Halloween Paper Rosettes

 



I  really love the look of the paper rosettes..they remind me of those first place ribbons..not the little ones that are around now, but the grander ones given out at horse races in the old days. You can really make them any size and color you want..to fit your project. I made these simpler ones to put on my son's class Halloween treat bags. At first I tried using gluedots. But overnight the rosettes came apart. Then I tried using an all purpose craft glue..but then quickly realized that the wet craft glue didn't dry fast enough. So, I moved on to my trusty hot glue gun. Wham! The assembly went super quick and it was a ton easier because the glue dried so fast! Here's the gist of how to put them together (see photos) and here are a few notes...(step 1)I used a one inch strip because I wanted my rosettes to be on the smaller side. (step 2) A scoring board works like a dream, but if you don't have one just initially fold one end,  then flip the strip back and forth after each fold to get the accordion fold. (step 5) getting the accordion strip to lay flat takes a little shaping..I sort of pushed down the center while the edges fanned out wide. It took me a few tries, but after the 20th one it was a cinch. (step 6) The rosette always wants to flip back up so I held it down steady with my fingers until I could hot glue gun the center. Even after I placed the punched scalloped piece in the center I held it in place for a few seconds. These are so easy and look great on any project!

 

 

Butterfly Mobile

Here's a long overdue project for my dear sweet friend Victoria. Her Mom asked if I would make Victoria something to decorate her newly painted bedroom, and of course I said yes! She loves butterflies and wanted something to hang above her bed. I took a regular cross stitch hoop and painted it white. Then I cut out 3 different sizes of butterflies on my Silhouette. I tied white string to 4 equal points on the hoop. I then tied a loop on the point where the 4 points came together at the top of the hoop. I then tightly wrapped the hoop in white satin ribbon. I tied clear thread every 4 inches around the hoop. I hung the hoop so that the clear thread hung straight down. I attached the butterflies to the thread using a button. First, I put a gluedot on the button and then lined up the thread with the center of each button. I then lined up the button with the center of each butterflies body and pressed firmly to adhere the button to the butterfly. For the final touch I tied white satin ribbon in a bow just below the top loop. I also made her a picture with her name on it. I wanted to make her a framed monogram with butterflies. I scouted around and the cheapest I could fine a frame was $5.00 for a cheapie 8x10. I didn't want it to look like a diploma frame, so I kept looking and my patience paid off!  I was at Target and came upon a set of eight pictures on clearance for only $9.98! I knew one of them would be perfect for my project for Victoria. I started out by taking the original butterfly picture out of the frame and tracing it on a piece of cute butterfly scrapbook paper. I then cut her name out using my Silhouette. I glued her name to the scrapbook paper and set it aside. The frame had some gold edging I didn't really like so I took painters tape and masked the brown part of the frame. Using white craft paint I painted over the gold. I also smudged a little bit of the white paint around the brown frame. I let it dry completely and removed the painters tape. I then glued vintage pink lace to the white edging. I returned the scrapbook paper with her name on it to the frame. I then glued 3 vintage white buttons in the corner and the same butterfly I used in the mobile. For the body of the butterfly I glued on 3 little pearls. It was a fun project and she really like it.