Wire Works!

Spring is here, and in Florida lots of flowers and trees are blooming...Easter is only a few weeks away.  I just love this time of year!

Not many women wear hats anymore, but when I think of the Easter Sundays of my childhood, I remember wearing Easter bonnets, frilly dresses, and white lace gloves!  Shopping for Easter was an exciting mother-daughter excursion!  I remember one Easter my mom bought me a pretty pink dress with a sheer crystalline stitched overlay and really pouffy sheer sleeves....it was SO pretty but ugh, was it itchy!  That Sunday I was quite surprised to find my friend Hope (the preacher's daughter and my next door neighbor!) wearing the very same dress!  Hahaha!  But then, we were too young to be horrified over it!  :)

I came across the song Easter Parade in my ukulele song book the other day...that is what got me to thinking about my childhood Easters, and it's what inspired the idea for today's project for the current Flower Soft challenge, Wire Works!

The hat is made with a grand scalloped circle nestie and a classic circle die that are held together by a band formed from a 1 x 11 strip of card stock.   Use the smaller circle to score the larger scalloped circle, providing a template for attaching the band to the brim.

Score the band 1/4 inch from each long edge, then snip slits into those edges as closely together as possible, from the edge right up to the fold line.  The closer the snips, the smoother the curve will be when the band is glued to the brim.  The process can be a little messy!  Using liquid glue allows you to move the surfaces to align the fold of the strip with the embossed guideline...use your thumb to shape the curve from the inside out, and slowly work your way around until you're all the way around.  Snip the end to overlap and lay it inside the other, adding a drop of glue to the short edge.

Run a line of glue inside the smaller circle, right along the edge.  Gently tuck the snipped edges of the band under as you lay the piece on top of the band...take care not to push so hard that you bend the top as you adhere it.  You could even tuck some cotton balls in to maintain the space if this is a card that you plan to mail.

This hat has a layer of soft white tulle held to the band with sticky tape and silk ribbon.  I used several MFT flower dies to create the floral embellishments, and a MS punch to create some "ferns." I shaped  some curliques of wire on my piercing tool, dipped the ends in glue and ultrafine sage flower soft, then tucked them in among the flowers once they were dry.  Couldn't resist adding a teeny tiny "Minnie Pearl" tag, too!  It's a "Squeeze" die that I have had for ages, perfect for a small project like this one!

Visit the Flower Soft blog and my Flower Soft design team mates to see their Wire Works projects!

Notes:
Flower Soft wires
Flower Soft glue
Ultrafine Sage Flower Soft
Spellbinders classic circles
Spellbinders grand scalloped circle
MFT rolled flower die
MFT rolled mini roses dies
MS punch
tulle
silk ribbon
piercing tool and mat
i stick papers tape
Mono multi glue