Technique Tuesdays: Ribbon Tree, freebie and another teacher's gift

Howdy!
I hope you are all enjoying the holiday seasons. I am listening to Christmas music and it's cold outside. I was watching a movie about Chirstmas in LA. I can't imagine being in shorts and celebrating Christmas. Just doesn't seem like Christmas without having to bundle up!

Okay on to the technique. This is a quick simple one in which you can use up some of those ribbon scraps or ribbons you have too many of! I am demonstrating it being used as a tree but any die cut can be used. Remember you can click on the photo to see it larger.



A few examples for embellishing your tree. OH Psst...I have the tree freebie for you later.



Hints and Tips:
I used plain ivory cardstock for my tree because I knew the ribbons would cover the tree completely. If you are using sheer ribbons keep in mind your base tree will show through.

Scor-Tape or Terrifically Tacky Tape (Red-Line) hold very well just about anything you want to add to your tree. Seed beads look very pretty but know that your base will show through that is why I added them on top of the red ribbon instead of the actually paper tree. You can add glitter in the same way. Just lay down the tape and sprinkle glitter on top. Flower Soft would work too...how about trying candy sprinkles!

Dew drops, pearls, brads, or dots of glitter glue can be added to the tree to act as ornaments.

It is very important you get the glue evenly dispersed on your die cut. If you don't you'll get bumps or loose unattractive ribbons.

You WILL get some fraying. You can apply some fray stop to the ends if that bothers you. Personally, I think it adds to the handmade charm and I actually considered using my scissors to make the ribbon fray and doing a rustic looking tree!

You can use any shape you'd like to as your base die cut...but keep in mind you will have to trim the ribbons off later. More intricate shapes will be harder to trim around.

This method can be used to decorate a photo frame too. Ribbon comes in such a variety of colors and style..it would be very easy to make a frame to match your decor.

You can substitute the ribbon with paper strips. Please note things look better if you vary the widths of the paper strips. This is a fabulous use of paper scraps!

Below is my example of a rather non-traditional looking Christmas tree. I loved this paper and thought the ribbon strips went with it so well. My inking could have been done better though. Oh and sorry about the photo..I didn't have the best lighting when I took it and it was too dark to go outside.



I used my folded photo corners for this card. I love how they fold around the corner of the paper or photo so no glue touches the photos. These are also great for placing photos onto card fronts since the recipient can remove the photo easily when they receive the card. If you'd like to purchase the file click preview below.

I'd also like to share with you another teacher's gift I recently made. My son's teacher asked for hand sanitizer to be donated throughout the year so I decorated the bottle with a penguin. Penguins are their mascots so it is great for a Winter theme for the classroom. After taking the photo so you wouldn't see the glare I applied clear contact paper to my design to protect it from Kindergarten hands! If yours is all paper then decoupage is a great sealer. I just wasn't sure how it would react with the Flower Soft I used on the scarf and hat...or the rhinestones I used on the snowflakes.



If you love this penguin and have to have it NOW! LOL! You must purchase my membership. Click the preview below to purchase it. You will be getting at least 20 files for one low price of $10.00 a grand deal! You can also purchase gift memberships. All you need to do is provide the Paperthreads forum name of the person you are buying the membership for. If you aren't a member of Paperthreads forum it's is easy and free to register.



Thanks for stopping by and letting me share a ribbonriffic technique with you! LOL! As a parting gift I am giving you the tree I used in my demo. I designed this tree with very simple straight edges making it perfect for this technique. Please be sure to grab it now if you want it. It will be gone in 24 hours. The zip file contains the AI, GSD, KNK, SVG, and WPC formats. Even though this file is free right now my TOU still applies. I ask that you DO NOT share this file but direct them here to download it themselves. Sorry freebie has expired.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Holidays!
Shelly

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Technique Tuesdays: Paper Ornament freebie and Happy Birthday Tyler!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER! My little boy turned 6 today! I can't believe it! He is growing so fast. Even his jeans we bought at the beginning of the school year are short! He eats like crazy but stays soo thin! I wish I could grow tall again! LOL! Daddy took Tyler out for breakfast then dropped him and his cupcakes off at school. He just loves riding in Daddy's truck and going out for breakfast! The teacher made him a party hat and he wore it all day! It was covered in 6s! Hmm I should take a photo of him wearing it before his sister gets a hold of it!

Okay now for the technique. I know it's a little late but at least this time it's still Tuesday! I must work on next week's technique early...Tyler's birthday party is Sat so we'll see! I found the technique for these cool ornaments on Carlos N Molina's blog. (Carlos has amazing paper items..his shoes look sooo real!) I can't take credit for the idea. Carlos created them and he has a video for you to view here. I did my own little tut in photograph form below too. I have provided you with the digital paper cutter file as a freebie at the end of this post.





Remember you can click on the photos to make them larger. I will show you some examples of one I made. But first let me share with you some things I discovered while making them...meaning things I goofed up and don't want you to.

*The center tube is much easier to roll if it is NOT cardstock. It is best to make sure your tube matches your ball in case it is visible between the paper strips. So if you have a thinner paper as one of your colors use it to cut the rectangle used for the tube.

*Very thick cardstock is harder to make form the curve of the strips. So you may want to "soften" by running a pencil down it as you would if you were curling ribbon with scissors. Making it curve as it will when you make the ornament.

*As you add the strips onto the top of the wire it will have a tendency to "pop" up so make sure you use your fingers to press down the strips maintaining the round shape. Also make sure at the very end when you form the loop that you have cut enough wire off. If there is any gap between the beads or paper circles then you need to cut more off. You need everything to be tight to have a nice round ball...or you will end up with an ugly cone!

*I was trying to use thing around my house so I used two different wires. One hubby gave me was a softer copper wire. The other was a stiffer wire 22 gauge I think...maybe 24. For this project the stiffer wire was better as the softer wire kept wanting to bend while I was making the ornament.

I know none of these hints make sense right now but you'll understand once you start actually making your ornament. Oh and these are really very easy to make don't be intimidated by all the steps in my instructions! Okay now on to my examples.




Above is one more tip....I think it is better to use cardstock for the circles but if
you want your patterned paper to show just cut two and glue them together so you have the stability of the cardstock and the prettiness of the patterned paper.

The pictures really don't do the ornaments justice. The glimmer mist has such a pretty gold sheen on it. The snowflake one is pretty too with the silver sheen. Tyler wanted me to make some of these to hang up for his birthday party! Hmmm now there's an idea! Don't know if I'll have time though! I'm giving the ornaments I made to the church for their craft bizarre on Sat.

Oh and for the snowflake one you can purchase the snowflake in my Festive Twig Tree file. Click on the preview below to purchase it. It's on sale the whole month of November!



I was trying to use things around my house...beads that I had and papers. I bet you if you went shopping though you could easily make these to coordinate with a birthday party or Christmas party. I'd love to see some done with glitter but I didn't have any loose glitter and didn't want to have to wait for the glitter glue to dry. You guys have waited long enough for this tut! Flocked flourishes would be soo lovely! If you make an ornament I'd love to see it email me it to me at shellysart@verizon.net. I'd love to feature it on my blog!

I'd like to share with you this pretty box Jan Walz made using files from my quarterly membership club. I love the burgundy and evergreen colors she used and the felt embellishments.



If you'd like to make a box like this of your own then click on the Ad below to purchase my membership. (It's a great gift to mail as you can lay it flat to send it off!) I promise to offer a variety of boxes, embellishments, cards, and home decor items. If you scroll through previous posts you can see some of the files I have offered already in the membership. All files will be in SVG, KNK, GSD, WPC, and AI formats.



Wow! I didn't realize this post had gotten soo long! Sorry! I guess I'd better stop blabbing and give you the freebie I promised. This is totally a time saver. You can use your digital paper cutter to cut the ornament pieces and not fuss with measuring. (I despise measuring!) KNK, SVG, GSD, AI, and WPC are included in the zip. This file still follows my terms of use. Please do not share this file instead send others to my blog to download it. Click on preview to download.



Thanks for letting me share with you this little ornament. I do hope you are inspired to make one too and will share you creation with me! I'm ready for a snoozers!

Goodnight! Be sure to join me Frugal Fridays where I feature 1 file for $1.00 for 1 day only!
Shelly

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