Valentine's Day 8: Zipper Flowers

Today, one of my lovely co-teachers brought me a 

grocery bag FULL of zippers!

Yes, zippers, and I have been pondering what to do with them.

She sent me the idea of making them into flowers,

 so here is my go at it!

I figured they fit into the Valentine's theme because they can be added to ANYTHING!

You could make a bouquet of them, pin them on a sweater,

 a picture frame, a necklace, whatever you want!

So....here it goes!

You need:

Zipper (18in'' - 24'')

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

Felt Scraps

Ruler

FIrst, cut the bottom stop of the zipper and pull the zipper off.

Now you should have two separate pieces of zipper.

Measure how long your zipper is, and divide it by 6. 

It will be between 3-4, so cut one piece of the zipper into six 

smaller pieces at this size to make the large petals. 

(My 24 inch zipper made six, 4 inch pieces) 

Now, take the other piece of zipper tape and cut it into 6 pieces 

one inch smaller than the other pieces.

(6, 3 inch pieces)

You will also have an extra 6 inch piece left over, 

this will become the center of the flower. 

Now, glue the zipper pieces into petals. 

Put a dab of hot glue on one end of the petal. 

Twist the other end around ant squish together. 

(Note: Don't put too much glue on here, 

it will make the flower chunky later!)

Repeat this for all 12 petals. 

Next, cut a 2 inch circle out of felt. 

Glue two of the larger petals down so the raw edges touch,

 to your piece of felt. 

Squish the glue flat. 

Add two more, then the final two large petals. 

Then, add the smaller petals, staggering them between the larger petals.

Now you need to make your flower center. 

Use the 6 inch piece and fold under the toothless edge. 

Glue it down so there is no fraying when finished. 

Then, roll your flower center, tightly at first, loosening as you go. 

Hot glue the end down so it will stay. 

Now, add your center to the flower. 

Use just a LITTLE hot glue, otherwise it gets too bulky.

Push it down hard, this gives the flower some better shape. 

Trim the felt on the back and there you go!

You can add a pin, glue it to a head band, picture frame, 

or whatever you want! 

Enjoy!