Making a Ruffle Style Burlap Bow with 10" Ribbon

The beautiful way fabric looks gathered inspired us to combining two of our favorite things: ruffles and bows.  This new ruffle bow technique that can be used with wider ribbon and mesh creates a simple, pretty ruffled bow that shows off the natural burlap texture and uses less ribbon than traditional looped bows. The tutorial below shows you how to create this bow using a rich red that is perfect for fall or Christmas. This bow can be made in any ribbon or fabric for any season as long as the fabric is at least 9" wide.

SUPPLIES (click on the product name to purchase at www.mardigrasoutlet.com)

1.  9.5" Faux Burlap: Rust
2.  Wire or string options-

• Metallic Tinsel Roping
• Natural Jute/Twine
• Deco Flex Tubing Ribbon

3.  Scissors

 COST/TIME
The total cost  per bow would be about $4 each. This cost will depend on your supply choices. You can make about 3-4 bows from one 10 yard roll of burlap ribbon, depending on how full you make the bow loops and the length of the bow tails. The bow shown below is about 12 inches across and nearly 2 feet long.

Blended Burlap
Blended Burlap is a faux burlap material that is a great choice for outdoor decorations or for use with wet arts and crafts media. While natural burlap is made of jute and can not withstand the elements with out falling apart, this synthetic burlap is made with polyester and is safe to use outdoors.

You can follow these same steps, but use different colors of Deco Mesh or Burlap to make a custom bow for any holiday or occasion. Click here to see more color and pattern options in Burlap.

STEP 1
Cut a length of Burlap about 20-24 inches long.  Lay it lengthwise on a flat surface.

STEP 2
Begin to pinch and pull the burlap towards you, being sure to pinch the fabric tightly at the center.

STEP 3
Continue to pull the burlap towards you until you get to the end, making sure not to bunch.  You want a nice, even, ruffled effect.

STEP 4
Pinching the center tightly, secure the middle of the bow.  We used Tinsel Roping in Metallic Red because it is so easy to tie in other accents directly underneath or on top of the wire, and it adds a little extra shine to your project.  Be sure to leave yourself a few extra inches of tinsel roping on each end to making tying easier.

STEP 5
Add the tails to the top of the bow by cutting a length of burlap twice the length you would like each tail.  Then simply tie the center of the fabric underneath the center of the bow with the same tinsel roping.

STEP 6
Now you can trim the tails.  We folded our burlap in half and then cut upwards at a diagonal from the outside corners in order to make a split-tail style bow.  You can also simply cut the bow upwards at a diagonal from inside to outside to make a tail that is an angle cut.

This diagram shows you a few possibilities on how to trim your bows tails.

The finished Bow- Ready to hang!

Here we've used the bow on a burlap bubble wreath.  We trimmed the tails a little shorter and added some floral accents.  The tutorial on how to make this wreath can be found by clicking here.   

 

We would love to see how you use this burlap bow style in your decor!  Email us at ideas@mardigrasoutlet.com with your creative pictures.  Happy Crafting!

Patriotic Deco Mesh Firecracker with Tinsel Stars: A Work Rail Tutorial

Happy Fourth of July, America!    To celebrate this special day we've created a Red, White, and Blue Fire Cracker out of red Deco Mesh on the brand new work rail form. What a great way to  display our American spirit and Patriotism.  We hope you are having a great day!

SUPPLIES:

To purchase these products from www.mardigrasoutlet.com, click on the individual product link below or click HERE for page listing of all products.

21" Poly Mesh Roll: Metallic Red

22" Work Rail Form: Metallic Red

Patriotic Mardi Gras Necklace

Aluminum Craft Wire 2MM: Red

Metallic Tinsel Roping: Red

35" Glitter Grass Patriotic Spray

Scissors/and or Wire Cutters

For more dynamite deco mesh colors, click here for a link to our full range of patriotic craft supply and mesh.

COST/TIME:
This project takes approximately 30-45 minutes, start to finish. The total cost of supplies for this decoration is about $26. There will be product left over for each material, approximately 1/2 of the deco mesh roll, aluminum wire, and tinsel roping.

Step 1- Fluff the Wreath

You will first need to fluff out your wreath form, this will make it quicker and easier to place the mesh between the wire ties.

Step 2- Place the Mesh in between a Wire Tie

Leave about 6-8 inches of extra mesh, and secure it into a wire tie by twisting the two ends of tinsel together.

Step 3- Form a Mesh "Poof"

You will need about 12-15" of Mesh in between tinsel ties.  Be sure to gather the mesh between your hands without bunching, which can cause wrinkles in the mesh.

Step 4- Fill the Wreath Form

Beginning in one corner of the Rail Wreath Form, fill each wire tie with mesh by going across the form, inserting mesh and secure it, and then going back across to the opposite side.

Step 5- Trim

After you have filled the Wreath Form with Mesh, leave about 6-8 inches of mesh and trim from the role.  Tuck the mesh tail into another wire tie or behind the wreath form.

Step 6- Fluff!

Now that the rail wreath form is full of mesh, you will need to fluff the mesh, fold the tinsel ties in towards the wire base, and tuck the tail of mesh into a tie or behind a poof of mesh.

Adding accents to the Rail Work Wreath is so easy.  You can weave them into the back, attach them with wire, or use the pre-attached tinsel ties.  The directions above show you how to make a star that will have five even sides every time. 

Making a Patriotic Pick

We used a Red, White, and Blue Mardi Gras Bead with graduated bead sizes to create an inexpensive floral pic.  Simply cut the beads from the string, and insert them onto a heavy gauged craft wire, (available in many colors by clicking here).

Add Accents!

Weave the patriotic floral pick between the bars of the rail wreath form, and secure to the top of the wreath form using a 3-5 inch piece of tinsel roping.  Repeat the process with other sparkly accessories, making sure to secure them all the tightly from the top-center of the wreath form.

The Completed Deco Mesh Fire Cracker!

We love the explosion of glitter and sparkle from the "fuse" at the top of the fire cracker!

Deco Mesh is waterproof, so even if your holiday is rained out, your decoration won't be!

Happy Fourth of July!  And Happy Crafting!

Chevron Pattern Stencil: Free Printable

We love chevron stripes! This new printable stencil allows us to add this fun zigzag pattern to any surface we want. Just imagine the possibilities!  Paint fabric, ribbon, table runners, gift bags, walls,  letters or any thing you can imagine using this easy stencil. Keep reading to see how easy it is to use this Chevron patterned stencil. We updated our plain burlap bunting banner with a chevron pattern and customized plain wooden decorative letters with a ombre chevron pattern. 

Chevron Stencil Tutorial:

CHEVRON PATTERN PRINTABLE 

STEP 1: Download and Print Chevron Stencil

Click the link above to download the free printable Chevron Pattern stencil. You will need a PDF reader to open this file.(Click HERE for a free PDF reader from Adobe) 

Print out the page, using your desktop home printer or bring the file to a copy or print center. You can print them using regular copy paper or card-stock paper, which may create a better stencil.

For our Chevron Stripe project, we are going to make a no-sew burlap pennant banner with an ombre painted pattern.  For directions on how to make the banner, please see our previous post, DIY Burlap Pennant Banner.

Step 2
After you have printed out a copy of the chevron pattern, place it underneath one of the burlap flags and make an outline with a dark marker.

Step 3

With a small craft blade, cut out your stencil.  Be sure to have cardboard or a self-healing mat beneath the paper to keep your crafting area free from scratches.  Using the outline as a guide, cut out the stripes so that they reach out a little further than your marker lines.  Cut out the black stripes to create thin lines, and cut out the white stripes to create thick lines.

Step 4

Once you have cut out all the stripes, place the stencil on top of your flag. Before you begin painting, make sure you have something underneath your flag and stencil to prevent paint from leaking through onto other surfaces.

Step 5

Apply color!  You can either paint all of your stripes the same color or use an ombre effect (see below for a how to create an ombre color palatte).  Be sure to push down on the stencil or tape it to your surface of the burlap so you do not get paint under the stencil.  

 

If you are using solid colors, you can make each flag a different color or use spray paint to make the painting process even faster. Allow the paint to dry before hanging.

 

 

Perfect for indoor parties and backyard gatherings, the basic burlap pennant banner is versatile and easy to personalize!  

 

Here we used the same technique to paint a chevron pattern on our wooden decorative letters.  We used varying degrees of color, a technique called ombre. Using the chevron stencil, start off at the top zigzag stripe with the darkest color and move down to the lightest tint.

 

Ombre Effect: 

To create varying tints of paint, we used only two colors, one main color and white.  On your paint mixing surface, create 3 areas of your main paint and one of white.  Add a few drops of white to two of the paint dollops, one with a few more drops to create a lighter color and one with less.  Add just a tint of color to your white paint dollop and then you have created 4 shades of color in varying degrees, from dark with no white added to a light hue.

For more styles of decorative letters and numbers to paint, click here.

Are you as in love with the chevron stripe trend as we are?  What are you going to paint with this Chevron Stencil Pattern?

Flip Flop Ruffled Ribbon Wreath For Summer: New Deco Mesh Tutorial

Who can resist a cute pair of hot pink flip flops?  We can't!  We love all the hot neon colors showing up on everything from decor, to fashion and crafts!  Why not combine them all by creating a bright summery deco mesh wreath that incorporates our favorite hues and our favorite summer flip flops? So here is our Summer inspired Flip Flop Deco Mesh Wreath! 

The DIY tutorial below features a brand new ruffled ribbon technique for filling a work wreath. This new look is not only easy to do, but also uses the smaller (an less expensive) 10" wide mesh rolls. This technique makes it very easy to add in multiple colors of mesh, different patterns of ribbon or fun textures of rope or wire  (like the glitzy sticks we used).

Ruffled Ribbon Wreath Tutorial

SUPPLIES

• 2 rolls of  10" Poly Deco Mesh Roll, Metallic Lime, Orange, Fuchsia Stripes
• 1 partial roll of 2.5" Faux Burlap Ribbon: Dark Pink (25 yards)
• 15" Tinsel Work Wreath Form: Metallic Lime Green
• Scissors and/or wire cutters

Optional Supplies for Wreath Accents

• Glitzy Sticks, Copper
• Feather Butterflies
• Flip Flops

COST/TIME

The cost of the supplies for a 1 color wreath is just under $30.  We used about 1and 2/3 rolls of 10" mesh with some left over for additional projects.  The entire wreath took about 45 minutes to create.  If you are interested in creating a ruffle wreath out of multiple mesh colors, a wide array of 10" mesh patterns and colors is available here.

Step 1
An important first step is to arrange and straighten the pairs of tinsel ties on your work wreath form as shown here.

Step 2
Measure off and cute 20 inches pieces of Deco Mesh from the 10" wide mesh roll.  You will need to cut 26 pieces of mesh to fill the form, which uses a little less than 2 rolls.

Step 3
If you are using more than 1 color of mesh, you still only need a total of 26 pieces of mesh for a 15" work wreath.  One piece of mesh will go into every pair of ties on the outside ring of the wreath, and 2 pieces will go into every pair of ties on the inside ring of the wreath.

Step 4- Making Ruffles
When you are making Ruffles you are essentially creating a pinch pleat.  Unroll one of the 20" lengths of mesh, then pinch and pull it towards you using your fingers.  Keep the entire piece pinched firmly until you get to the end, and holding it at the center, place into a set of ties on the wreath form.

Step 5- Add Ruffles
Place your ruffles in the tinsel wreath form beginning with the outside ring.  Once you have place a ruffle in between a set of tinsel ties, twist the ties tightly together twice to secure.  In the outside ring you should add one ruffle for every set of ties.

Step 6
 Continue adding ruffles around the wreath form.

Step 7
Fill in the outside ring before moving to the center ring.

Step 8- Add Ruffles to the Center
The tinsel ties located in inner ring of the work wreath should have 2 ruffles each.  This will make your wreath look much more full.  In the photo above, we used a different color mesh so that the process of stacking the ruffles was easier to see.

Step 9- Add Another Layer Of Ruffles

Add a second ruffle directly on top of the the others in the inner ring of the work wreath only. Use the tinsel ties to wrap over the top of the ruffle and twist the two ends together to secure.

Our completed ruffled ribbon wreath.

Now it is time to add themed summer accents.

It's easy to add flip-flops and other summer accents to work wreaths!  You simply wire them in using the tinsel ties.For each flip-flop we twisted a 9" piece of floral wire around the bottom of the toe strap.  We then used the floral wire to attach to a tinsel tie.

Here is how we made fun faux burlap ribbon tucks to add an additional burst of color on the wreath!

 

If you are adding bow tucks into a work wreath, then you do not have to follow step 3- securing the tuck with floral wire.  You will be able to add the ribbon tuck directly into the wreath by attaching them between a pair of tinsel ties and then twisting the ends of the ties together.

The Deco Mesh Ruffle Wreath with fun pink flip flops!

A second version of this ruffle wreath shows added sparkle and color with orange Glitzy Sticks!  Glitzy Sticks are bendable, metallic sparkly wires that come in a large array of colors to match any craft or floral project.  To match our Lime, Fuchsia, and Orange Deco Mesh we choose the Copper Glitzy Sticks which look orange.

Butterfly Beauties. We also really loved the way our summer wreath looked with brightly colored feather butterflies.   This botanical style would look beautiful on a garden gate.

Feather Butterfly Accents

The great thing about these work wreath forms is your design options are infinitely changeable. Getting tired of the flip flop wreath? Switch those out for butterflies, or glitzy sticks or flowers. What will you create for your summer wreath?