Because you asked ....

I got a couple of emails asking me how i made the vintage style  paper ornaments from my post here.

So I thought I would put a little tutorial together for you!  Now, I do not by any means lay claim to be the originator of this style of ornament ... I saw something very similar on the blog House Revivals. If you have time, stop over and visit Amanda at her fab blog!

Back to this ornament .... it is easy peasy...

Cut 24 - 32  circles all the same size, for one ornament ... on this example I used 3" circles.    You can use a punch, diecut or just traced cut out circles.

Once the circles are cut, fold each one in half, having the text running side to side and the fold running up and down.  Fold in any direction if you are using patterned or plain paper.  I used Stampin Up paper designer paper.  You can use book pages or sheet music pages as long as they are not too fragile.

Using a gluestick or quick drying liquid glue, coat the entire side of a folded circle.

Stack another folded circle on top of the glued folded circle.  Keep gluing and stacking until you have a little stack of about a third of the papers.  Make two more stacks with the remaining folded circles (this is easier than creating one giant stack.

Then glue the stacks together to form one giant stack.
Now the tricky part ... glue the "spine" the folded edges of the stack ... just run the glue stick up and down to get all of the edges coated.

Decide what you want to use as a "hanger" ... in the example below I have used a fine string with a crystal button and jewel.  A pretty alternative (and an easier one to use) is a narrow ribbon.

Lay the ribbon down the spine of the ornament.  at the bottom end of the ornament, tie a know in the ribbon so it will stay in place, Form a loop at the top of the ornament and tie another knot.

In the example below I threaded one hole in the button and left it on the top of the ornament.  I then ran the thread down the spine and looped it through the crystal.  ran the thread back up the spine and through the other button hole and then tied a knot.
This sounds difficult but it is really very easy.  Once it is done, glue the top folded circle, and attach it to the bottom have circle so that you have a 3D circle.

At this point you will want to make sure that 1/2 circles are not stuck in clumps ... as in this little example, make sure you separate the clumps and spread out all of the half circles

 Still declumping this ornament, but you can tell that more of the 1/2 circles are free.

 Next you do the honeycombing ... on one half circle stick glue dots or double sided tape in the
area of the red dots ... which is roughly 1/3 of the down the sides of the ball.  flip to the next half circle and stick a glue dot on the edge of the paper in the centre. Just keep repeating the pattern of 2 glue dots on one circle, and one glue dot on the next until all of the circles are stuck together in intervals.  Your ornament should look like this!

 Option finishing touch is to lay some fast drying liquid glue down on all edges and then dip in glitter.  This just adds a bit of glimmer and shine!

Here you go, a finish ornament.

Another option is to just do the layers, and do not do the honeycombing ... this looks good on smaller circles or punched shapes.  I used the Stampin Up ornament punch to create this little ornament.  You could also try a heart punch or a tree punch or anything else you can dream of!

 I hope  you enjoyed this tutorial and I hope you can make yourself some fab little vintage ornaments!  A box of these makes a fabulous little hostess gift!

Thanks so much for stopping bye!

Tissue paper flowers tutorial ... (and a giveaway)

That is great big tissue paper posies!  I got busy with my mom and dad a couple of days ago, making tissue paper flowers ... some are in big vases, some in mason jars, and even some for little vases ... and still more giant ones, to be hung from the ceiling ...

These are super fun and easy to make ... we did them in bright colours and colour combinations ... My mother is hosting a baby shower for her niece (my cousin) this weekend.  My cousin has finally had her dreams come true and her and her hubby were finally able to adopt a precious baby girl ... i can't wait to meet her!

My cousin has decorated a nursery in a colourful "jungle" theme so we thought we would carry the colour theme forward into the shower, hence the great big tissue paper "jungle" flowers!

 this one looks so zen ... if you can call tissue paper zen ... but it does remind me of a lotus flower ...

These are little ones in a vase ... we made lots of little ones and used the extras as centres for the larger flowers.

Step 1,  Fold the tissue layers diagonal so that they will form a square when unfolded

 Step 2,  cut  off excess paper (the excess can be used to make smaller squares and smaller flower centres)

 Step 3,  accordian fold all of the layers of tissue at the same time.  For giant (hang from the ceiling flowers we used 10 layers, the medium and small flowers we used 4 - 5 layers of tissue)

 Step 4  Tie off at the center (we used ribbon for hanging flowers and pipe cleaners for the smaller flowers)  Also trim the ends of the layers ... we used various edges (see below)

 Step 5, make sure your layers are spread open

 Step 6, start lifting up and fluffing the layers one by one ... be careful, tissue tears easily ... most of these flowers have at least 1 tear in it, but you tend not to notice once they are done

 For pointy edged flowers, (like my "lotus") simply cut a triangle shape ... for spiky flowers like the spiky green blue & white flower, cut the triangle shape, then cut a slit from the tip of the point ... the longer the slit, the more spiky the flower will be, however it will also be a bit more difficult to pull apart the layers.

 for blossom style petals, cut a rounded edge

These are the giant flowers hanging from the ceiling!

Hope you try this, they are super easy and oh, they do look wonderful in pastel colours as well ... suitable for all kinds of celebrations!

I also have a wonderful giveaway happening ... all you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this blog post.

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED




peace, love & paper y'all ...

a super quick rolled rosette tutorial

Hey SOS gals
thanks for asking how to make these ... here is a quick little tutorial on those rolled rosettes ...  this was done very quickly and i am no expert at tutorials so there is zero production quality


The white paper is just a diagram, the pink polka dot paper is the sample

I start with a square piece of paper ... usually approx 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.  you do not have to measure or make if perfect

 Draw a large circular coil onto your paper ... the more coils, the more but smaller layers your flower will have, if you just have a few coils you will have a taller flower

 Now cut along your lines .... and then trim off the excess from the square shape  (I no longer draw the coil, i just freehand the cut ... so no measuring ... keep it fun)

 if you want you can go around the circle and create a wavey edge, this gives petals more definition ... this is totally optional.

 start rolling at the outer end .... just keep rolling till you hit the center

i put glue in the centre ... some people use glue dots, i prefer glossy accents as it drys relatively quick and holds the layers really well ...

 place the little base of the flower into the glue.  allow it to uncoil slightly to give it a looser look

 if you want you can add a little bling to the centre of the flower ... or use some glitter ...

The finished sizes is about that of a nickel

You can also make these out of felt and some fabrics ... they look cute on mini easter baskets as well as layouts!

hope this helps
have fun with it!

Peace, love & paper
Jo