Remember how my daughter was having her first birthday in the last article?
We hosted her birthday party, so naturally I made a bunch of decorations. The
next few articles are going to be some of the projects I did in conjunction with
the birthday party. Parties are the best!
The little circle garland is what we'll be talking about today. It turned out
adorable but was so, so simple to put together.
Here's what you'll need for a similar project:
6 12"x12" coordinating scrapbook paper sheets, preferably cardstock
Scissors
Circle templates
Ribbon and/or lace, 4-5 varieties
Glue gun with glue
1. You'll start by cutting out a variety of sizes of circles. I happened to have
to use of a Cricut machine that did the cutting for me. If you don't have
one of those, just print out different sizes of circles using your word
processor and those can be your templates. I made circles in 1.5", 2", 3",
and 4". It's also nice to be sure you have a pair of each size in each color
of paper.
Start by cutting circles in assorted sizes
and patterns.
2. Once you have all of your circles cut out, measure out the ribbon you're
going to attach the circles to. You can make it any length, but I made
about four 1-yard garlands, so I cut out four 36" pieces.
3. Next, you'll be gluing your circles to the ribbon. Before I started, I just
looped and tied the top of each ribbon so it could hang more easily.
Take one circle and put it right side facing down on the table. Lay the
ribbon down on top of the circle and then put on some hot glue. You
don't need a ton of glue, just a couple of squeezes. Don't put glue too
close to the edges of the circle or it will ooze out and may burn your
fingers.
Once the glue is on, take the match to that circle (in size and color) and
put it down with the right side facing up. You're making a sort of "ribbon
sandwich" with the ribbon being the "meat" and the circles being the
"bread". Repeat this with the other circles, leaving about 3"-4" of ribbon
between each circle.
You don't need a lot of glue to finish
this project.
4. After you have glued on all the circles it's time to embellish the ribbons. I
just took one kind of coordinating ribbon and tied it right above a circle.
After you use one kind of ribbon, move on to the next, tying ribbon or
lace onto the garland ribbon. There really is no right or wrong way to do
this. You can use up a lot or a little ribbon in coordinating colors. Just
make it to your liking.
5. Hang your garlands and enjoy!
The garland looks festive as a
birthday party decoration.
Jenni Bowman, also known as "Jenni B," first delved into her creativity when decorating her
new home as a young bride on a small budget. Bit by bit, her skills improved. She appeared on
"The Martha Stewart Show" in December 2007, where she demonstrated some of her products
on live national television. She has also appeared on "Good Things Utah" and even had her own
television show, "Crafting with Jenni B," in rural Virginia.
She has been featured on Make Mine Pink in "Women Who
Inspire," an online marketplace designed especially for women. In the Spring of 2009, Jenni was
featured in "Artful Blogging" and "Marie", which are Stampington & Company and Somerset Studio publications. She was also listed in Utah Valley Magazine's "50 Most Fabulous People".
Jenni is currently the president of Jenni B Charmed, LLC and enjoys designing jewelry,
computer graphics and home accessories. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and
young daughter.
Jenni serves as a Relief Society instructor in her home ward.
