DT Project – SJ – Christmas decoration 1

Hey gang, Today I bring you the first of many decoration posts – in a nod to the popular “hand made Christmas” ideal.
Plus, there is nothing more satisfying for a paper crafter to make something with your own hand that gets comments and “ooooh’s & ahhhh’s” from friends and family.
There is no higher compliment to a paper crafter than the words “Ooooo, that is so pretty! Can you make me one!”
My first decoration is a pretty flower made simply from a roll of bazzill cardstock, a Squeeze punch and bling.

It is really easy – all you need to do is replicate the shape of a loo roll tube with a roll of bazzill, you could always use a loo roll tube if you so wished, but they tend to be grey, and blah. *tip = use STRONG tape to adhere the sides together as you need it to stand up to cutting.

Once you have a roll, use sharp scissors to snip 1/2 cm strips from the roll, creating little circles of card. These will form the petals. (you will have enough for a couple of flowers from one roll)

Once you have about 6 circles, punch a scallop circle using the Fiskars Squeeze Punch, and cover with strong adhesive tape. Once you have the circle covered, take one of your “loops” and pinch it to form a petal point – do this twice, and your loop should now look like a lemon shaped petal.
Lay down on the adhesive circle punch, and repeat another five times, till you have a perfectly formed flower shape.

Punch another circle of card using the squeeze punch, and again, cover in tape – this time, lay the circle on the top of the flower petals in the middle, and this will form the base of your decoration.

How to decorate the middle is simple and easy and all you need is tape and that handy Scallop Circle Squeeze Punch.
Punch three scallop circles, and snip in between the scallops like this:

Bend the snipped petals up, to form a curled center of the decoration.
Repeat three times, each time increasing the amount you roll the petals up, so you have different sizes of middles that can nest into one another. If you have different sized scallop punches you could use those to create your “nest” of curls.

Adhere the centres to the middle of the decoration – add a bling.

Now – to create the rolled ‘bits’ for the middle of the petals. this is so easy – all you need to do is cut a strip the same width as the petals. Fold in half. Roll up the ends to form little coils, add tape to the folded point like this:

Then – just “push” into the middle of the petals. The tape will help it stick with ease into the center.
Repeat another five times to create your finished flower decoration.

Have fun!