Jen!)

For this project, I used flowers cut from Q&Cos felt fusion and the new Q&Co felt brads to create a potted Mother's day bouquet. Not only does it look pretty sitting on a counter, but it's functional, too!  The "flowers" are actually pens!

To make the "flowers" gather your materials: different colors of floral felt fusion, ball point pens (do not use felt tip as you have to keep the caps off), floral tape, scissors, felt brads, and pop up glue dots (the thicker the better).

Cut your flowers out of the felt fusion. For my project I chose mostly solid looking flowers. Open ones would also look cute. You could even try "filling" them with patterned paper! 

Put a felt brad through the center and open the back. Place a glue dot at the top of your ball point pen and push the flower onto the adhesive. There will be extra glue that hangs off the edge of the pen. I sort of pulled it over the edge and smoothed it down. This is what it will look like:

Next, wrap the pen with the floral tape. The cool thing about that tape is that it sticks to itself. If you don't have floral tape, you can run ribbon through a xyron and wrap it around the pen (you could really get some cool colors/patterns). I went for speed. The assembly of the flower pens took mere minutes, which is a good thing since I made about 25 of them!

When you get to the end, cut the tape and smooth it down. It'll stay in place. If you worry about it coming undone, you could use a small piece of adhesive (glue stick or dry) to secure it.

I picked up the small flower pot at Ikea for about 50 cents. I really wanted a colorful one but they didn't have any in this size so I decided to dress it up a bit using the "Bug" felt fustion. I loved the graphic look using the black on white created. To add just a bit of sparkle and color, I added some jewels to the centers of the flowers in the pattern using 3M liquid adhesive. I also created a tag with a scallop and circle punch, adding two sprinkle brads on either end. The tag is adhered with two glue dots.

And here is the finished product. I see these a lot at the front desk in the schools where I work but they usually have a huge silk flower at the top (it's pretty hard to accidentally walk off with one of them!). I really liked how this twist on the idea turned out--they are so funky and colorful topped with the felt flowers and brads in their center!  I can totally see this in a scrap room, can't you?

One thing you can also add is a little ribbon "stem". I didn't have enough ribbon for all 25 of my pens but made one that way especially for my daughter, who has a special message for all our blog readers out there who are mommies

Wishing you a very happy Mother's Day

Comments

[Dee]

Great ideia!!! I live this!!!
:)

[Lisa VanderVeen]

W*O*W. These are absolutely amazing!!!

[Katie Piotrowski]

OMG! What a wonderful idea! LOVE it...and it's a perfect idea for the teacher's gift. I guess I'd beter get busy as my son is out soon! TFS, Katie

[Wendy Gibson]

I've seen these online many times....very cute!!!!

[Kristin Hayne]

Absolutely BRILLIANT!! Love the sweet message from your daughter as well! WONDERFUL idea Jen!

[Wendy Lust]

Such a cute idea. And so clever to use the felt fusion flowers individually! Your floral pen bouquet is absolutely adorable!
Wendy in Ohio