Zipper Floral Ring and Bracelet

I have seen zipper jewelry for a while now and have really liked them and wanted to make some for myself and I finally did. I have hesitated to make some jewelry with zippers because I didn't want to waste any of them. I fell like they are expensive even though I know they are not. I know they sell one side of a zipper like they do lace but it is even more expensive.  One of my Husbands Grandmothers passed away a few months ago and I inherited some of her sewing supplies. In the sewing supplies there were several zippers. I didn't pay for them so I don't feel so bad using them! 

Supplies: zipper, glue gun & glue, sewing machine with zipper attachment, Amate Studios ring and bracelet base and a glob on clay. 

To start making the flower you will need to take the zipper apart. I did this by cutting across the zipper. Since you will not need the pull and my zipper was extra long I cut the zipper so that I could use part of it on another project. (With the left over piece you can add a few stitched and the bottom to keep it closed.) Take one side of the zipper and make a basting stitch using the zipper foot on your sewing machine. (You can hand stitch this if you don't have a sewing machine.) Leaving long tails of thread. 

Pull the bottom thread and start to make the zipper "ruffle."

Using your glue gun add a small dot to one end of the zipper and roll the zipper to make the center of the flower.

Add a little bit of glue and roll the zipper. Keep doing this until the flower is complete. Glue the end of the zipper just slightly under the flower so you don't see unfinished ends. 

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished flower by itself! Now put your ring base into a glob of clay to hold the ring in place. 

Add a large amount of hot glue to the well of the ring. Add more than what is in the picture, about 2/3 full. The more glue I added to the well the more you couldn't see it in the picture. If you fill it to full when you insert the flower the glue will overflow. Then insert the flower into the ring and press gently and hold in place for a minute to let the glue start to harden.

The ring.

The bracelet.

The ring and the bracelet.

I love how these turned out! They will go with so many outfits. I will probably make a few more in other colors. I am eyeing a turquoise zipper right now! 

Up Cycled Bangle Bracelet

While recently shopping I saw some cute bangle bracelets that had flowers on them. I knew that I could make my own! And definitely for a lot less money! The best thing is that very few supplies are needed and you probably have them laying around. For this I used vinyl fabric, thread, scissors, needle, button or button maker and extra fabric if you want to make your own button and a flower pattern. These particular Bangle Bracelets are from Amate Studios. 

 Cut out flower pattern. Pin pattern onto vinyl fabric and cut. Cut two flowers of the same size.  

 Now with a crap piece of vinyl material you will make a button. Below are the pieces that come with a button kit. There is a round plastic piece that you will use to trace the fabric with. A top and a bottom to the button, a white piece that you will put the button in and a blue piece that you will use to push the pieces together. 

Use the round plastic piece to cut a piece of fabric out. 

Now you will start to layer the pieces to make the button. Put the fabric right side down on the table. Put the inside of the button (the rounded piece) on top of the fabric. Now you will put those two pieces into the white plastic. Now you will push the fabric pieces on top of the inside button piece and then put the outside piece of the button on top holding together. Now using the blue piece push the outside piece of the button down with firm pressure until the button is formed together. Pop out of the white piece and you have a button! 

 The final button! 

Layer the two flowers on top of each other so that the petals are alternating and not directly on top of each other. With the needle and thread starting in between the layers so that you don't see the end sew a circle (about where the white circle is)  in the center of the flowers and pull tightly like you are making a ruffle. Finish the stitch on the top side of the flowers and don't tie off the end yet. 

Now you will add the button to the top of the flower. The button loop isn't very big and might take a little bit of playing to get the button sewn on. Now you will start to sew the flower onto the bangle bracelet making sure to stitch in between the two layers of flowers so that you don't see the stitching on top.

Finish by tying a know in between the layers of the flower and cut the end off. 

Enjoy your flower bracelet! 

The teal flower was my trial and error one. I tried making it with sewing individual petals together. While you can't tell in the photo it is a much more flimsy flower and the button feels loose because of the flimsy base. 

Narducci Grose Ceremony Site

The Hilton at Point Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix was a gorgeous location for a wedding. The ceremony was at the Different Point of View restaurant with wonderful views looking out over Phoenix. Here I created two large arrangements with the help of some co-workers that would sit in front of the iron arch. When we finished these arrangements were approximately 9 feet tall. The all white arrangements had Hydrangea, White Gazer Lilies, Gladiolus, Snap Dragons and Tulips with Curly Willow and Gem Garland added for a little sparkle. At the cocktail hour there were high boy table with pedestal vases that had tulips surrounding the edges accented with Italian ruscus and rocks at the base. The shorter tables had three votive size arrangements with Light Blue Hydrangea, Peach Hypericium Berries and Babies Breath with pea gravel at the base. At the reception her cake was accented with White Hydrangea while her tables had three cylinders filled with rocks and White Hydrangea. I had so much fun creating this wedding that I look forward to creating the next!

Narducci Grose Wedding

I love meeting with brides and helping make their floral dreams come true for their weddings. Here is a snippet of some of the flowers I have been making for the Narducci Grose Wedding. Her bridal bouquet has "Cezane" Roses, Pink LA Hybrid Lilies and Pink Calla Lilies. I couldn't of asked for better matching flowers. The Grooms boutonniere uses Pink Calla Lilies and Bear Grass with a rope wrap on the stem.. The toss bouquet uses Pink LA Hybrid Lilies while the bridesmaids uses Light Blue Hydrangea both wrapped with tan ribbon with pearl accents. Light Blue Hydrangea, Peach Hypericium Berries and a rope wrap were used for the Groomsmen, Father, Ushers and Ring Bearers. The Mothers and Grandmothers wrist corsages also used the Light Blue Hydrangea, Peach Hypericium Berries with added Babies Breath. Tomorrow I will post pictures of the venue and the centerpieces.

A long over due update

It's a new year, I finally have an updated computer that doesn't take an hour to down load a simple picture and a new goal of posting on my blog at least once a week. Since last posting only a mere 2 1/2 years ago a lot has changed. Well maybe not so much. I am no longer working for Amate Studios but still keep in close contact with them. I am currently working as a floral designer. My new obsession is making purses. I haven't been able to find a purse that I am in love with at any store with a price tag that I wanted to pay. Seriously, anything over $30 is just ridiculious for my taste. Did you know that there a million free patterns to make purses on line? I never looked until last week and I can't stop looking. Now only if I had the time and money to make all the purses I want to I would be in heaven. On my day off last week I made a trek to Jo Ann's. I only spent 2 hours looking at all the fabric trying to decide what kind of purse I wanted to make. Well I actually had an idea when I went in but that always changes when you see all the choices! In the clearance section I found a black textured vinyl and a green vinly among other things. I found a pattern over at Ucreate crafts and got started. Here is my finished product!