{rosette pin tutorial--as promised!}

Buried in a drawer-- that's where I found the battery charger. In fact, the same, exact drawer in which I keep my camera!! Don't I feel just DUMB.

So finally, here is the tutorial-- a bit too late for Mother's Day, but perhaps it can go to good use another special occasion?

So, what you need for this project is:

• a few rosettes in your-- or their-- favorite colors, you can use this tutorial
• needle and thread
• an extra strip of felt
• a pin back
• beads-- or buttons or anything else you like-- for the centers

1. Sew the rosettes to the extra piece of felt. To sew without the thread showing, just insert the threads in between the ruffles. It's also cute to let them show, especially if you use a contrasting color or one that matches your beads/buttons.

I like to overlap and curve mine, but they're also adorable to stack, and be sure to play around before you sew!

2. Cut the backing felt so that it doesn't show from the front. There's no need to finish the edges, but if you're especially hard on your jewelry, you might want to invest in a little fray check.

3. Use the same method used to attach the rosettes to add the beads (or just sew on the button).

4. Attach the pin back to the backing felt, and voila! Easy peasy. I went through each of the holes several times to make it super secure and then tied the ends behind the pin back. It's easy to miss the felt, so make sure you're getting the felt in your stitches each time. I would also suggest gluing down the thread tails to avoid them sticking out.

This is one easy project with beautiful end results. I spend about an hour total on each, so one TV program, and I'm done! I hope all of you will enjoy these as much as I have!

{mother's day surprise}

Well... it's more just like a card and a present rolled into one! But I think all my mothers and grandmothers are going to love one.

I suppose the postage would be a bit more on this than a regular card-- I'm handing them out to my family-- but aren't our mothers worth it?

I designed the card fronts specifically for this purpose, to put a pin next to it. Then I made another version for sending without the pin.

Hopefully, my mother's will wear the pins with pride-- and sorry for ruining your surprise-- or at least enjoy looking at the lovely cards!

** I'm putting the card fronts below. I hoping they are large enough and of good enough quality for you guys to use. I recommend printing them two to a page that is printed landscape.

Feel free to print them out and send them for personal use, but not for personal gain! Also, link love is greatly appreciated!**

card for pin

card without pin

P.S. Watch for a tutorial coming soon!

{pretties}

Finished!! I've been tinkering with idea in my brain for literally months, and I finally got around to doing it. Not that it was hard to do (I'm sure you'll figure out what I've done in nanoseconds), I just needed the time.

I guess you could say I'm pretty into pieces that are multifunctional, and this one fits that rule. It's both a brooch and a necklace!

The chain is detachable, so that it can be worn as a brooch. And of course, I'm able to switch out different brooches so that I can switch up the colors.

I'm already thinking of other applications for this chain. Maybe some ribbon or fabric?

P.S. Also, I was trying to model the necklace, but in every picture I ended up looking giraffe-y; so I've done the best I could with the most normal, non-giraffe-y photo.

Vintage flower pin necklace

Hello... My name is Emily. I am addicted to Etsy. There are just so many good ideas there.

On my first trip to Esty, so long ago, I saw this vintage rose cabochon necklace for $34, which is not too bad a price, but I thought, why couldn't I make that?

So, I did. I found this vintage pin that my grandmother had given me. Part of the pin had broken off the back, so I clipped off the rest of the closure and glued on bails on either side.

I made the chain with green faceted beads. It has 10 beads on one side of the pin and 15 on the other, so the flower is skewed to the left, just to be quirky.

Now I have a cute new necklace, just because I thought, why not?

April showers bring pretty, wearable flowers!

Praise be to Martha for her great wisdom and cute, cute crafting ideas. I got this idea from an issue of Martha Stewart Living, although she used eyelet lace to make a huge rose. And don't discount Martha because she might be middle-aged and frumpy... Anything can be made to fit any style.

To personalize mine, I used fringed strips of vintage-inspired fabric, to make smaller, more colorful flowers. It's amazing what five minutes of boredom can do...

• I basted the edge of the fabric, about a half inch from the edge, and pulled one end to create a ruffle, and twisted it around the center.


• I sewed the layers together with some stitches in a star (*) shape, making sure to connect each layer. It really does not have to be pretty on the bottom! No one sees it. Just make sure everything is secure.


• I just attached a colorful vintage button to the top and a pin to the back (and truth be told, I just pin mine on with a safety pin, but you can be fancy if you want), and voila!!

Other good ideas are lace, ribbon and any kind of fabric that you want for the flowers! And change up the centers with beads or sequins instead of buttons.

You can use smaller strips, both shorter and thinner, to make smaller flowers and vary the sizes. And three together looks even cuter!!