A Fabric Gift Bouquet - Namma's 70th Birthday

Namma has eight grandkids. They all made it to the ranch, which is quite rare seeing as the families are scattered across the country. The grandkiddos love their Namma, who is warm and giving. She gets down on the floor with them and engages them at their level. She is a wonderful artist and is always ready to lend a hand on a crafty project or to anything, really, that needs doing. She even once spent a whole day embroidering note cards with me for a last minute magazine deadline! Instead of making work when she visits, she magically crosses more off my long term to-do list in three days than I accomplish in months. I love Namma, too!

In the gift presentation, the receiver starts with a vase like this:Each child then presents a flower with a special word for the recipient. In Allie’s case, below, “Love.”

Namma collected each flower in the vase, one by one, as the grandkiddos presented her with their flower. Then, she traveled home with a little something special from each of them–they who live so far away. Think about making one of these for your next big event, a birthday, a graduation, or just because.

Materials

paperboard (soda box, cereal box)

fabric (approximately 2 x 18" strips)

green felt

wire (16 gauge – you could use a wire hanger from your closet)

wire cutter

electrical tape

vase

beads/marbles

craft glue

For each flower desired, cut the following:

: A strip of fabric approximately 18" x 2"

: 2 circles of paperboard approximately 1.5" in diameter. I used the electrical tape roll as a template.

: A piece of wire approximately 7 to 9" in length

1. Pinch the beginning of one end of the fabric and rotate fabric clockwise. Spiral the fabric tightly around itself. Pinch the loose end of the fabric as you go along so that the right side of the fabric generally stays facing out. Using craft glue, secure the tail end of the fabric by gluing it to the flower.

2. Glue the entire flower to one of the paperboard discs. Hold in place until glue sets a bit. If the flower has been rolled tighter than the disc, continue with more fabric, trim and glue in place. Or, you can trim the disc.

3. Bend approximately 1" of the of the wire over, such that the very top of the wire is doubled up. Attach the doubled portion of the wire to the paperboard disc and flower with electrical tape.

4. Glue the second paperboard circle on top of the wire and electrical tape, such that they are sandwiched between the two pieces of cardboard and are not visible.

5. Trim the paperboard discs, if necessary, such that you cannot see the paperboard from the front of the flower. Draw your special word and your name on the back of the cardboard. This may be easier to do before you glue it, but then you risk cutting some of the message off if it needs trimming.

6. Cut a leaf shape out of the felt. Leave an extra tab at the end of the leaf to have room to wrap it around the wire. Glue it in place.

7. I like to add a little more glue and then squeeze and secure the leaf the other direction to add dimension. The kids were doing these, so I *tried* not to get too particular.

There, they should be finished. I recommend providing ample time for them to dry. With the kiddos doing most of it, it seemed there was a lot of glue to set. I love how they turned out. The kids loved making them, and I think Namma loved them.

Special thanks to my niece, Isabella, for being a great model! Wish you lived in Boulder so you could be my assistant more often.

It snowed here today, A LOT. Brrr~! Hope you’re all staying warm and cozy.

xo Anne Weil