By contributing writer Beth
This DIY Ribbon Arrangement makes great party decor. I recently used it for a baby shower that I was privileged to throw for a friend. What a joy it is to celebrate new life!
When planning, I scoured Pinterest for cute baby shower themes, and I knew I had to make some DIY arrangements to accent the shower decorations. I thought of making a tulle topiary, but then I kind of panicked over how much work it would be to keep those from falling over. That’s how I came up with this DIY Ribbon Arrangement.
Supplies Needed
- 6-inch foam ball
- wired ribbon (I used 5 – 6 complementary colors of different textures and widths. Even 2 – 3 different ribbons will work.)
- scissors
- pins (I probably used about 100 pins in each arrangement)
- pail, bucket, or vase to rest the arrangement on (I picked up these pails at Target in their One Spot area).
Directions
1. Cut the ribbon into 6-inch strips. I like to cut all the ribbon first so I don’t have to keep picking up and putting down the scissors. I also like to keep each type of ribbon in separate piles so that I can make sure to spread them out on the arrangement so the colors don’t clump together.
2. Take the ribbon and fold it in half so that the right side of the ribbon is facing out. (The right side is the nice/fancy side.) Fold the cut ends into a point so that they are almost like a paper airplane tip where the ends are slightly overlapping. You need these folded flaps to overlap so that you can secure the ribbon with one straight pin.
3. Push a straight pin through each ribbon loop making sure to go through all the layers of ribbon. Then use your fingers to fluff out the ribbon. I hold the pinned end with my right hand and use my left hand to spread the ribbon into a loop. It won’t stay perfectly round and loopy, but it is a good start to making the arrangement fluffy instead of flat and squished.
This is the reason you need wired or stiff ribbon. If you use regular ribbon it will be too limp and won’t keep its shape. Again, keep the ribbons separated for the same reason mentioned above.
4. Carefully grab a pinned ribbon and place the pin in the top of a Styrofoam ball. This will secure the ribbon to the ball. Then pick a different color of ribbon and attach it beside the first ribbon. I end up going in a spiral pattern as I work around and down the ball.
Continue pinning alternate ribbons until you get toward the bottom quarter of the ball. This is when you can place the ball onto the pail or bucket you are using as a base. Now continue adding ribbon until it looks full to your liking and covers all the visible Styrofoam around the whole ball. Pay special attention to the bottom and make sure that the ball can’t shift to one direction exposing any of the bottom of the ball.
Tip: Wider ribbons make a larger impact. You’ll want to use less of those and make sure to balance them out with lots more of the skinnier ribbon.
This project is a little bit time consuming, but the results are exactly what I was looking for.
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