I posted this craft over at Paper Crave recently, but I was so happy with how it turned out that I wanted to share it over here, too. My inspiration for these cupcake liner trees came from the cover of Martha Stewart Weddings’ 15th anniversary issue, which featured a gorgeous sugar flower cake by Sylvia Weinstock on the cover. I thought that the ridged flower petals looked a little like cupcake liners, and that planted the idea for this craft in my head.

When I first attempted to make a tree, I used full size cupcake liners, but I felt that they were too large for the look that I was going for. Then I remembered this great cupcake liner flower tutorial from Intimate Weddings, which used mini cupcake liners, and I used this as a jumping off point to create the flowers on the cupcake liner tree. The mini liners worked out perfectly!

The cupcake liner trees are versatile decorations and would be at home as an embellishment on a reception dessert table or on display for any holiday, and you can use different colors and patterns for different looks. Red and white striped liners would be great for circus or retro themed parties, and I’m already planning on making a Halloween tree using black liners. Here’s a shop with lots of mini cupcake liner choices to inspire you.

You can easily change the look of the tree by adding decorative embellishments, too. Using a wire cutter, I disassembled a holiday berry pick from the craft store and used the berries to create a Christmas version of the tree:

I used one full mega pack (350 count) of the mini white baking cups (1 1/4″) from Wilton to cover one tree form, but I think that the 1 3/8″ size would work also work very well since there’s not much of a size difference. It took me a little less than two hours to put together my first tree, and since I had most of the supplies on hand already, the only thing I really needed to purchase for the craft was the baking cups, which were about $4 (less with a Jo-Ann coupon). If you had to purchase everything to make the trees, then I think you’d spend around $20, but the pins, glue gun, and glue sticks would last for several trees.

Okay, are you ready for some scrunching action?

DIY Cupcake Liner Flower Trees

Supplies you’ll need:

a styrofoam tree form (I used a 9” tall form)
mini cupcake liners (1 1/4” to 1 3/8” size)
straight pins, preferably with a ball head
a hot glue gun and glue sticks
accessories for decorating (ribbon, decorative picks, etc.)

Directions

1. Separate cupcake liners into groups of five. Flatten the liners, and poke a straight pin through the center of each group.

2. Gently “scrunch” the top cupcake liner around the pin head, taking care not to rip the paper.

3. Repeat the scrunching action for the remaining liners. When you’re finished, you’ll have a flower.

4. Using your thumb and forefinger, grab the flower at the bottom and press the liners together and away from the length of the pin. Add a bit of hot glue to the pin, and immediately insert into the styrofoam tree form.

5. Fold two or three layers of the liners over the pin head, taking care not to burn yourself on any hot glue that may have found its way toward the pin head, and press the pin head in until it’s flush with the tree form. Hold in place for five to ten seconds, until the glue starts to cool and the pin is firmly attached. Fluff and adjust the flower “petals”, if needed. Continue adding cupcake liner flowers, starting at the bottom of the form and working your way around and up, until the entire form is covered. Add embellishments and decorations to the tree to coordinate with your occasion, if desired.

images by Kristen Magee

If you’re looking for packaging ideas for small Father’s Day gifts, then you’ll want to head over to Paper Crave, where I share a Father’s Day packaging project that you can put together in a snap. These shirt and tie gift boxes will hold things like fishing lure, small electronic or kitchen gadgets, watches, gift cards, and more. Download templates for a necktie, a bow tie, and for the gift box, too!

Do you remember the secret project that I hinted about a while ago as my excuse for being absent from this place for a while? Well, I realized that I never did tell you about the project. Yeah, my memory’s not what it used to be.

My new (or new-ish, at this point) project, a collaboration with Maddy Hague of The Inspired Bride, is a wedding-centric online magazine called Nonpareil. The magazine focuses on the DIY details of weddings, though many of the projects found in the magazine can be used for all different types of occasions, not just weddings. So far, we’ve featured everything from felt flower boutonnieres to budget centerpieces, and we also share many free printables that can be used to recreate the projects shown in the magazine.

We just launched the second issue this week, and I’m super excited about all of the cool projects from the awesome contributors that worked with us in both this issue and the premiere issue. My feature from the current issue is a “dessert table” that features bath and body products instead of food, and it was so much fun to put together. I also loved working with Lisa Rigby, who perfectly captured the mood that I was going for in her photographs.

You can get directions for making all of the bath and body products that I used in the feature, and you can download all of the labels, signs, and other printables if you’d like to make your own dessert table with a twist. And be sure to check out all of the other pretty tutorials and downloads while you’re visiting!

Have you ever started a project thinking, “This is going to be so cool! I’m totally going to finish it in a few hours, and I’ll probably end up making half a dozen more because I like it so much,” only to find yourself, weeks later, still working on the same project with not much of an end in sight? Yeah, this was one of those projects. However, I did finish, and I love, love, love the result, so it’s a very happy ending.

My ruffly wreath was inspired by a felt rosette pillow tutorial that I spotted back in September over at Etsy’s The Storque blog. It’s a beautiful felt project by Anne Kyrrö Quinn, and I was in love the moment I saw it. This wreath is actually pretty easy to make, but be warned that you’re going to need many, many felt circles. My wreath had 286, to be exact. Oh, how I wish I’d known about maya*made’s genius tutorial for making lots of felt circles quickly while I was doing this project. If you use her tutorial, then you’ll probably be able to cut the time spent on this project in half, at least. I’d say that it took me about 12-15 hours to finish the wreath, and after you have the circle patterns made it’s easy to sit and watch T.V. while you’re cutting, pinning, and attaching.

I was going for an ultra modern, neutral look that will match any décor year ’round, which is why I made mine completely white, but you can add holiday flair with red or green felt, or you can use a rainbow of felt for something bright and whimsical. I got a great deal on felt — Eco-fi, which is made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic bottles — at Jo-Ann, so I only spent five or six dollars on that part of the project, plus about four dollars for the wreath form and a few more dollars for the pins.

What you’ll need for the wreath:

- a 12 inch styrofoam wreath form
- approximately 2 1/2 yards of felt
- straight pins (enough to match the number of felt circles needed, plus two for attaching the hanger)
- scissors
- a 3 inch circle template
- a pencil
- ribbon for hanging

Using a pencil and your circle template (or that great tutorial from maya*made), trace circles onto the felt. Cut the felt circles, and fold them in half twice to form rosettes. Insert a pin near the bottom corner of the rosette, about 1/8 inch from the corner.

Attach the felt rosettes to the wreath form, making sure to group the rosettes tightly enough that no styrofoam is showing through the rosettes. After you’ve added a few, fluff and adjust the rosettes to your liking. Continue making, pinning, and attaching the rosettes until you’ve worked your way around the wreath form. If you have circles that are slightly misshapen or that have a little pencil or ink on them, place them toward the outside or inside edges, where they can’t be seen when the wreath is hanging.

This is what my wreath looked like on the back when I was finished. As you can see, I started off with ball point straight pins, but I switched to flat head pins when the rosette count started to get up there and I had to run out and buy more pins. If you use flat head pins, then I suggest using a thimble to push them into the wreath form, or your thumb will take a beating. Ask me how I know.

After you’ve finished adding the felt rosettes, cut a 5 inch length of ribbon, fold it in half, and attach it to the wreath form with two pins to form a hanger.

I love how organic the wreath looks when it’s finished. The ruffly felt rosettes, when grouped together like this, remind me a bit of a coral reef. While this is a rather ambitious project, I think it was completely worth the time spent. I’ll be using my wreath year ’round as part of my home décor!

I first made these pom pom pumpkins last year when I did the flowers, but by the time I posted the pom pom flower tutorial I felt that it was probably too late in the season for the pumpkins, so here they are this year! They make cute little accessories for bookshelves and other nooks and crannies, and I think that they’d look nice coupled with a table place card at a fall themed wedding or Thanksgiving dinner, as well. Plus, they’re very easy to make, so you can have a whole patch full of pom pom pumpkins in no time!

What you’ll need for the pom pom pumpkins:

- orange or other pumpkin colored pom poms in various sizes (a step by step pom pom making tutorial can be found here)
- a small square of green/olive/moss colored craft felt
- a small twig (about 1/8 inch diameter)
- a hot glue gun / glue sticks
- a wire cutter
- scissors

Using the wire cutters, cut short pieces of the twig (1/2 to 1 inch) for the pumpkin stems. Cut leaf shapes from the felt. I just folded a rectangle of felt in half and cut a semi-oval shape, trimming afterward if necessary to get the shape that I wanted, but you could also make a more realistic looking pumpkin leaf.

Clear a place on the pumpkin that looks good for the stem. Look for a spot where there’s a good mass of yarn to, so you’ll be able to anchor the stem well and be able to fluff the yarn around it afterward to hide any imperfections. Add hot glue to the end of the twig and insert it into the pom pom, holding for a few seconds until the glue is set.

Take one of your leaves and add a little hot glue to one end. Place the leaf, glue side down, beside the twig stem in the cleared area of the pom pom and put light pressure on the glued end for a few seconds until the glue is set. Clean up any glue-y strings and fluff the yarn around the stem and leaf.

You now have a cute pom pom pumpkin decoration!

Now that you’ve made jars upon jars of tasty jam, you may want to dress some up to give away to friends and family as gifts, and you’ll definitely want to label them so you’ll know whether you’re opening a jar of strawberry jam or raspberry jam.

Below is a quick how to for making fabric jam jar toppers, and I also have printable rectangular tags and circular labels for 9 different types of jam. The circle labels are 2 inches in diameter and were made to fit half pint jars, but they’ll work on any jar lid 2 inches or larger, and they can also be used as labels for the sides of the jam jars.

I printed my tags onto kraft cardstock for a rustic look, but you can print them onto white cardstock for a similar look, or you can break out the colored pencils and crayons and color them in however you’d like. This would be a great activity for the kids to do while you’re making the jam.

What you’ll need for the fabric jar toppers:

- a 6 inch square of fabric (for a half pint jar)
- embroidery thread or thin ribbon
- a rubber band (or a new hair elastic)
- scissors
- printed jam labels
- a small hole punch

Fold your fabric square into half, and then fold it into half again. Cut along the open edge in an arched shape, creating the outline of a quarter circle (above top). This doesn’t need to be exact, as you can trim the fabric later.

Roughly center the fabric over the top of the jar, and place a rubber band (or a new hair elastic if you don’t have a rubber band) over the fabric until it is snugly in place over the jar lid (bottom left). You may have to wrap the rubber band around the lid more than once in order to fit the fabric snugly. If needed, adjust the fabric in order to get even distribution around the jar lid.

Wrap embroidery thread or thin ribbon around the jar lid a few times, pulling firmly to make sure that the thread or ribbon will hold the fabric in place. Tie the thread or ribbon into a knot (bottom left). Remove the rubber band or hair elastic.

Note: If you’re going to be shipping your jam or transporting it in such a way that it will be jostled around, you should use a rubber band to fit the fabric to the lid and just leave the rubber band in place to be covered by the thread or ribbon. Otherwise, there’s a chance that the fabric topper will pop off in transit.

Using a small circular hole punch, punch holes at the top of your jam labels. Thread the ribbon or thread through the hole and tie a knot or bow to finish. Trim the ends of the thread or ribbon, and trim the fabric if needed. Ta-da, you’ve got a prettied up jam jar!

UPDATE: Blackberry Jam labels added 8/29, Damson Jam labels added 9/26

Here are the rectangular tags / labels that you can download for different types of jam:

The PDFs contain 15 tags of the same design per page (download Adobe Reader here):

Strawberry Jam
Peach Jam
Cherry Jam
Plum Jam
Blueberry Jam
Raspberry Jam
Mixed Berry Jam
Orange Marmalade
Blackberry Jam
Damson

2 inch circle label PDFs contain 12 labels of the same design per page:

Strawberry Jam
Peach Jam
Cherry Jam
Plum Jam
Blueberry Jam
Raspberry Jam
Mixed Berry Jam
Orange Marmalade
Blackberry Jam
Damson

Have fun jamming!