Decorative Packaging

 Many events associated with Down Syndrome have adopted the blue and yellow Awareness Ribbon as an iconic symbol and observance.  Down syndrome is the most common genetic condition. One in every 733 babies is born with Down syndrome. By clicking on the ribbon link in this post, you will find many options for making your own blue and yellow ribbons to wear while you attend some of the events. You may also want to wear it to share your feelings about those affected with Down Syndrome and encourage others to get involved in supporting the financial needs associated with it.

Many styles of shirts and merchandise are also used to raise money with portions of their profits going directly to the organization to help with research and providing for families affected.events.

 Check out the Facebook page for the National Down Syndrome Society. This is a quote from that page.  “Throughout the months of September and October, My Great Story of the Week will be Buddy Walk themed! Submit your story for a chance to be picked!”

 There is an event schedule on the http://www.ndss.org web site.  The Buddy Walk* is an event to raise money for families living with and helping loved ones with Down Syndrome.   

 “The Buddy Walk® was established in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome and to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October. The Buddy Walk® has grown from 17 Walks in its first year to 270 Walks in 2009, with approximately 250,000 walkers per year. Since 1995, more than 2 million people have participated in the Buddy Walk® program worldwide. In 2009, the Buddy Walk® raised over $10 million to benefit local programs and services, as well as national advocacy initiatives.”

Fall Brides Bouquet

Every bride can have the bouquet she dreams of with out spending a fortune.  Use the money you would have spent on the bouquet towards many of the other areas in the wedding.  A bouquet like this can easily cost $200.00 at a flower shop. But with these hints, you can make one your self.  This lovely silk floral bouquet with a beautiful mixture bright colored flowers would be perfect for a fall wedding.  This particular bouquet isn’t placed in a plastic holder, the flowers are hand tied with a satin ribbon wrapped handle.  As you gather your bouquet, use some tape in three areas, tip, middle and near the top, to hold the stems in place so you can wrap the ribbon.  To begin, Cut two 5 inch lengths of 2 inch wide satin ribbon.  These will be used for the bottom end of the stems.  Lay them in a cross pattern and fold all 4 ends up towards the flowers. Use a narrow piece of tape to hold ends in place after you have smoothed them tight with no wrinkles.  Then begin at the top, near the blossoms, and wrap tightly all the way down to the bottom and place a small dot of glue, or even a couple double stick tape squares to secure the last row then start wrapping back up to the blossoms.  You can use white floral tape at the very top to secure the ribbon, or glue.  IT will not show as the bows and beads will hide it. The beautiful ribbon bows at the top are simply large loops, approx 12 inches, with a mixture of wide satin, thin satin, sheer ribbon, and beads, lay them out and pinch in the middle with thin floral wire. Make two of these and secure on each side of the bouquet and adjust the loops so they are evenly fluffed. You can add longer strips for streamers in the mix of the loops and they will be tied off with the floral wire too. You are finished!!! The hand grip will be padded, and your flowers will be hand picked!  You can use pictures in a magazine to build the kind you like.  Have fun! 

1 – 30
Childhood Cancer Month
Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation
www.candlelighters.org/awareness/

 1 – 30
Fruit and Veggies – More Matters Month
Fruit and Vegetable Program Office
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Produce for Better Health Foundation
www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov

18
National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day
The AIDS Institute
www.theaidsinstitute.org  
19 – 25
National Farm Safety & Health Week
National Education Center for Agricultural Safety
www.nsc.org/necas/   
19 – 25
National Rehabilitation Awareness Celebration
www.nraf-rehabnet.org   

I love ribbon flowers!   There are so many ways you can make them and in a million different colors.  Large, small, slightly gathered or bunched up tight… It’s all up to you!  The larger flower in my post is from 1 ½” wide satin ribbon.  Some of the other pictures use grosgrain ribbon.    They are so simple to make.    You will need ribbon pieces about 4-6”long depending on the size you want to make, needle and matching thread, button or brad for the middle of the flower, and scissors.

 Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end of the thread.  Starting at one end, do a running stitch along length of ribbon.   When you get near the end, pull on the thread to bunch up your ribbon. Back stitch with your needle a few stitches to secure. Fold ribbon around to make a complete circle. Hold ends together with tails pointing down.From the back side, stitch up the tails to close your circle.

Stitch back down and secure with knots. Cut off tails close to stitching. Insert a brad, or sew on a button to create the flower’s center. You can attach these to a homemade card, scrapbooking project,  hair bow,  invitation, magnet, or where ever you think needs a little summer flower!

Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon

 There are numerous days throughout a year that are set apart to bring awareness to a particular cause. Pink is the national symbol for Breast Cancer Awareness. Many years ago the pink Ribbon became a national symbol for raising awareness for breast cancer.  Ribbons have been used to show unity for a cause on the part of the wearer with the specific cause since the early to late 20th Century. Pink Ribbons (and the color pink) are used to express support for those who are diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Many forms of pink ribbons are now available. You can make your own very easily and proudly pin it to your blouse.  Early detection is the key to fighting this disease.  You can wear a pink ribbon to show your support and when someone asks you what your thoughts are about this cause, you can encourage your friends to get an annual mammogram.  Education is vital and there are many websites and resources that can help you become informed. I am including this link as a resource that can help you stay informed of the latest developments in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

http://www.nbcam.org/patient_stay_informed.cfm

This colorful hair bow is made with 5/8″ grosgrainribbon.  I love the green and black combination.  This is very easy to make and hot glue to any hair clip or scrunchie.  These would be great to make in school colors too. 

Just choose the ribbon colors. Make several loops in both colors, keep the loops uniform in size.  Use a thin wire like floral wire or bread tie to twist the center of the loops and bend the ends of the wire flat and cut off any excess.  Then hot glue to the head band or hair clip you choose.

Pom-Pom Inspired Hair Bows

 These adorable hair bows are so easy to make.  You can make them with almost any type of ribbon.  I have even used curling ribbon when I was in a hurry and the girls needed something crazy in their hair.  Depending on the size of your rubber band, cut many lengths of ribbon 6 inches long.  I recommend tying the hair back with a standard coated hair band first.  Then use a smaller rubber band or Scrunchy and just start tying the ribbon around the rubber band. Alternate colors, and slide them down and packing them down and around the hair bow is full and fluffy. Tie as many ribbon strips as you can, the more the better! Then slide this decorative hair accessory up and over the top of the original rubber band. These are so cute and cheerful… You may create hair envy as your pony tale bounces up and down while cheering for your favorite team.

Have you ever tried to weave ribbon?  It is easy, fun, and looks great on this piece of jewelry. This is so much fun you can make them as gifts, or to fit all your wardrobe colors or even in your favorite athletic team or school colors and wear it on game days to show your team or school spirit!

What you’ll need:
a.. Four spools satin ribbon, 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch; b.. Scissors; c.. Blue painter’s taped.. Plastic seaming needle (available at yarn stores); e.. Lightweight fusible interfacing  f..Iron; g.. 1-inch and 1-1/2-inch covered button kits (available at fabric stores) h.. craft adhesive; i.. Pin back; j.. 2-inch eye pin; k.. Jump ring

Hint before you start: After you weave the ribbon, you need to fuse
some interfacing to it. It’s tricky to move your finished weaving
from your work surface to your ironing board for fusing, and so just do the
weaving right on the ironing board. Also, refer to the pictures for help

Begins with blue painter’s tape, which is a great craft supply.
It’s only lightly sticky, so you can tape things down and peel them back up
without damage or residue. The picture shows three pieces: one long and two short. I’ve
placed the long piece, sticky side facing up, on my ironing board. The two small pieces are used to tape the ends of the long one down.

Place the ribbons side by side on the sticky side of the painter’s tape.

Cut 20 pieces of ribbon, each measuring 7 inches. The picture shows 2 different
colors here, 10 of each color. Place the ends side by side onto the sticky
piece of tape, pressing them very gently to stick them to the tape. As you
can see, you don’t need to match up the ends. Peel up the tape and turn it
over in order to stick the ribbons down to the work surface.

Now, stick the long piece of tape down to the ironing board, trapping the ends of the ribbons underneath. Press the tape down firmly with your fingers. Rub and smooth the tape well and cut off the end pieces.

We’ll use a second piece of tape to anchor all thee ribbons for weaving. So, flatten all those ribbons out as best you can with your fingers. Then, take a second long piece of tape. Stretch it across the bottoms of the ribbons and press it down lightly so the tape picks up the ribbons.

Then, hold this tape in your hand and gently move and adjust the ribbons sticking to its underside until they’re straight and side by side. When they look good, press this tape down firmly to the ironing board with your fingers.

Cut another 20 7-inch lengths of ribbon. I’m using two new colors here, 10 pieces of each. (It’s good to note here that you can use any combination of ribbon colors you like for this project. There are endless possibilities. I would recommend that only one of your colors be a 1/4-inch ribbon.Thread the first ribbon on a seaming needle and weave it in and out.

 Thread the first ribbon on a plastic seaming needle and weave it over and under the taped-down ribbons. If you need to, you can weave your way halfway across, pull the ribbon through, and then finish weaving.

When you’ve woven the strand all the way through, push it up until it’s snuggled against the tape. Repeat the process with the next strand, weaving it opposite to the first.

Thread another strand of ribbon onto the needle, and weave it in the opposite manner to the first one, as shown.
Snuggle the second strand right under the first.
Continue in this manner until you’ve woven all the way down to the second piece of tape. Be sure to straighten and groom your work as you weave. Cut a square of fusible interfacing the same size as the weaving, and fuse it over the ribbons. You can iron over the painter’s tape briefly without damaging your ironing board.

When you’ve fused the interfacing to the ribbon, carefully remove the tape. Then, iron the ribbon again. It is critical that you get the interfacing completely fused to the ribbon so it won’t fall apart when you’re making covered buttons. So, iron and iron again.

When the fabric is thoroughly fused, trim off the ribbon ends on all four sides. Cut a circle from this fabric that’s about 3/4 inch larger on all sides than the top of the covered button blank. To make jewelry with your button, you’ll need to remove the wire shank. In the covered button blank I’m using here, the shank is just a piece of wire that’s easily pinched out with your fingers. Other styles of covered button may require a pair of needle-nose pliers.

Place the button blank face down on top of the fabric circle.Place the fabric circle, wrong side up, on your work surface. Place the top of the covered button, face down, on top of the circle. Notice the teeth around the edge of the button? Those will be important in a minute.

Use your fingers to wrap the edges of the fabric around the button top. Wrap tightly. Those teeth will grab the interfacing on the back of the fabric and help hold it in place.Then, press the back of the covered button to the front. Follow the package directions.
Because the ribbon fabric is thick, you may need to use a pair of pliers to help snap the two pieces of the button together. If you do, remember two things: Protect the woven top of your button by placing some fabric between it and the pliers, and be careful to pinch only the edges of the button. If you squeeze the center of the button with the pliers, you could easily dent it.
When the two pieces have snapped together, you have a finished button! So let’s make some simple jewelry.To make a pin or ring, glue a finding to the back of the button with hot glue.To make a pin, just use some hot glue to attach a pin back to the back of the button. The same method works for a ring. If you prefer, you can cut a circle of wool felt to cover up the back of the button before you glue it to the finding.

To make a pendant, you’ll need to add an eye pin to the button back before you assemble the button. Give the eye pin a couple of bends, as shown. You want the eye to line up with the top edge of the button.

Insert the top of the eye pin through the slit on the back of the button, as shown. This bent end will be hidden inside the finished button.

Then, install a jump ring on the eye pin to accommodate the chain of your choice. I usually also put a spot of tacky glue or hot glue under the top of the eye pin to help hold it in place against the back of the button.

These buttons have plenty of other uses, too. You could sew them to a cuff bracelet, or use them as embellishments on a handbag. You could glue them to hairpins.

Customized Flip Flops

This is a fun, fast, and fabulous way to customize flip flops for any occasion.   You can even make them in school colors to wear to games to show your team spirit. Great for back to school, inexpensive enough to have one in every color!

Take any plain pair of flip flops, new or worn; select the satin and grosgrain ribbon colors you want.  The picture shows 3 colors for braiding around the plastic strap, and a printed and plain grosgrain of the same color to make the bow.  Or you could order custom bows.

For braiding the straps, I would leave the 3 colors on the spool since each shoe size is different and the length will vary.  Start on one side at the back with all three ends, put a small amount of hot glue down in the hole and use a wooded Popsicle stick to poke 3 ends down in. Use a thin line of hot glue around the beginning of the strap to make sure all 3 ribbons are glued to the shoe from the start.  Then simply braid the 3 colors around the strap all the way to the other end and place a small line of glue to affix the ends, then cut off the ends long enough to add some hot glue to the hole and shove the ribbon ends down into the shoe.

The Bow is very easy to make.  You only need some thin floral wire or bread tie, 7 6inch strips of grosgrain ribbon in desired colors.  To curl the ribbon like the picture, spread sticky glue that dries clear, or fabric starch on each strip, wrap pencil’s in foil, or plastic wrap, and wind ribbon around the pencils and let dry.  When dry, remove from pencil, and foil or plastic too. Then lay the strips on wire, centered, twist the wire tight like and use wire to secure the bow to flip flops then cut the ends of the wire just long enough to bring up to the top and thread through and under the top of the braided ribbon so it wont poke your feet.   So cute!  Have fun

Team Pride Painted Totes

Customize a tote bag that displays your team spirit.  This would be great to hold all you will need at those cool night football games, like an extra blanket, snacks, camera, noise makers and extra fan gear.  This can also hold a change of clothes for after the game, extra books and such. 

Measure the length around the top of your bag opening, then cut a coordinating length of hem binding and sew a variety of decorative ribbon in team colors to the binding. Layer the ribbons so there wont be any gaps.  Leave the ribbon long enough to hang over the top edge of the bag. Using a variety of textures ans size of ribbons will give it a dramatic look.  Then sew the binding to the inner edge of the opening.  Some craft supplies like  fabric paint, foam stamps, glitter, buttons, and metal studs to decorate plain canvas totes. Before painting your school name, nickname onto the 
bag, place a piece of cardboard inside to keep paint from seeping through 
to the other side. Add more decorations if you choose, the more the better until it you are happy with it.