I’m starting to wrap some gifts for the holidays and I used some this hand painted ribbon that Boo and I made a few weeks back:
To paint the ribbon I used Setacolor transparent fabric paints. The paints are very thin but rich in color. They are also very soft to the touch when dry. You can use a little bit of fixer if you would like to skip the ironing step…but I like ironing the ribbon nice and flat after it’s been painted.
I used this bias cut 1/2″ silk habotai ribbon from Dharma Trading…..one roll goes a LONG way since it is so thin. But I love how silky it is and the edges fray just slightly for a very unique look. I only ended up using about a 1/4 roll for this project.
First, I unraveled a bunch of ribbon and made it into a large loop like shown:
I took three rubber bands and sectioned it off into 4 sections….basically like a tie-dye technique:
I watered down some of the Setacolor paint and used a paint brush to apply it to alternating sections. Flip over the ribbon so you make sure to soak the paint through:
While the other paint was still wet, I added my second color to the other sections. I did alternating red and green for Christmas ribbon:
Boo made pink and purple ribbon. She had a mishap with some puffy paint too that you can see…..it stayed in her hair for about 2 weeks:
I let the ribbon dry thoroughly and the removed the rubber bands. I ironed the ribbon flat so it was nice and neat and also to heat set the paint (I didn’t use any color fixative):
I wound the ribbon neatly onto some scrap cardboard for storage. I love how bright and vibrant the colors are!
This Christmas I’m using recycled paper bags to wrap our smaller gifts. The brightly colored ribbon is all that is needed for decoration. I don’t use tags around here if I can help it…..so I stamp my “to” and “from” directly onto the wrapping using little mini stamps:
These little alphabet stamps are so versatile:
So pretty….and ecofriendly:
Diesel is such a talented dog……he can even wrap his own gifts!
Have you hand painted ribbon before?
How fun! I just wrapped some gifts earlier today with some brown craft paper. I wish I had seen this first; the stamping is a great idea! Maybe I’ll do that when I wrap more another day.
Love the ribbon!
So pretty! I love projects like this because littles can feel big enough to do everything by themselves. Then there’s the added bonus of the big reveal when you take the rubber bands off!
Hi Ashley, I’ve been thinking about you and was checking in on you tonight. I wanted to tell you that I have kept “Choose Joy” in my thoughts for the past two weeks and these words have brought so much comfort to me. I pray that you are doing well. Thank you for your interesting posts. I always look forward to them. Take care my friend and enjoy your weekend!
What a fantastic idea! I love how the ribbon turned out with a bit of a frayed edge. It is really beautiful!
I love it! That is almost as much fun as what is in the package
I love it! Great project. Simple, elegant, and beautiful! Can’t beat that! Thanks Ashley!
I am stalking Dharma right now.. I have never ordered, I want dyes, some silks and fabric paints. I am teaching myself the art of making flowers from silk. I am using upcycled but need some different weights… Oh my.. I am afraid to order for fear of another addiction.. Must order…
Beautiful
Hi Ashley,
I have followed you for a while now and I know this is a ribbon tutorial, which is fabulous by the way, but I just wanted to tell you that I was just talking to my mom last night about you.
You see, I have followed Jenny’s journal and was so sad to see that she passed. I know its for the best and she is out of pain but she has two little girls and that just kills me. And then I turned to my mom and said,
“I never want to read this about Ashley, it would break my heart. You see this gorgeous little girl with the curls? That’s Boo. Boo needs her. Besides, she is so talented and has a great sense of humor even through all of this.”
So even though it may seem like life is turned upside down, I fully believe that you will be fine. I have to believe that, call it denial, but I just feel like this world is only right if you and Boo are together as one unit.
I also wanted to let you know that I am doing a series of ‘blog overviews’ that basically will showcase the blogs I read, the ladies who write them, and what I like about them and their blogs. You will be on that list. I hope you are ok with that. I know my blog is a newborn in blog terms, but I really enjoy them so much and want to share that with the one or two people who might happen upon my new blog.
Were all pulling for you out in bloggity land Ashley. I think your ahh-maze girl!
Kerri
Loving the brown paper…and the hand painted ribbon is gorgeous! And those teeny tiny stamp letters…adorable! LOVED your {adult} Elfie outtakes! 😉 You’re certainly an inspiration and are in my prayers. Thank you for reminding me to {always} CHOOSE JOY! XO
Ashley,
As you know I am jenny’s Mom. We have corresponded several times and I gave you, I hope, some really good pointers on that pooping problem. I love that you have been so kind in spite of the trial you have been through. You are always in my prayers and thoughts. You have 2 angels watching over you.
Do you think jenny let your Dad the first 18 holes of golf after he gave her all the helpful pointers?
We will keep in touch!!! Jenny’s girls and I have some craft and art projects waiting for us. A million thanks for your kindness. Jenny said you two would have been great friends and she was overwhelmed.
Debby Carmine
Jenny Carmine-Swett’s Mom
I’m so excited to do this this year. I love all your tutorials, You are so creative, Thanks for sharing. Cuppy
This year I am wrapping our gifts using brown kraft paper (in a roll like wrapping paper from the shippin supply section of the grocery store) and tying them off with bakers twine. I love the simple look of it, but the twine didn’t have that punch I was hoping for – next year I’ll totally have to do this, it looks FABULOUS! We too only have a small family of three (not including the pets lol) it would be fun to do three differant color combinations and everyone could have their own ribbon for gifts – then you could skip the to from all together (your more creative, I just wrote on mine with a sharpie lol)
I love that idea of using the little stamps to do the “to” and “from!” It looks so sweet!
So sweet and simple. I love this idea. I purchased some stamps like these at our local Walmart the other day. They had several different fonts to choose from, perfect size for little hands, and best of all each one was like you said $1.00. I also, picked up some of their fine glitter (4 small tubs in each) for some bling on another progect. They too are now selling for $1.00. As always thank you for sharing and inspiring.
Great idea! Love the bright colors with kraft wrapping paper!
just got the stuff in the mail yesterday! can’t wait to do this with my four girls today!!!!!!
blogged a little about this today:http://hollypanter.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-tour.html
Beautiful!
I love this new wrapping idea, thank you for sharing!