decorations

An Ap-peel-ing Idea

Nibbles

For those who don’t already know, I have a creativity-focused blog, the 64 Arts, that lets me flex the right side of my brain on a regular basis. Last March, while exploring the art of Cutouts (from paper to peel), I created a cute lemon cup that might make a nice addition to your Easter table this year.

Originally posted on the 64 Arts on March 24, 2010…

~~~oOo~~~

How Ap-Peel-ing

a Little Lemon Bowl

To make the lemon bowl, start by trimming each end of the lemon so you have a flat surface for the bowl to sit on.

You can buy a fancy garnishing tool (I do have them) but it may not always fit your project’s size. I just used a sharp pairing knife and cut a zig-zag all the way around. If I were doing more than just messing around, I’d probably measure and mark off equal increments–instead I just winged it. Inside each little point I cut a little window to dress up the lemon bowl.

The lemon should easily come apart at that point, but I did have to go back over a few places where I hadn’t completely cut through. Next you want to scoop out the lemon pulp and sections as best you can. A grapefruit spoon can be useful for this but the paring knife did really well, too. Make sure all the little windows are clear of pulp, rinse it and pat it dry.

I’ve fridge-tested my samples and they’ve done well in the refrigerator for several days. I even popped one in the freezer for a night just to see how it held up. It did great! They will dry out if they’re in there too long, but 3 or 4 days shouldn’t hurt. The little points did curve in a bit but that seems to be making the overall structure that much stronger.

Now, what to do with it?

Sorbet comes immediately to mind. Fancy dinners sometimes include a palate-cleansing course but you don’t need to go to that trouble. Some Italian ice, granita or even a minty ice cream would look great and taste even better when served in these fun lemon cups.

Still too cold for an icy dessert? Candies or nuts would be fun in them or, with Easter right around the corner, how about displaying your eggs in their own little basket?

Lemon Egg Cup

When I was a little girl and we lived with my grandmother, we would do the customary egg-dying the day before and make sure every family member had an egg with their name on it. We’d leave the eggs in their cartons out on the counter when we went to bed and, in the morning, I’d wake up to them all arranged on a huge silver platter with that cellophane grass all around. It’s still one of my fondest childhood memories.

How cute would it be, then, to have personalized eggs at each place setting for the big family dinner? Placed in little lemon or lime cups that are so much more fun than those paper stands the dying kits come with and definitely eco-friendly. Plus, the pulp doesn’t have to go to waste if you turn it into fresh lemonade to serve with dinner!

Candy Corn Pennant Garland

64 Arts
Candy Corn Pennant Garland

Candy Corn Pennant Garland

BYOP 6 Party Favors, 2009

BYOP 6 Party Favors, 200

Last year I designed some Candy Corn Gift Bags as a party favor for my almost-annual pumpkin carving party. I made 4 dozen and ended up with 17 leftover. Since I don’t like to repeat party favors from year to year, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with them but I couldn’t just throw them out!

Fast forward to brainstorming project ideas for the 14th & 15th arts and viola! Total lighbulb moment: with their handles removed, the bags look very pennant-like and pennants are very big right now in party decorations. It seemed to me like the perfect opportunity to up-cycle my leftover treat bags and add another decoration to my growning stash of fall/Halloween decor.

First you need the bags. My eHow article from last September gives full, step-by-step instructions for making the bags to be used as party favors. If, however, you want to go straight to the garland, skip the pressing and hemming of the top edge in step 4 and stop when you get to the end of Step 7.

In my case, though, I needed to remove the ribbons and buttons that create the handle of the bags and press them flat. I thought about ripping out the hem, as well, but decided to save myself the trouble. The buttons were easy enough to remove with a single flick of a seam ripper.

To complete the garland, you’ll need:

  • 17 candy corn gift bags
  • 1 yard patterned fabric or 3 yards 2″ ribbon
  • Scissors or rotary cutter
  • Iron and ironing board
  • Tape measure or ruler
  • Straight pins
  • Sewing machine, needle and thread
Cutting the fabric into strips Start by cutting the patterned fabric into 4-inch-wide strips.

I had this remnant in my stash that was 1 yard by 40 inches. 3 strips, even though I’ll lose 2 inches when joining them together, gives me plenty of length (118 inches) to span the 8-foot (96-inch) opening where I plan to hang this banner. The extra length (11 inches on each side) provides enough of a tail that we can easily tie up the banner when finished.
Making Non-Bias Tape Make Non-Bias Tape*

After we’ve joined the strips together (1/2-inch seam allowance) and pressed those seams open, we press the very long strip of fabric in half, lengthwise, wrong sides facing.

Open up the pressed fabric and fold each side in towards the center, pressing once again. You can pin this if you want, but it’s simple enough just to fold it as you press and save the time.

Finally, fold the fabric over along that first fold, lining up the outside edges and pressing a final time. This holds all the folds in place and keeps raw edges inside, creating a nice, clean edge to slip our pennants into.

Math Time!

8 feet = 96 inches

17 pennants, 3.5 inches wide = 59.5 inches

96 – 59.5 = 36.5 inches

36.5 / 16 spaces = 2.28 inches

 Now those math classes come in handy. (In case you ever wondered when you’d use them.)

To get a nice, even garland we need to be able to space our pennants evenly. To do this, take the total length of your banner, subtract the amount of space the pennants take up and then divide that space by the number of spaces there will be between the pennants (# of pieces minus 1).

To make things easy I rounded down slightly and will put 2 1/4 inches between each of the pennants.

That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?
Spacing the candy corns Find the center of the non-bias tape and (with the fold opening downward) place your first pennant inside the fold. Measure 2.25 inches from the edge of the pennant and place the edge of the next pennant at that point, pinning in place.

Continue in one direction until you’ve placed 8 candy corn in addition to the center corn.

Rather than having to measure both sides, once I got the first side pinned I flipped over the tape–still folded in half–and matched up the rest of the candy corns so that both sides were even.

If you’re using 2″ tape instead of fabric, just fold the tape in half over the tops of the pennants and pin in place. Pressing is optional but recommended.
Sewing the pennants onto the tape Sew along the bottom edge of the tape–about 1/4-inch from the edge–slowing down slightly as you go over the edges of the pennants since the extra bulk could easily break a needle.

When you get to the end it’s a good idea (but, again, optional) to sew another line along the top edge of the tape. This keeps the tape fairly sturdy while it hangs and prevents flattening or bunching when washed or stored by trapping the top edges of the pennant in place.

Technically, we’re done, but there’s always one or two more finishing steps that can be added to make the project that much nicer.
Sewing no-tie bows Since I had the ribbon leftover from the removed handles, I thought they’d make nice bows on the front of each pennant. The only wrinkle was that the lengths were short and I wanted to sew a button on each center–the bulk would have been hard to manage with a traditional bow.

Instead, I folded each length of ribbon in half and sewed a quick seam a third of the way down from the fold. Ganging them one after the other on the sewing machine made this step go quickly and saved numerous starts and stops.
Attaching the bows and buttons After separating each loop from the “ribbon raft,” open up a single loop and squash the top down to the seam, creating a bow. Position this along the bottom edge of the tape at the center of each pennant and sew in place, along with a decorative button.

Since my garland is visible both from the dining room as well as the living room/entry, I alternated sides for my bow and button placement. I also found that by hiding the stitches under the bottom edge of the tape, they can’t be seen on the non-decorated side.

I used 4 1-inch cup hooks suspended from my ceiling to hang the garland, the two ends tied to the outer hooks and the 2 center hooks placed 31 inches in from each edge. If you wanted more swag to your banner, spread the pennants out a bit more and increase the length of your tape to allow more of a bow in your banner. I kept mine rather straight so that tall folks (unlike my 5’4″ self) won’t have to duck.

Visit thecsiproject.comI don’t know about you, but we love Halloween–it’s our favorite holiday! And now that Labor Day has passed we’re already starting to decorate. This banner is the first bit to go up and it’s making me smile every time I see it.

Have you started your decorating yet?

Coincidentally, the theme for this week’s CSI project is Fall so I’m linking up with those fabulous crafters. Make sure to check out all the fun fall projects over at the CSI project!

Candy Corn Pennant Garland

*Actual bias tape is cut on the bias–diagonally against the grain–but folded and pressed the same. Fabric cut on the bias flows and stretches more than straight-cut fabric which makes it easier to edge items with non-straight edges.

Paper Petals, Part 2

64 Arts

Tuesday we looked at two ways to make roses from a single length of ribbon or paper. Today we’re going to go strictly paper and add a few more steps. But look at the results!

Paper Roses

Paper Roses

A reminder of the supply list from the last post:

  • Paper
  • Scissors or craft punches
  • Bobby Pin
  • Glue

I found this kit on clearance at Marshall’s a couple of weeks ago to make a gorgeous crepe paper bouquet (it’s also from Martha Stewart, by the way). I opened the kit, preparing to be amazed at some complex project at hand. Do you know the big secret?

Hearts.

Yup. The petals are all hearts, which if you think about it, makes perfect sense. Petals are sort of teardrop shapes, two together make a heart. So, while, sure, having a kit is great, you can totally do this without even paying $5 for this kit (much less the $10 they originally wanted for it). And, since we’re dealing with basic shapes, here, I don’t think I’m really giving away any trade secrets, you know?

Start with the Hearts

Start with the Hearts

 Start with a bunch of heart shapes. If you’ve got a craft punch this would be a great use for it, otherwise trace and cut with scissors or just freehand some. I’ll bet they’ll look even more realistic if hand-cut as opposed to identical pieces. Still, if you don’t trust yourself to cut without a net, go for the uniform, it’s okay.
For each of the hearts you want to curl the curved edges a bit. You can use a skewer or whatever but I found that a bobby pin (used similar to a quilling tool) makes this step SO simple: slide the bobby pin over the tip of the heart/petal, roll away from you, slide it out–it’s like a curling iron for paper.

Do this to all of your hearts and then start assembling them.

Curling the Petals

  Curling the Petals

A Bud from a Single Heart

A Bud from a Single Heart

 The first heart creates the bud and will wrap around itself a couple of times to make a tight center. If you want to have stems for these flowers, wrap this first petal around a pipe cleaner or piece of wire. Dab a little glue on the last flap to fold over and press to secure.
Add more hearts by overlapping the edge of the previous one and continuing to wrap in the same direction until you run out of hearts or your rose is the size you want. A small rosebud will look very nice with only 3 hearts. The fuller flowers used 15 hearts each.

Paper Rose--15 petals

Paper Rose--15 petals

Experiment with different types of paper–I’ve used some shiny tissue paper, banana paper as well as some gorgeous handmade paper from the local art store to make the roses in the opening picture. The handmade paper is my favorite–it looks so much heavier and full, even in that bright turquoise.

Wired, they’d make a lovely arrangement or package tie or could be added to a headband or hair clip. Make enough of them and cover a wreath form (attach with hot glue) for a centerpiece or door hanging (just keep it out of the weather).

Want one more way to while away an afternoon making very cute things out of paper and not much else? Check out this Origami Paper Roses Tutorial from Housewife Eclectic. They could also pass for tulips, too!

How many roses will you make, today?

4, 5 and 6-fold ribbon roses

Paper Petals, Part 1

64 Arts

Picture this. You’re in the mood to make something floral but there’s a few impediments to your creative zen:

  • You possess neither a green thumb nor a neighbor’s garden from which to pilfer.
  • Your craft room comes up shy in the silk flower department.
  • It’s way too late to go to the craft store (or you don’t want to spend a lot of money or just don’t want to get dressed to go out–I know, I’ve been there).

What do you do?

Do you have

  • Papers or ribbons?
  • Scissors or craft punches?
  • Glue or tape?
  • A bobby pin (optional, but helpful)?

Why, then, you can make your own flowers! And who knows, you might find making them more fun than your original idea.

Ribbon Roses 1

All you need for these first two techniques is some 1-inch ribbon (fabric or paper) and scissors. Needle and thread wouldn’t hurt but it’s not absolutely required just yet.

Several years ago, probably more like over a decade, I learned how to make ribbon roses thanks to an episode of Martha Stewart’s show. (I was in my Martha phase, then. But after seeing her do a kitchen segment with dirt under her nails my enthusiasm began to seriously wane. That many people around, a camera close-upping on your hands, and you don’t think it’s important to clean up a bit? tsk tsk)

I had brought work home with me, including my adding machine, and had scads of used adding machine tape, so practiced with that. Turns out, adding machine tape makes spectacular practice ribbon! Those roses lasted ages, sitting on the front counter at the office, and I’ve never forgotten the technique.

It’s a series of 4 simple folds, each a 90-degree angle and leaving a little space between the corners creates a hole in the center of the square. For paper you can crease the folds and make life easier on yourself, the same with wired ribbon. Non-wired (aka floppy) ribbon just has to be handled a bit more carefully. The pins in the below pictures are just to leave my hands free to work the camera, once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to whip through these flowers with just your fingers in no time flat.

Ribbon Roses, Steps 1-4

Ribbon Roses, Steps 1-4

When you reach the end of your ribbon (or you think you’ve folded enough–better to err on the side of extra folds and unravel some at the back of an over-full flower than not have enough), thread the end of the ribbon through the small hole in the center (this is the one part that’s easier with ribbon than paper), and twist the ribbon as you pull to create the center bud. Continue to twist more than you pull, rotating the petals around the center bud, creating that offset look that makes it look more flower-like, less square. Tie off the tails at the base of the flower and then arrange the petals the way you want them.

Ribbon Roses, Steps 5-8

Ribbon Roses, Steps 5-8

You can also play with the angle of the folds for different finished flower effects.

4, 5 and 6-fold ribbon roses

4, 5 and 6-fold Ribbon Roses

As you can see, I’ve tacked them to this yoga block (not like it was being used for anything else) with a pearl-headed corsage pin. For more permanent use and any sort of application where they’re going to get a fair amount of moving around (clothing or accessories), take a needle and matching thread to secure the layers of petals, hiding the stitches among the folds.

The 4-fold rose likes to return to it’s squarish roots while the 5-point (fold into a pentagram, 5 72-degree angles for the precision-minded) looks the most rose-like to me. The 6-fold rose (hexagram or 6 60-degree angles) is pretty, yes, but even I had to start over a couple of times and finally placed it on the yoga block so I could fold with one hand and hold down with the other–rotating with each turn was not working. It is pretty, though.

But that’s not the only way to fold a flower.

Ribbon Roses 2

Going back to our garland knot-guru, Nimibirla, here’s another way of forming delicate ribbon roses for any number of uses.

You can certainly make these flowers with only one ribbon, but the two together are not only beautiful, they make the technique easier to see. If you’re only using one ribbon you may not need to stitch as many times as she shows.

Come back Thursday for the third way to make your house bloom with little to no cost and no green thumb needed.

Are you reaching for your ribbon, yet?

How Ap-Peel-ing

64 Arts

So the mind wanders with these sorts of things (creativity is all about the wandering) and a part of the original description had gotten stuck in my brain. Specifically, the “peel” part. Peel leads to citrus and I started to wonder what I could do with the lemons hanging out on the bar.

a Little Lemon Bowl

To make the lemon bowl, start by trimming each end of the lemon so you have a flat surface for the bowl to sit on.

You can buy a fancy garnishing tool (I do have them) but it may not always fit your project’s size. I just used a sharp pairing knife and cut a zig-zag all the way around. If I were doing more than just messing around, I’d probably measure and mark off equal increments–instead I just winged it. Inside each little point I cut a little window to dress up the lemon bowl.

The lemon should easily come apart at that point, but I did have to go back over a few places where I hadn’t completely cut through. Next you want to scoop out the lemon pulp and sections as best you can. A grapefruit spoon can be useful for this but the paring knife did really well, too. Make sure all the little windows are clear of pulp, rinse it and pat it dry.

I’ve fridge-tested my samples and they’ve done well in the refrigerator for several days. I even popped one in the freezer for a night just to see how it held up. It did great! They will dry out if they’re in there too long, but 3 or 4 days shouldn’t hurt. The little points did curve in a bit but that seems to be making the overall structure that much stronger.

Now, what to do with it?

Sorbet comes immediately to mind. Fancy dinners sometimes include a palate-cleansing course but you don’t need to go to that trouble. Some Italian ice, granita or even a minty ice cream would look great and taste even better when served in these fun lemon cups.

Still too cold for an icy dessert? Candies or nuts would be fun in them or, with Easter right around the corner, how about displaying your eggs in their own little basket?

Lemon Egg Cup

When I was a little girl and we lived with my grandmother, we would do the customary egg-dying the day before and make sure every family member had an egg with their name on it. We’d leave the eggs in their cartons out on the counter when we went to bed and, in the morning, I’d wake up to them all arranged on a huge silver platter with that cellophane grass all around. It’s still one of my fondest childhood memories.

How cute would it be, then, to have personalized eggs at each place setting for the big family dinner? Placed in little lemon or lime cups that are so much more fun than those paper stands the dying kits come with and definitely eco-friendly. Plus, the pulp doesn’t have to go to waste if you turn it into fresh lemonade to serve with dinner!