Hello and thank you all so much for joining me! In today’s blog I am going to talk to you about using wide ribbon (the kind that has wires in the edges) to make ornaments, in place of using fabric. Let me start by saying that I personally find that ornaments made using wide ribbon are by far the most beautiful! This is because I typically use ribbon purchased at craft stores during the holidays. I highly recommend you go during black Friday sales—I’ve literally paid only 30% retail price for my supplies when I’ve done this before! In my experience the wide ribbon has a beautiful gold or silver edging on it and that’s what makes it so pretty!
I generally try to purchase ribbon that is 2½” wide—this allows you to be able to cut the strips of ribbon in half lengthwise, giving you literally double the amount of material to work with. You can also buy ribbon that is only 1½” in length, but you cannot cut these ones in half, you’ll just have to use them as is (you still need to remove the wires).
To be able to actually use the ribbon as your main material I do a couple of things to prep it. First, I take the wires out of the ribbon—this is not as difficult as you may think. I simply cut the ribbon to the appropriate length, kind of scrunch the ribbon up so that the wire is exposed on either side, and then remove the wires with a pair of tweezers (It can also be removed by hand, though this can be a bit challenging sometimes).
After the wires have been removed, you can cut your strip of ribbon in half lengthwise—this only works if you are using the kind that is 2½” wide, you cannot cut the kind that is only 1½, as it will be too small. Once you have the wires removed and the ribbon cut lengthwise, you can cut the strips of ribbon into 2½” pieces. This will leave you with a piece of ribbon that is approx. 2½” by 1¼” this will work wonderfully for your ornament.
I’d like to give you a few tips for using ribbon as your main material. The first tip is how to pin it to the ornament. To start, you will turn your ribbon over so that the decorated side of the ribbon is FACING DOWN. It really works best if you do not fold the ribbon first (before putting the pin it), but rather, place your pin just under the edge of the ribbon and then pin it to the ornament and make your usual folds. What this will do is allow the decorated edges to stick out a bit and make a visible pattern. Once you’ve made an entire layer you will see the beautiful effect this will have on your ornament.
The other tip is that sheer ribbons are finicky—it can be very difficult to find a sheer plain-colored ribbon that won’t show the ball underneath (and also show your markings). Sheer ribbons that have patterns on it can sometimes work, but they work best when paired with solid colors.
Here are a few examples of making ornaments using sheer ribbon.
Here is an example of all the different and wonderful textures that ribbon comes in these days…you’d probably never guess that this one is made entirely of ribbon!
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To learn more about embellishing your ornament with sequins, beads, and charms, please check out my blog post.
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