Have you been drooling over all of those beautiful belly shots with the belly bouquets/sashes? Well put your crafty self to work and create your own! Here is how:
Gather your supplies, here I have:

-Stiff felt (This felt is from Michaels and is not the “flimsy” felt, it is more stiff and sturdy”
-Assorted flowers (grab a bouquet of silk flowers, and jars of “belle fleur” from the scrapbooking section, you can also find packs of 6 flat fabric flowers there as well)
-Buttons, rhinestones
-Feathers
-Hot glue and glue gun
-Ribbon
-Whatever else your heart desires!

Now you are going to begin by cutting your felt in a small, medium, or large circle. Here I have cut it about 8x8; this is for a large belly bouquet pictured here:

Next you are going to take your silk flowers from your bouquet and open them up by taking them apart. You will take them apart layer by layer and discard the parts you will not be gluing back together (pictured on the right). This allows your flower to have more volume and to have a cleaner look to them. These are examples of what you will be throwing away (on the right only):

Now you will take the portions of your flower that you saved to the side and hot glue them back together layer by layer. After doing this step glue your flower wherever you would like it to be placed on your felt for your belly bouquet. Note that I glued my rhinestone button in the middle of the flower. If you have chosen a button it will have the portion on the back that you sew the thread through. When gluing buttons on anything make sure you snip that portion off the back so it will lay flat. I do this by using my needle nose pliers. I either snap it off or use the wire cutting portion at the back head of the needle nose pliers. Now place and glue! Here is mine:

Continue adding and gluing your flowers on your entire felt portion, almost done:

Now here we are with all of my flowers glued on, then my feathers, then my rhinestones for flower middles, then my hummingbird for added flare, (note in my blue one I added a little bit of vintage netting). If you have gaps between your flowers and you can see your felt no worries! Just snip it off the back with your scissors OR I like to add some leaves over those gapped areas. If you bought the Belle Fleur cans they will come with leaves in the bottom of the can, not jars.

Now turn it over here is the back side:

Now cut your ribbon, I cut it at about 60 inches or more, you want this to be very long so that it will fit all stages of pregnancy. Find the middle of your felt, find the middle of your ribbon and glue it all along the back portion (ribbon), note-make sure your ribbon is facing right side forward. Ok so it does not look so fancy on the back portion but that is ok.

And voila!

Here it is in action!

Tip- Take your bouquet from belly to baby, very cute on those newborn shoots by placing it on the backside or belly of baby ;)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial please follow my blog as I am just starting it up and it is a labor of love while my husband is deployed for a year to Afghanistan, Thank you! XO-Amy Jo

You have permission to sell the items made from this tutorial, feel free to share this free tut, I ask that you do not sell this tut or alter the tut and sell as your own. Also please give credit to my blog and Morgans when selling or advertising, thank you.

Sugar Snappers Flooring

Ok, hello, I am so in love right now with one of my new purchases! My Sugar Snappers Barnwood Floor overlays! Linky: http://www.sugarsnappers.com/category_1/Floored.htm

Here is a before and after of a photo I took of my precious daughter whom we deemed "chunky" or "monkey" when she was still a wee one.

Before editing AND before Sugar Snappers flooring:

After editing and Sugar Snappers flooring:

The floors come with baseboards as well! These are by far the easiest floor overlays to use and they come complete with easy to follow instructions. Included are horizontal and vertical flooring, it just does not get much easier than this. Awesome!

Thank you for following me!

Hello!
Yes, I am new around here..this blog will be a labor of love for me while my husband is deployed for a year. As you can tell I know nothing about blog templates, etc. So if you have any recommendations as to someone I could turn to for help on customizing my blog I would be grateful!

This blog will feature tutorials on how to make affordable and "easy" photography props and crafts. Occasional photoshop tutorials, my Wagsclan adventures i.e. personal moments, giveaways and other featured crafters. Thank you and join me for the ride!

Tutorial for my "RagTag Vintage Headbands"

I want to start off first by thanking Morgan for featuring me as a guest blogger on her fabulous and informative blog! J Today I am sharing with you how to make one of my famous “RagTag Vintage Headbands” as seen in one of my two etsy shops at www.mrswaggy.etsy.com and www.mrswags80.etsy.com  Albert Einstein stated "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." I however go against the grain and think that it is better to give than to receive so this is why I will be sharing a series of some of my “how to” crafting tutorials. Let’s begin shall we?

You will need:

- Fabric(s) or your choice

-Fabri Tac Glue and hot glue

-Thread and needle

-Thin elastic

-Adornments i.e. Swarovski’s, feathers, etc.

-Felt

First start off with any scrap of fabric, you really do not need a whole lot of fabric but you do want a fair amount length wise as this is pertinent in making your  vintage flower for your headband. I just buy the fabric quarters used for quilt making at a local Joanne’s fabric; you can even find these at Wal Mart, and Michael’s craft sections. The best thing about it is they are usually a $1.50, super affordable and so many color choices to pick from.  Your fabric quarter will look similar to this:

Start with cutting a small slit at the beginning of your fabric where my finger is pointing, this is at about 1 ½ inches wide.

It should look like this at about 16 inches long. The ripping of the fabric provides frayed edges and gives it that extra vintage feel. The measurements I have provided are for a small to medium sized flower. However you can make the length and width according to your preference.

(Note I changed fabrics only because I wanted a different color) Next fold your fabric in half like so:


Then make a knot like so (make sure the right side of the fabric is facing outward. You will also notice that your know sticks upward more on one side and is more flat on the other side.I am pointing to the top side that will be the bud, the more pointier portion of the knot. Face the flatter side of your knot facing downward. Let the tail from where you made your knot hand downwards as you will be using that piece later:

Next (keeping your fabric folded in half at all times) wrap fabric around the knot. After you have wrapped the initial fabric around the knot, this makes it look more like a bud in the middle of the rosette. Like so:

Then you will continue wrapping your fabric around the knot but you will be twisting your fabric as you go.  The twist is like so (as seen below my pointer finger):



All the while make sure to keep your pointer finger at the top of your bud, and your thumb along the bottom. This helps to keep your rosette in proper placement and keeps it from wrapping to high along the top of the bud.  Like so:

As you are twisting you will be sewing small stitches through your wrapped fabric, this ensures that the flower stays secure and tight and will not unravel once you are done and ready to place your flower on the headband. After all little girls can become rambunctious and we want to ensure their rosettes stay Tasmanian devil proof! Hang in there we are almost done! After continuing this process all the way around you will have a rosette that looks like so:

Stop wrapping when you have about a ½ an inch left of fabric, you will take this fabric tail along with the initial tail and tuck these under your flower, you can secure it with a type of fabric glue or you can stitch it in place, it is all personal preference. You can see the tails facing downward in the above picture. I try to stay as vegan as possible when I can so I stitch it. This tail provides a soft flat surface for placing the vintage rosette on the headband. Here is a picture of the bottom side of the vintage rosette with the tails tucked under.

As for the headband, I like to use 1/8 of an inch of colored elastic for my headband. You can Google basic head sizing charts for headbands. I usually like to make newborn size for my photography props so I cut 13 1/4 inch piece of elastic. Secure the ends of the elastic with fabric glue. I like to use Beacon Adhesives Fabri Tac Permanent Adhesive from Michael’s. It dries very quickly, is not stinky, and has a long lasting hold. Once my headband is dry I attach my flower by either stitching it on or using hot glue. On the underside of the headband I put a felt piece cut out into the shape I desire to provide comfort against that precious wee newborns head.

Now embellish to your hearts content! I usually buy packs of multi colored feathers from Michaels, and a box of faux pearls or Swarovski’s (also from Michael’s) and adorn my headband with these fabulous adornments. Voila! Finished project! Perfect for personal use, or photographic needs. Here is the finished product as a single rosette, or double rosette. Have fun, make it your own!

And a pictue of my beautiful girls wearing Mommy's creations. I just couldn't resist!

I hope that you enjoyed my tutorial please feel free to share it, I just ask that you do not take it and sell it as your own. Thank you and enjoy ;)