Summer is wonderful, but back-to-school time is so exciting! I love all things having to do with getting ready for school: new backpacks, sharpened pencils, cool new gym shoes…

And this year, I’ll be sending two little ones to big blue doors at the front of the school. My girls are both school-aged now!

Gah. You know I’m going to become a poster child for “Losing Composure” on that day. But until then, we craft….

Today I’ve joined a group of four other fabulous bloggers for a Back-To-School round-up. At the bottom of the post, you’ll find links to the other girls’ creations – visit them and see what they’ve been up to!

But before you do that, stick around and see how Lila and I created this bouquet of pencils – for homework, for doodling, and as she suggested, perhaps for gifting to the teacher this year?
To make a felt flower bouquet, you will need:

Pencils
Felt – in various colours
Sizzix Big Shot die cutter
Sizzix Bigz Flowers 3D
Sizzix Bigz Butterflies 
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Embellishments (beads, pearls, sequins)

We started with our trusty Sizzix BigShot machine, and these two dies – the Bigz Butterflies and Flowers 3-D. 

Lila handled the butterflies – we cut them from white felt… 

… and then she dabbed on acrylic paint in her favourite shades.

I cut out the flower shapes from the same white felt, and then got to assembling the blooms.

First, you wrap the flower around a pencil starting from the outside petal and then work in. I then hot-glued the bottom of the blossom and then folded the last petal on top of the glue. This finishes the blossom in a cute little package.

Like this!

Using hot glue, I secured the butterflies and flowers to the tops of the pencils. The pencil erasers did melt a bit, but because they’re topped with these fancy-pants felt decorations, I didn’t think it mattered that much.

 We embellished the flowers and butterflies with stick-on pearls and green felt leaves. 

I think it looks like a sunny bouquet. One that you’d be happy to pick from. 

Or if you’re a kindergarten teacher, you may be happy to receive this? 

*wink, wink*

The girls are always happy to play with the Big Shot, and I love how quickly these felt crafts come together. I can think of so many other ways these little felt shapes could be used in back-to-school crafts – bookmarks, pencil boxes, or even decorations for a backpack?

And you can’t forget headbands! 😉

If you’re like me, and are hankering for more Back-To-School goodness, check out what my partners-in-blogging have been up to! 

Clockwise, they are:

First Day of School Photo Prop from Fynes Designs

DIY Emoji Notebook from Craftberry Bush

Preschool Art Smock from The DIY Mommy

Back To School Minion Treat Bucket +Free Printable Tag from Echoes of Laughter

Kid Craft: Flower Pencil Bouquet from Suburble
Sent from my HTC

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