Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tutorial Tuesday Begins! Singed ribbon rosettes.



Hello my darlings! Look at me! I'm really trying to keep up with my schedule! I have to admit, I'm quite proud of myself really. But, I would be more proud if I had a better tutorial lined up for you. The past couple of days can only be described as "One of those days." But, just so you know, if you get hair color ALL over your white scrub pants? Hit them with your every day at home bleach bathroom and kitchen cleaner instead of the laundry prespray stuff. Let me tell you, that bathroom and kitchen cleaner? It does NOT play around. That stuff means serious business.

So, today's tutorial is from the post I made last month that showcased some headbands that were ridonkulous fun to make.

These little sugar blossoms of joy are not that time consuming. The most tedious part is cutting out all of the little circles.

And I might have gone just a teensy bit overboard. >.>

BUT LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTY COLORS!

For this project I used just your run of the mill satin ribbon. I cut out a plethora of circles in various colors and circle sizes. Then came the fun part! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of this because I was home alone and the idea of playing with an open flame with material dangling over it with one hand while trying to snap a picture in the other as my neighbor that lives below me was probably smoking while on his oxygen tank didn't really sound like a fun time to me.

Basically, I just took one of my hair clips to hold the circle over the flame of a candle. This was easier for me to control the distance I held the material and how I was turning it but easier than holding a lighter or something to do it by. Then, it was almost like roasting marshmellows. You know, where its best if you hold the fluffy white goodness out NEAR the flame and not so much INSIDE the flame.

Holding it close to, but not in the fire is how you get that nice, melted edge. Otherwise, it will turn black and singe instead of whatever it is called that it does (I'm totally up to par with technical terms and jargon...TOTALLY). It takes a little getting used to, there's no doubt about it. But once you get into a grove with it, it is quiet enjoyable, really.

Next comes the part where you get to layout your rosettes and pick how you want them to look. I did a bit of color mixing and matching today, and was pretty pleased with how some of them came out.

Once you get your order, hot glue the suckers together. I usually make a pile of the order I want, then turn it upside down so I can build up. I found the putting a dab of hot glue in the center of the bottom works better than putting it on the layer that is going down next.

(I would also like to point out my nails. Yes, they are grey and yellow with a grey design on the ring finger. I think The Daily Nail would approve.)


Once you get it all how you want it, sit back and bask in its cuteness.

But WAIT! It doesn't look finished! What do I do?!
Well, my friends. Much like with Captain Planet, the power is yours! You can put whatever tickles your pickle in the middle. I've been doing rhinestones and buttons, but anything could work. Just depends on the look you are going for.

And now that you've made a whole house load of these singed ribbon rosettes, what are you going to do with them? Anything you want! I made some rings and bobby pins that I am not going to show until I give them as presents for those that I made them for. So, you'll probably see them tomorrow. Glue them onto a headband for an adorable look. Which, as you can tell, is one of my favorite things to do with them.


Now, if I could only find a tutorial for how to keep your nail polish from chipping while doing crafts, that would be amazing. I'm in the processes of redoing four of my grey nails because of whatever reason my crafting made them chip. Sad times.

Oh well. Until tomorrow! :D

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