Creativity 521 #85 - DIY Cherry Blossom Hairpin

Chinese New Year is just two days away! Woohoo! Here's wishing all of you a happy, prosperous year of the Monkey in advance! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

For this week's Creativity 521, since we are into cherry blossoms recently, I did something simple for the girls - DIY Cherry Blossom Hairpins! Some of you were asking how I manage to find time to craft now that there's an newborn in the house plus two more kids to look after. Well, the thing is I always try to do simple crafts which are relatively straightforward and do not take up too much time. This one, for instance, took me just an hour to make and would have been much faster if I did not have to go and soothe a crying baby three times in between.

Crafting keeps me somewhat sane and I like the sense of achievement that comes with it! So, by hook or crook, I'm really hoping to keep it up for as long as I can. 

Materials:

1) Felt in pink and red
2) Needle and thread
3) Scissors
4) Black hairpins
5) Cutout of a cherry blossom
6) Beads

Firstly, I searched for a outline picture of a cherry blossom and printed it out. Using it as a template, I cut out cherry blossom shapes from the pink and red felt. I made the red ones slightly bigger. Do use a pair of sharp scissors as it can be tricky around the small edges.

Next, I positioned the pink felt on top of the red one as show. You will need to use one bead for each of the flowers which will be placed in the middle. Thread your needle and you are ready to sew!

Make some loose, straight stitches towards the centre of the flower and pull to give the flower some depth and shape. Make sure you sew through both pieces of felt to keep them together. Next, sew the bead onto the middle. Once you are done with this, sew the whole cherry blossom felt piece to the top part of the hairpin and ensure it stays in place.

Ta-dah! I told you, simple and easy, right? The big girl spotted these once she got home and was excited to put it on! Awww, I love it when they appreciate my simple gestures and know that these were handmade with love from Mama.

So, now my girl can each wear a cherry blossom to celebrate CNY! We hope you will have a great celebration with your loved ones too!

P.S. Starting from today, Creativity 521 will cease to be a linky party. This is because I don't see many linking up and while I wish to keep this series going, I also need to find ways to spend less time on the computer and more time with my family. I still hope to keep the simple crafts coming, so wish me luck!