Having a Mexican themed party or celebrating Cinco De Mayo and you will want to have your teen make this DIY Cactus Favor for each of of the guests. This is definitely a step above a beginner sewer but the end result will make your crafter proud.

Supplies

Heavy printable paper (I used 200 gr.)
Small amounts of green, brown, red and yellow felt
Scissors
Pinking shears* (zig-zag fabric scissors)
Non-permanent fabric marker (I use this marking pen with water soluble ink*)
Glue that works well on both fabric and paper (I love UHU gel adhesive*)
Medium-long hand sewing needle
Green and yellow thread
Small amount of stuffing (fiberfill or a natural fiber)

Instructions

1. Print the template without scaling (100%) on 200 g. printer paper.

 

2. Cut out the pot template, then remove the parts indicated by the red arrows at the top left of the picture above. It will end up looking like the one you see below that. Then trace around the larger trimmed hexagon on another piece of paper and cut that out, too (shown by the larger red arrow).

 

3. Glue the template to the felt, wrong sides facing. Then trace around the extra hexagon, leaving at least 1 cm of space between it and the glued template.

 

4. Cut around the template, leaving a felt border about 1 cm outside the parts show in the picture above. Make cuts into the corners as seen. Then cut out the hexagon and put it aside.

 

5. Fold the felt borders inwards and glue them to the paper as shown above. Use clothespins to keep them in place while drying, if necessary.

 

**A bit of advice!** UHU gel adhesive*, as well as some other types of glue, work best if you spread a thin layer on both surfaces and you let them dry a little bit before sticking them together. So I do a bit at a time of the template, spreading the glue, letting it dry and joining the two parts. Then, while I keep those parts in place with clothespins, I move on to another part of felt border to fold over.

 

6. Fold the template along the dotted lines (left). Spread glue on the tabs on the felt sides, then close the base with the side of the pot (right). Press the parts well from the inside of the pot until dry.

 

Put the pot-container aside to let it finish drying.

 

Making the cactus

 

7. Cut four pieces of the cactus template from green felt, and one red large flower and one yellow small flower. You can obviously choose different flower colors.
Celebrate your important milestones with these handmade felt cactus party favors with an incorporated box and free printable thank you cards! Adorable and easy to make with very basic skills!

 

8. Pin two cactus pieces together, wrong sides facing, then do the same with the other two pieces. Fold the cactus template in half along the line and use it to trace a line on the felt with tailor’s chalk or any other non-permament marker. (above)

 

9. Sew along the pinned side about 1 cm from the edge, being careful not to go beyond the chalk line in the middle and to backstitch at the beginning and end. (If you don’t know much about sewing, learns the basics from my free beginner’s sewing course!) Then trim the sewn edge with the pinking shears* to make the thorns. Repeat with the second pair of cactus parts.

 

10. Open the two joined cactus pairs and match up the non-sewn edges as shown before. Make sure you match up the seams that have been zig-zag trimmed. Pin the sides together.

 

11. Sew from one end to the other, going right over the previous stitching, and trim those edges, too, with the zig zag scissors.

 

12. Put the small flower on top of the larger one and sew them to the top of the cactus with a few hand stitches.

 

13. Fill the inside of the cactus with stuffing.

14. (opzional) Stick the hand needle with green thread under the petals of the flower and make it come out on the opposite side. Keep going back and forth from one side to the other, through the center of the cactus which has optionally been marked with chalk along the cactus template folded in half. Gently pull the thread to pull the two sides slightly closer together.

15. Repeat step # 14 on the other two opposite sides. As you can see, doing this gives the cactus a less cylindrical shape, and more of a realistic look, though it isn’t absolutely necessary to do it..

 

Joining the cactus to the pot, and packaging

 

16. Position the cactus base on the top of the pot cover and sew them together with some hand stitching. It doesn’t have to look good on the inside, but try to hide the stitching as much as possible from the outside of it.

17. Glue the felt hexagon on the inside of the box’s top to cover up the stitches.

18. Use the non-permanent fabric marking tool to make two small marks on the pot and make two small holes with a mini-paper punch, a small drill or an awl (I used the last of these).

19. Fill up the container with almonds or whatever other gift you want. Italians also put in little circles of tulle, which you can afterwards reuse to make these pretty and colorful upcycled flowers for the home!)

20. Close the container with a pretty ribbon bow and the small printed thank you tag, and you’re done!

Patterns, Templates and Printables

Click on a pattern to open it in a new window to print

Contributor

Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing and Crafting
Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing & Crafting proposes all sorts of DIY projects to creative minds of all ages who love to make things without harming the environment. Repurposing materials is a great way to save the Earth while expressing yourself though all types of creative means! Come check out the tutorials for kids and adults at Cucicucicoo.com!