Prickly but precious: How to make a felt cactus pincushion

Who doesn’t love a cactus motif? Bring the flavor and drama of the desert into your home with this easy DIY mini-cactus pincushion project. The beauty of this project is that it’s not merely decorative, it’s functional, especially for a passionate sewer.
Most people keep their sewing supplies in a box for organization’s sake but also because they’re not much to look at. This cactus pincushion offers an unexpected oasis of style and can be left out without regret. The pincushion is so cute, anyone who sees it will be thoroughly charmed, if not tempted to pick it up and investigate how it was crafted.
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Materials
- Felt sheet in light green or lime green
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Glue sticks
- Clump of loose cotton or pillow stuffing
- Small piece of red felt
- Miniature vessel
- Straight pins
DIY Everywhere
Instructions
1. Take a piece of light green or lime green construction paper that has been cut to about 6 by 8 inches and fold it in half widthwise.
2. Fold it in half one more time by bringing the bottom edge up to meet the top edge.
3. Cut a shape that is like the top portion of a heart above one of the corners of the square. Start cutting on one edge and cut all the way to the other edge.
4. Open up the paper so it looks like a quatrefoil shape or four-leaf clover whose curved ends face outward.
5. Apply hot glue to half of one of the round ends and glue that section to the adjoining half of the rounded end right next to it.
6. Continue gluing like this until three sections are glued in that pattern. One should remain open and unglued.
7. Fill the open end of the cactus with a small bunch of the loose cotton.
8. Glue all the unconnected edges of the cactus together so it is glued completely shut and the cotton is no longer visible. This process will require a few maneuvers with the hot glue gun.
9. Cut a small 1/2-by-1/2-inch square from a piece of red felt.
10. Cut a small red flower with five petals from the red square.
11. Apply a dot of glue to the center of the flower and glue it to the top portion of the cactus, where the open ends were glued shut.
12. Place the cactus in a miniature plastic or ceramic pot.
13. Insert straight pins in a random pattern into the pincushion.
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