The flowers in my garden

I've mentioned before that we are having some building work due to start shortly. It's very exciting! But it meant that when I was starting to think about my garden earlier in the year I wasn't sure how much access we would have to the garden over the summer. I planted my vegetable patch a little later than usual, and so unfortunately my tomatoes aren't doing that well this year. There will be a few but not as many as usual. 

When I had more idea as to timescales I did a trip to the garden centre and bought lots of bedding plants which I planted out in pots. I decided that pots can be moved around whatever is left of our garden! At the moment they are mainly lined up along my back fence, and they make a beautiful splash of colour.

Petunias look beautiful once they get going! I also love poppies and we have some growing in our new 'wildlife area' which has been created by the temporary removal of our hot tub. I planted some poppies from seed a few years back, and since then they pop up from time to time over the summer.

My favourite flowers are sunflowers, and I always make sure to plant some. They are in full bloom in the vegetable patch at the moment.

And my final flowers aren't mine at all, they are borrowed from our neighbour and growing over the fence. This is the kind of plant that I want to grow across our back fence, something that grows quickly, covers up the bare fence, and produces lovely flowers. I need to find out what it is and how to grow it!

Now I'm just hoping that summer grants us a few more warm and sunny days so that I can sit out in the garden and enjoy all this loveliness!

Hama bead flower magnets

Following on from my tin can flower with Hama bead flower decorations, I was looking around for different ways that I could use these sweet Hama bead flowers. I realised that they would make lovely magnets! So here's a little tutorial for Hama bead flower magnets. 

I made my flowers using the Hama bead small flower pegboard. It's not easy to buy this pegboard individually but is can be bought as part of this three board set - Flower, Pony and Princess pegboard set (affiliate link). I used just the top flower part of the design, not the leaf area. 

If you don't own this specific pegboard then that's not a problem at all. If you scroll to the bottom of this post I have included some similar flower designs using the small square and hexagonal pegboards which most Hama bead crafters will own.

 

If you are new to Hama beads, you might want to have a look at this post - Ironing tips for Hama beads. I like to iron my beads lightly so that you can still see the holes in the beads, and while they are still warm from ironing I leave them resting between some heavy books for just a few minutes so that they cool flat. Then it's time to turn them into magnets!

I've made Hama bead magnets using a variety of different adhesives and magnets and I've found that the most successful method is to use magnetic tape (affiliate link). You can cut it to size and then peel off the backing to stick to the back of the Hama bead design. This won't produce a very strong magnet but it will stay firmly attached to the plastic beads. If you want to make a stronger magnet I have also had success with a small neodymium magnet (affiliate link). Through trial and error I have found that the best way to attach these magnets is with a glue dot, although a glue gun also works well.

Simply affix a small strip of magnetic tape to the back of the magnet. You might find that the magnetic tape curves away slightly even when stuck down after being rolled up tightly. To prevent this I flatten the finished magnets underneath some heavy books for a day or two to make sure that the magnet will lie flat.

If you don't have a small Hama bead flower pegboard then you can make similar looking flowers using both the hexagonal and square Hama bead pegboards. Here are a couple of designs that you could use:

If you are looking for some more ideas using the small Hama bead flower pegboard then you might also like these Hama bead craft ideas:

Hama bead flower wreath

Hama bead flower bouquet

Tin can flower pots with Hama bead flowers