DIY: Belly bouquet

Another great big thank you to Amy for such a fabulous tutorial!

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 ;) Size small is best.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, thank you to Morgan for featuring me! 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.

Guest blogger Amy Jo Wagner, is a stay at home mom, military wife, crafter, student and photographer. As a guest blogger she hopes to teach you all how to craft on a budget for personal use or photography use . Her current eye candy comes from Morgan Kervin, Rita of The CoffeeShop Blog and Pink Paisley Photography.
    

"My real job is being a stellar mother and wife, my hobbies are crafting and photographing life's special moments"

Websites: http://www.mrswags80.etsy.com/

http://www.mrswaggy.etsy.com/ 

http://www.mgmphotography3.com/
Blog: http://monkeyandabeesittinginatree.blogspot.com/