Ribbon: a background

Ribbons are beneficial and appealing materials which are virtually infinite in their range, texture, and color. Modern day ribbons are created from each and every sort of fabric, from velvet and satin to synthetics like nylon and rayon. They may be patterned, printed, weaved, braided, adorned along with embroidery, adorned with pearls or sequins, shaped like ric-rac, skillfully made like lace, edged with metal so they can be molded and shaped, and crafted like motif ribbons. Ribbon is actually categorized by the textile industry as a thin material, and it ranges from 1/8 in-I ft (0.32-30 cm) in thickness. Its makes use of may most typically be thought of as aesthetic, but ribbons are also components for creating bigger fabrics by weaving, crocheting, or sewing them with each other.

Christmas Ribbon Decorations

            When it comes to decorating your Christmas tree every year, you are at no loss for choices. Should you get new spheres, new ornaments, or should you try something completely different this year? Here’s our suggestion: go down to your local arts and crafts store, pick out some ribbon (any color, or combination of colors, will work great), and start decorating your tree with ribbon!

            Not only will you impress your friends with your creativity, but your ribbon can also be used year after year if stored properly. Unlike traditional Christmas tree ornaments, ribbon won’t break or scratch, making it much easier to store and maintain. Here’s some of the magic that you can produce:

            Another thing you can try with your ribbon is to cut small pieces and make bows that you can place on your tree. Here’s how that might look:

            The good thing about either of these options is that you can always combine them with traditional Christmas tree ornaments if you wish. Ribbon will only enhance the look of your tree, and there are many ways to decorate your tree that as will wow your friends and family. Go get your ribbon!

Thanksgiving Ribbons

Even though no one in my family likes turkey (I really don’t understand why it took us years to figure that out), Thanksgiving is probably the one holiday of the year that my family looks forward to the most. I have a couple of uncles who never visit anyone ever, and even they look forward to coming over for Thanksgiving. In fact, they’re famous for saying, “see you next Thanksgiving,” letting the rest of us know they won’t be coming over anytime soon.

Part of the reason is that we’ve made Thanksgiving completely our own. We did this after realizing that no one really enjoyed turkey, despite the fact we’d been eating it year after year. Instead, every year now my wife, mother, and aunts create a new menu for us, and dazzle us with the most amazing dishes imaginable.

Last year my wife, noticing how important and fun Thanksgiving was for us, decided to bring ribbons into the equation. Her idea was simple, but brilliant. She had name place ribbons ordered and delivered, so that each seat at the table was marked with each individual’s name. Here’s an example of what it might look like:

Needless to say this adds that extra touch to the whole day, and makes every special person at your Thanksgiving dinner table feel extra appreciated. I might even say it makes the food taste better! The ribbon can be special ordered and is relatively inexpensive if you consider the fact that it will last your whole life, and you can reuse it every year. I guarantee that when your loved ones see their name at the dinner table, they’ll feel that extra love. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

How to make your own Ribbon Hair tie

Hair ties are an important piece of fashion.  If you have long hair you may even wear hair ties around your wrists at all times just in case you need one at any given moment.  You use them to pull your hair up when you are hot, to have a pony when you feel like it and to keep your hair out of your way if you are busy doing something and don’t need to be constantly pushing your hair back.

So why not buy them?  You can, but the ribbon hair ties such as those sold by companies like Sephora tend to be a bit expensive.  You can make your own and not even be able to tell the difference between the store bought ones and the ones you make and you will be saving money in the process.

Go to a fabric or ribbon store and get some elastic ribbon in whatever colors strike your fancy.  Take it home and lay out the ribbons and grab a pair of scissors.  Cut the ribbon to lengths of around 5 inches.  Now one at a time take the pieces of ribbon and fold them in half and tie the loose ends together.  Voila!  You have made a ribbon hair tie that looks just like the more expensive ones that people buy every single day in stores around the world.  Not only have you now done this yourself, but you have also saved money by doing it this way.

How to Make a Ribbon Gift Bow

The first thing that you should do when you want to make bows from ribbon is to decide what the bows will be used on.  This will enable you to determine the size you need it to be as well as the color and texture that you will need.  Once you have all of that figured out, you should know that making bows…no matter how large or small…requires a lot of ribbon to accommodate all of the folding, tying and tail making.  So, if you need a small 6’’ bow then you might need at least 30’’ of the ribbon to make it.

Sometimes you want ribbon bows to put on clothes or in your hair.  For these types of bows, satin ribbon is probably the best type to use.  For gift bows you can use stain or grosgrain.  If you are making your bows for decorations then you may want to try ribbon made with some sort of wire in it so that it will hold its shape better.

No matter what your bow is for, there are many different types that you can make.  Too many in fact, to go over all of them here today.  For today, we will talk about the simplest type that is a great way for a beginner to practice.

Everybody should already know how to do this one as you simply cut your ribbon to the desired length and tie it as you would tie your shoes.  That gives you a neat and simple bow and will add a touch of class to nearly anything.

How to Decorate a Christmas tree with Ribbon

Decorating Christmas trees is a tradition to many people.  Some people make a family issue out of it while some people tackle it alone.  Some people even hire people to do it for them!  Whatever your thing may be, maybe you will get some new ideas from reading this.

Ribbons are a great and inexpensive way to decorate nearly anything.  To decorate a tree with them there are many things that you can do.  You can get a bunch of ribbons that match the color scheme of your tree and tie them into bows to hang on the tree.  You can use small, skinny ribbon as hangars for your ornaments.  You can make a huge bow to put on the top of the tree in lieu of a star or angel.  You can even take great lengths of wide ribbon and hang it at the top of the tree floating towards the ground in lieu of tinsel or garland.  If you like, you can take more great lengths of wide ribbon and wrap it around the tree instead of using garland.

As stated above, there are a great many ways to decorate a Christmas tree with the use of ribbon.  If you go out around the holidays, take a look at the trees that all of the stores put up and see if you can find even more ideas.  The thing is, this is your tree and you decorate it in whatever style you like.

Hang Pictures Using Ribbon

Hanging pictures can be a pain.  You go through all of the effort to make sure that the pictures go with your décor and then that the frames and mattes match the pictures and the color palette for the space and then you have to find the right place for the picture and finally you have to hang it and make sure that it is straight without putting fifteen holes in the wall of damaging the back of the picture in the process.   Once you get all of that done you may be satisfied but then again you might think that it needs a touch of something more.  If that is the case then you may want to add a bit of ribbon to it.

You do this in many ways but the most popular way is to simply use a ribbon to hang the picture in the first place.  This is quite simple.  Simply pick out some ribbon that will compliment your picture as well as your décor.  Once you have done that, the next step is to determine where you want your picture to hang.  Having done that, determine how much ribbon you want to show above the picture.  Cut a length a bit more than twice that amount, tie the ends in a bow and then attach the other end to the back of the picture.  Put a nail in the wall where you want the top of the ribbon and then hand the picture from the ribbon on the nail.

Decorating Chairs with Ribbon

 

Why would anyone decorate their chairs with ribbon?  Sometimes people like to decorate chairs in this fashion for special occasions like bridal or baby showers, weddings or parties for festive occasions.  Sometimes people do it to add a bit of splash to the color scheme of your interior decorating.

For those who never really think about this kind of thing, it is kind of like…”Why bother?”

You would be surprised at the difference that a small addition such as a ribbon can make to the big picture in decorating.

You don’t need huge, gaudy bows or anything like that (unless that is to your liking).  You can just use bits of ribbon that you may have picked up from a fabric store, big box store or other place.

Find a chair that looks like it needs some attention or one that is frequently overlooked.

One way to decorate your chairs with ribbons is to make them into small bows and hang them on the corners of the chairs back.  Another way is to leave them straight and cut them into strips.  Once this is done, you can hang them from the bottom of the chair as a sort of fringe.

There is another way but it takes more time.  In this method, you cut many different colors of ribbons into little squares.  Once you have them ready you can get some fabric glue and using this add them in random order to a chair.  You will end up with a very colorful and very unique piece.

I’m Ribbonhood Rob, and I love Ribbons

Hi there – I created this blog to share my passion for ribbons.  Expect a plethoa of highly informative articles and videos to come soon.  Here you’ll find DIY/How-to information, as well as updated news on ribbons.

-Rob