Easter Parade!

"Here's my Easter Bonnet, with all the frills upon it......."  and I forget what comes next.

Easter was always one of my favourite times of the year; mostly because it meant we had 2 weeks off school.  We always went to church on Easter Sunday wearing a new dress, new shoes and a hat - this was the 50's and a hat was a very important part of our ensemble.

In school we made Easter hats out of paper plates, crêpe paper flowers, lace and bric-a-brac, basically anything we could get our hands on then we'd wear them proudly as we joined the Easter parade.  It was always fun and whenever I think of Easter, I think of bonnets, so this year I decided to make one - just for fun.

I used the following Smoothfoam™ pieces: a 12" disc, half a hollow 8" ball and three, 1" balls for the flower centers.  Plus a packet of colorful napkins, Yellow Flower Soft sprinkles, découpage medium, tacky glue, a selection of ribbon (wired for the flowers), white cord and some white, sparkly deco mesh ribbon.  You'll also need a large, soft brush, toothpicks, sequin pins and a sharp paring knife, or hot knife if you have one.

    Step 1:  Separate the printed layer from the napkin and throw the rest away.
    Step 2:  Cover one side of the disc and the half hollow ball with the napkins using découpage medium.  Let dry.  Use a hair dryer to hurry the process if you like.

 

    Step 3:  Place the half ball on the disc where you want the hole to be then draw around the edge.  You can place it in the center, or offset it a bit like I did.

 

    Step 4:  Cut the hole in the center about 1/2" inside the line you drew.  This part is optional.  You really don't need to cut the hole unless you actually want to wear it.  If you do, you may also want to découpage the under side of the brim.
    Step 5:  Glue the half ball over the hole.
    Step 6:  Place each 1" ball onto a toothpick then cover the surface with glue and sprinkle with yellow flower soft sprinkles.  Let dry.
    Step 7:  I pinned a length of gros grain ribbon around the edge of the disc and white cord around the area where the ball was glue to the disc.

Now let's decorate!  You can use anything you want to decorate your bonnet.  This is a wonderful opportunity to use up all those odds'n ends and bits of ribbon and lace you've been saving, plus silk flowers you may have had tucked away.  I made the flowers for my hat from leftover ribbon as follows:

    Cut one, 18" piece of wired ribbon and two, 12" pieces of 2.5" wired ribbon to make the flowers. Fold the ribbon in half lengthways then gather the edges by pulling along the wire.  Don't forget to twist the ends of the wire together, or you may pull it out.......

 

Gather it as tightly as possible then wrap one end of the wires onto to the toothpick around the base of small, yellow ball.  Wrap the ribbon around to create your flower; secure with the opposite ends of the wires, trim away the excess wire then push the toothpick into the brim of your hat.  I made one large ruffled flower and 2 small ones, but you could make enough to go all around the brim.  I added some loops of deco mesh between the flowers (I secured the loops with the excess wire cut from the ribbon) and a bow at the back.  Now I'm ready for the parade.  No, there isn't a photo of me wearing it...............yet.  You'll have to wait for my Easter selfie, or maybe I can get my granddaughter to model it for you.

You'll find more fun crafty ideas for Easter on the Smoothfoam blog this month and next, so check it out.  You can also see lots of fun projects on the Pinterest board.  Enjoy!  Y'all come back now...........

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!