Snowflake Ornaments -- How To

I adore snowflakes. Whether they're stylized or realistic, elegant shades of white or bright and garish colors, I love them all! Now you can make your own~

Materials needed --

Snowflake forms

Large round beads

Large white faceted oval beads

Large metal beadcaps

8mm silver beads

Metallic Silver ribbon - Available at supplycandy

Round nose pliers

Take one wire form. Working on one branch at a time, thread one spacer bead (I used vintage white lucite), a silver round bead, a beadcap, a large round bead, another beadcap, another silver bead, a large faceted oval, and a last silver round.

Using your roundnose pliers, make a loop on the end of the branch.

Repeat this pattern on each of the following 5 branches.

Your snowflake is finished, but you still need a way to display it. Decide how long you'd like the snowflake to hang, and cut a length of ribbon twice that long, plus a couple inches. Thread the ribbon through one of the loops you made and even up the ends. Tie an overhand knot, leaving a bit of a tail.

Now, you can display your ornament however you see fit. I like to make several in varying lengths and sizes to display in my front windows.

Altered Ribbon - How To

Materials Needed --

• Cotton Ribbon
• Small Alphabet Stamps - Available from ESST or SupplyCandyDye Ink Pad - Your choice of 2 or more colors
• scrap paper
• paper towel

Decide what length of ribbon you need for your project. Cut it off, plus a couple inches.

Place some scrap paper over your work space. I like to use copy paper. Put the ribbon on that and run the inkpad over it until you reach your desired color intensity. I chose the weathered look for the sample.

Run your paper towel over the newly inked ribbon to remove the excess ink.

Using your small alphabet stamps, choose a message to stamp out. I like to spell out the message and space it out before committing. This also helps to avoid spelling errors.

Once done, set it aside to dry completely. I like to leave mine at least overnight.

You now have customized ribbon, with a handmade touch. I wouldn't recommend laundering this ribbon, but it's great for most projects.