make your own simple silk flowers!

 my husband is addicted to this stuff... and the frank's red hot slogan is--"franks! i put that on everything!" believe you me... my seriously husband uses it at breakfast, lunch and dinner!
anyways, i don't happen to prefer franks, but... handmade silk flowers? oh my, yes--i put those on everything!!

 and they are so simple so here's a little tutorial so you can put them everywhere too!
here's what you'll need...

 hot glue gun, hot glue gun glue sticks, scissors, needle, thread, beads, hair clips, felt, silk fabric, candle, matches
i buy my silk fabric at hobby lobby or joann's. it's so cheap--$2.49/yd and and comes in tons and tons of colors! you really only need about a 1/4 yard so this is a really cheap craft too!

 ~cut your silk into circles of varying sizes. i like to layer several colors so this is my stack of cut circles ready for singeing. i was in the process of making clippies for the girls in R's preschool class for their Easter egg hunt this morning, so i made 11 clips...you won't need this many circles if you just want to make one clip! i do like to put at least 6-8 layers in each clip.

 ~i know i don't have to say this, but use caution-- don't burn yourself during the next step!!~
i like to use candles in little jars for the singeing because you can pretty much just rest the silk circles on the edge of the jar and it curls right up.

 ~so hold the circle close to the flame, but you don't want black edges, so be sure to just get it close to the heat. you want to be sure that each edge is sealed by the flame to avoid fraying. don't be timid--the more curling of the edges--the more character your clip will have!

 here's a finished circle!

 also, i probably don't need to say this either, but this isn't a great craft for kids! or at least my kids! i tried to include R on this project, but it ended poorly! :)

 alright, so keep singeing your circles and you will soon end up with a pile of happy petals like this!

 ~arrange the petals into flowers by layering the circles until you're satisfied with your little flowers!

 these are the beads i buy...

 ~take your scissors and thread and needle. you want to secure the beads onto your flower very well so they don't fall off and end up in tiny mouths! so thread the needle, knot the end and begin to sew through all the layers of your flower. put the bead onto your needle and sew it through twice to secure. take your next bead(s) and follow the same step. knot off when you're done! sometimes i also use a little hot glue to make sure the petals stay where i want them!

~cut strips of felt a little bit wider than your clip and about 1/2 inch longer than your clip.

~cut leaves for your flower out of felt if you'd like to add them too!

 ~next, take your clip--i prefer to use this style because my girls have thin hair and these seem to stay on quite well!
~you will fold over felt on either end of your clip, securing with hot glue so that your clip will remain stable.

~last step--hot glue your flower to the clip and you're done!!

 viola!

beautiful hair clips in less than 30 minutes and for less than $2 each!! can't beat that!