happy first day flowers

The day before Maddy’s first day of Kindergarten, we spent some time sprucing up her new backpack and lunchbox.

Sure, flowers are spring-timey, but when you’re five and you’re on your way to the wilds of elementary school, anything goes. So in order give her supplies a little added love, Maddy, her aunts, and I got to work!

• Felty First-Day Flowers: I brought out some brightly colored felt, pom-poms, and some needles and thread. I drew the outline of petals on some pink felt for Maddy, and she cut along the lines.

Then I made tiny dots along the bottom of her petal pattern. These dots would make it easier for her to know where to aim her needle while sewing.

Maddy’s petal pattern

And then similar to the day, way back when we added daisies to plain-Jane shorts, today, Maddy sewed along the dotted lines.

The dots make sewing easier for little ones!

When she finished, she pulled the thread tight, and her flower bloomed! I pulled both sides together and sewed the pom-pom in the center.

Then Maddy cut out a leaf, and we added it to the finished flower.

We made one fancy flower ring
and the other ones we made into pins!

I found an old pin–the kind with the pinch back and a flat front, and I hot-glued it onto the back of the flower. I stuck the pin through a square piece of felt and hot glued it on.

Because Maddy made the pink one all by herself, we pinned that one to her lunchbag with the idea that every few days we would change flowers if she wanted to.

When she sees them, maybe she’ll remember the sunny, breezy end-of-summer morning when she hung out in her backyard with her mom, dad, brother and sister and two of her super-cool aunts, eating snacks and making beautiful flowers for her backpack. I know I will.

It was quick and easy, we had all the supplies on hand, and these flowers are beautiful! These are the kind of crafts that make me want to dance. . .

Thanks again for another awesome idea inspired by Family Fun. . . not sure from what month (maybe early spring?), but I just had the page filed away in my “I definitely have to try this!” folder.