We’ve been all aflutter here for the last few weeks with visits from breezes full of colorful butterflies, and the hummingbirds are returning to drink in the jasmine blooms. It’s nearly summer, and wedding season is in full swing. We’ve added a few new ribbon styles to our offerings this season in response to customer’s requests. One ribbon that has caught my attention is our new 4″ wide ribbon. It’s a very nice texture; lightweight polyester with a satin finish. It’s a ribbon for decorating, great for pew bows and outdoor wedding decorations. What I like best is that it’s durable but not stiff or plasticy feeling. It drapes beautifully and enables you to create lovely bows for a reasonable cost. This ribbon has a lot of possibilities for the crafter in you! My winged visitors inspired me to create the butterfly trimmed favor box below. This is simple to make with the right ribbon. I cut a pattern of a butterfly out of a folded piece of 4″ satin ribbon. It doesn’t easily fray, so no edge sealing was necessary.
Once I cut the shape of the butterfly, I gathered it lightly down the length of the body area and tied it with a bit of thin florist’s wire. I used a row of beads as the butterfly body. I used a 2″ head pin and added 6 small beads to the pin, finishing it off with a small loop. I used one bead that was slightly larger than the others for the butterfly’s head. The ribbon butterfly was first attached to the box with a dot of hot glue, then I added the beaded body to the ribbon with another tiny dot of glue.
I love new materials for new projects, and this 4″ wide ribbon is going to have the creative gears in my head running for a long time!
