Summer Flower Potpourri Bags

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Summer Flower Potpourri Bags

Adapted from The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers, by Laura C. Martin.

Did you know that you can transfer the shapes of beautiful flowers and herbs directly onto fabric simply by pounding them with a hammer? You can, and it's so much fun to do!

It's easy to make these pretty bags decorated with summery flowers and graceful herbs, ready to fill with your favorite potpourri. Each bag only takes about 10 minutes to make, and they make thoughtful and completely charming gifts, too—if you can bear to part with them.

Here are the simple directions:
You will need:
¼ yard of plain white or off-white fabric (will make around 10 bags)
Assorted fresh flowers and herbs: dill, thyme, fern, asters, or other small flowers
Hammer
Iron
Scissors, needle, thread, pinking shears
Dried potpourri
Thin satin ribbon to match flowers on bags, around 8 inches per bag

Basic hammering instructions:
Practice hammering flowers on a scrap to get the hang of it before trying it on the potpourri bags. Gentle but thorough hammering on wrinkle-free fabric will do the trick.

1. Cover a wooden chopping board with a double layer of paper towels. Place fabric scrap on top of towels.

2. Position flowers and herbs exactly where you want them on the fabric to make a pleasing design.

3. Place another paper towel on top of your fabric scrap (with flowers and herbs in place) and hammer gently but thoroughly all over the flowers and herbs.

4. Check underside of your project fabric to see if you've missed any spots, and rehammer if necessary.

5. Carefully remove cover paper and plant material, taking care not to smear the fabric as you brush away bits of plants.

6. Use heat to "set" the design: set iron temperature to correct setting for your fabric and keep iron on each part of the transferred image for 45 to 60 seconds, being careful not to scorch fabric.

Potpourri bag instructions:
1. Cut two 3 x 5-inch pieces out of the fabric and iron them.

2. Position herb sprigs and flowers on the fabric pieces and hammer them as described above.

3. Heat-set the images with an iron.

4. Placing decorated sides together, stitch down sides and across bottom, using a ½" seam. Cut top edges with pinking shears. Turn bag right side out.

5. Place potpourri in bag and tie top shut with ribbon.

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