Chained Shabby Paper Rosettes

On and on about Rosettes on this blog - I do find them very useful for decorating, though!

PICS ARE AT BOTTOM OF POST.

Please see my other "pages" about how to make rosettes from scratch - I use a die cuts ones usually, the cupcake liners ones (makes a very flat rosette) for placing on gift bags (plain brown lunchbags), and I have been experimenting just today with making LARGE ones by using a scoring board and hot-glueing long lengths of paper together.

The pictures I'm sharing show how to "chain" rosettes together to make a garland.

You just need the rosettes and some jumprings. Jumprings are available even at Walmart. I use bigger ones, not the teenies. 

The key to making a garland is to NEVER punch your holes at either end of " the diameter" of a rosette. In other words, OFFSET the holes kind of at 10 o'clock and 2'oclock or 11 and 1. But at 9 and 3 are no-no's - it won't hang right. 

You can see in the picture that I wanted it to be a bit prim and shabby. Not to look machine-made.

You will need already-made rosettes, some jumprings, and pliers if you have them. And a thumb-tack, or a hatpin, or a small hole-puncher.

To start your garland: Choose 2 rosettes. Just poke a hole with a fat pin, or use a very small holepunch, in one petal end on each rosette. Place them back down on your work surface.

Get your jumpring, and then twist open the jumpring (I use my fingers to hold one side of the ring, and I twist the other side away from me with a pair of pliers). Slip the rosettes onto the jumpring - I work with everything facing me - right sides up - then close the jumpring by twisting its ends back nose-to-nose. 

Now punch a hole or poke a hole on the free side of one of the rosettes, at the end of a petal again. Poke/punch a hole in a petal end of the next rosette you want to "chain" to the two you already joined. Open a jumpring, slip it thru the hole of one, then thru the hole in the the new rosette you're adding, close it up, and KEEP adding rosettes until the swag is long enough.

I add jumprings at either "free" end of the garland. Then I use string or ribbon and tie it to the jumprings and use that to hang it by.

Thank'ee for stopping by!You know, I think these could be SEWN together, as well! Just keep the stitches very loose, like you are attaching a shank button!

Summertime Tags Sum-Sum-Summertime

These might be fun for use this summer.

Summer can be dull, in terms of crafting. Sea-based crafts and garden-based crafts or creations can be fun, though. 

I remember when sunflowers were all the rage. And when cut-out country hearts were on everything and anything. And when crazy-flavored popcorn was supposedly the next big thing. Way back when, in the 1970s, there was even a shop in our city that sold flavored popcorn, like a Baskin-Robbins does ice-cream. 

It went kaput, despite huge hype. Personally, I won't even eat the popcorn-flavored Jelly Belly jellybean.

But a cotton-candy store, well now, I'd be there three times a day. And not for any of that fake cotton candy you can get in a bag, either! REAL cotton candy. They call it candy floss overseas, I think.

My granny - this is an old story since she's been gone many decades now - once was invited to an elegant home for dinner. Her hostess served popcorn. For the dinner. That's it.

Some people like to get a glass, put popcorn in it, and add milk slowly. And then keep dropping in popcorn. Then eat the result.

Bacon grease heated and tossed with popcorn makes it tolerable.

Now I'm thinking I should have made a "popcorn" tag. Well, there's a lemonade one. Be satisfied with that! 

Don't copy this and print these little preview tags. USE THE LINK as always and download it RIGHT from sendspace.com. Hurry, because I am getting tired of my Etsy tag shoppe and when I do, these links will go dead because I pay through the nose for their storage space on sendspace.com.

Link:

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dkvipb

 Preview:

Mothers Day Free Tags 2012 May 13

And here we have a little collection of tags that may be useful for Mothers Day. 

We have flowers and old-timey bikes, some pansies, and a little girl with a kitty.

Some "layering" tags at bottom say Aunt, Godmother, Stepmother and Sister - these are hard to find in Mothers Day cards sometimes. 

One says "Mother in Love," which is cute for Mother-in-Law.

Go to the page link and download these - don't "open" or save these small tags online. They won't print the right size. USE THE LINK.

Thank'ee for stopping by.

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/sjlwi8