DIY succulent planters and gifts

Posted on September 3, 2013 by thelifeoflulubelle

I know succulent projects are everywhere, but I just can’t get enough! I probably have 10 pots of succulents in the backyard and I started a succulent garden in the front yard, but I still bought several different varieties when I went to the home improvement store this weekend. My husband doesn’t agree that you can never have too many succulents.

Forget flowers and chocolate, I would much rather have succulents! In fact, that’s what my husband brought me for Mother’s Day; the large hen he bought is now finally producing chicks! I’ve surpassed my exclamation mark limit, but I really love succulents, especially sempervivums (the “hens and chicks” that produce babies). They are easy to grow, and the babies they reproduce are easy to replant. This makes succulents great to cultivate at home then make gifts and creative planters. Need a hostess gift? New neighbor? A friend’s birthday? Grab some succulents and throw them together in a cute way and you have a unique gift that will literally, keep on giving. The hard part is figuring out exactly what to do with your plants.

So here are just a few ideas!

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Decorative Throw Pillows

Posted on April 26, 2012 by thelifeoflulubelle

My husband finally relented and let me add some yellow into our already gray and black bedroom. It may be overdone, but I think a yellow, gray, and black bedroom looks great. To celebrate, and to actually add some of the color, I started off by making some throw pillows for our bed.

I had 2 square pillows and 1 rectangular pillow already, I just needed to make covers for them. Instead of cutting out several pieces and adding a zipper or button, I went with the envelope style pillow cover. An envelope style pillow cover is probably the easiest pillow cover and you only need to cut one piece of fabric!

I could attempt to draw you out a tutorial, but so many already exist. You can find some HERE or HERE or search for yourself. All you need is a piece of fabric a little longer than 2x your pillow and slightly wider. You could use your sewing machine, but if don’t have one, you could try the iron on hemming tape or maybe attempt the hemming glue as well.

I made two yellow pillow covers and one black one, and then decorated them with flower accents

It's a good idea to iron the fabric before you sew...

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Homemade Christmas Gifts: Yarn Wreath

Posted on October 28, 2011 by thelifeoflulubelle

Do a Google Image search for “Yarn Wreath” and lots of pretty things will come up; Christmas wreaths, colorful spring wreaths, and everything in between. My friend Nichole is a big fan of yarn wreaths and got me interested. I decided to try my hand and create a yarn wreath with felt flowers for my aunt’s new home for Christmas.

Yarn Wreath with Felt Flowers How-To:

Yarn wreath using felt wrap rosettes and scrabble tiles

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How to Make a Hair Flower or Brooch Clip

Posted on July 11, 2011 by thelifeoflulubelle

Here I use two small flowers

I wear a lot of hair flowers. I also see a lot of them on sale for outrageous amounts; that’s why I make my own. You can too! Never buy a hair flower again – make your own hair flowers that can double as a brooch! It’s easy, inexpensive, and has endless varieties.

Supplies:

Silk or fabric flowers (a flat flower works best, such as daisies or orchids)
Alligator Brooch Clips
Hot glue gun
Fabric or felt scraps
Pliers or metal cutters (to trim flowers)

Find flowers that are fairly flat and the size you want

Directions:

Remove flower from stems and cut as close to flower as possible – you want the flower to have as flat of a back as possible. You may have to glue some flower layers back together.

Depending on how flat the flower is, you may or may not need to use a pad under the clip. If needed, glue a piece of fabric or felt the same size or slightly bigger than the clip where you will glue the clip onto.

If you use fabric, the cloth may fray with use. Felt is a better option if you have any.

Glue the clip to the back of flower

Or you can glue the clip straight to the flower

And after it dries – congrats! You have your own hair flower/brooch! Wear in your hair, pin to your sweater or bag!

Add feathers under the petals, use vintage flowers, add or remove different petal layers from different flowers, or put a cab into the center of the flower for more variety.

How to wear hair flowers:

I like to wear the flowers either with my hair half up and the flower to the side (as pictured above), behind the ear when my hair is down (like my avatar photo), or to the side of my “poof” as shown below. If you are wearing a low pony tail, you can also clip the flower on the side of the ponytail (wearing a low side ponytail looks cute this way). If you want more ideas for flower and how to wear them, you can just do a search on Etsy, and see how other people are making and wearing them.