Guest post - How to make an origami bow...

A few weeks ago I introduced you to Esther from Origami-Est. Today she's showing us how to make this gorgeous origami bow!

This is so pretty, I'm planning on making a stockpile for gift wrap!

1. Begin with your sheet of paper patterned side up.
2. Fold paper vertically corner to corner.
3. Unfold. Fold paper horizontally corner to corner.
4. Unfold. Turn paper over and fold diagonally, corner to corner. Unfold and repeat on the other diagonal.

5, 6 & 7. With the patterned side up bring the top corner to the bottom while pushing the side corners into the centre (using pre-creased folds).
8. With the opening at the bottom, horizontally fold the top down (roughly 1cm).

9. Unfold.
10 & 11. Now for the most fiddly part! Refold, using pre-creased lines, with previous fold inserted (as photographed)
12. Fold the top 2 diagonal edges into the centre (aligning the folded edges to the centre fold).

13. Repeat on the reverse.
14. Gently unfold, so there is almost a ‘bubble’ like centre and 4 diagonal indentations coming from the centre.
15 & 16. Hold the paper, so you can see the diagonal folds clearly. Cut along the middle of 3 folds in each diagonal section.

17. Lay the paper white side up.
18 & 19. Taking the lower 2 sections of paper (left and right section, in photo), fold each outside edge into the centre fold.
20. Fold the top section to meet the bottom and turn over to view the patterned side.

21. Cut both sections along the centre fold, all the way to the ‘bubble’.
22 & 23. Turn over. Fold the edges of each bottom piece as desired, these are the ‘tassels’ of your bow and this adds shaped to them.
24. Turn back over. Take the 2 arrow shaped corners, to the left and right of your ‘bubble’ and loop over to tuck the points into the ‘bubble’.

25 & 26. And there you have it! A bow perfect for accessorising gifts!

Thanks Esther! Check her shop for more beautiful paper creations!

Happy Friday...

I hope you've all had a wonderful week. I've got a jam packed weekend of training at work and seeing friends, so not much time for crafting in this little corner of the universe over the next couple of days.

I thought I'd share some ideas that I'm itching to try...perhaps it will be some inspiration for your crafting needs this weekend while sheltering from all the forecasted rain!

How to imprint a lace pattern on a lampshade by whatthecraft.com

All I can say is that I'm finding myself some inkodye ASAP...I have the perfect lampshade for this pretty makeover.

Inspiration for a fun paint project by Cozamia

Paint dipped baby jars by Oh happy day. 

Carrying on the lace theme with a pretty lace notebook DIY by A beautiful mess

I love this painted bracelet project by Between the lines

And finally some paper craft with these cute origami bows by How about orange

Have a wonderful weekend!

The minnie bow {tutorial}...

This will probably be my only post this week as things are pretty busy as we are going to look around prospective cities for us to live later this year! Exciting times...but also busy times :) But I wanted to make sure I got the second installment of 'two bows, two ways' up this week. You can see the mini bow tutorial here. Here goes...

This one is more time consuming as it involves much more sewing but I still had it finished in about an hour...so really not time consuming at all!

What you need:

Fabric (pressed)

Scissors

Snap fasteners x2

Tape measure

Pins

Needle and thread

Dressmakers pencil (or the like)

+

sewing machine

iron

1) Press and cut three pieces of fabric - 6.5"x9", 2"x 3.5" and 4"x waist width+2"

2) To make the bow: Take the 6.5"x9" fabric and fold in half (right sides together). Pin and sew with a 3/8" (1cm) hem. Press the hem and turn right way out.

3) Fold in half again (raw edges together) with the seam on the outside. Pin and sew (You'll be bored of me saying this). Again press the edges and turn right side out so that the original seam can no longer be seen.

4) Sew 3 large running stitches through the middle of the fabric and push the fabric together to create a bow shape. Wrap the thread tightly around the middle and secure with a knot.

5) Now for the middle section. Take the 2"x3.5" fabric and fold the short side in half (wrong sides facing). Pin and sew. Press the edges. Again fold the raw edges together with seam facing out and sew together. Turn right side out so both seams are inside the newly formed loop of fabric. If you think you want to make both the hair bow and belt without making two bows, then just make two middle sections and you can switch them main bow between the two accessories (I like little cheating tips!)

6) For the hair bow: I prefer not to glue the grip because then I can switch it between accessories. If you wish to glue then do this now (where the seam is) and leave to dry. Thread the bow through the middle section and attach grip (if not gluing!). Then wear your beautiful bow proudly knowing you just created it!

7) For the belt: Leave the bow and middle section separate and place to one side. Measure your waist width and cut fabric 4"xwaist width+2". Fold it in half (right sides together) and pin. Sew and press the edges. Turn right side out and press with the seam in the middle.

8) To create neat ends simply tuck the raw edges inside the belt and sew to secure. It's useful to use matching thread as this may slightly show once the belt is finished. I'd like to say I went for black to make it easier to show you...but I just forgot to pick up yellow thread!

9) Measure and mark two dots 1/2" from each end with a dressmakers pencil/chalk. Sew on the snap fasteners. I used two pairs as it is quite a bit wider than the mini bow belt. Remember to sew the fasteners onto opposite sides of the fabric!

10) Take the middle section of the bow and add a thin layer of glue to the back. Secure to one of the ends of the belt (about 1/2" in). Leave to dry. Once dry simply thread the bow through the middle section. And all is finished!

The yellow fabric is making me long for Summer :)

I hope you all have a great week!

The mini bow tutorial...

I've decided to call these two bows the 'minnie' and the 'mini'...one reminds me of Minnie Mouse's very stylish attire and the other is...well, just smaller!...I never was any good at coming with names for things.

I don't have any amusing anecdotes relating to bows so I think I might just crack on with showing you how to make a belt and hair clip with the mini bow :)

Two ways with a mini bow

This is what we're making :

This is what we need:

Strong fabric glue

2 snap fasteners

Tape measure

Scissors

3 lengths of 1" wide ribbon (1x 2.5", 1x 6" and 1x waist width + 5")

matching thread and needle

+

Hair grip

Iron

1) First make the bow, this will allow the glue to dry while making the belt. Take the 6" length of ribbon and add a thin layer of glue to one end. Glue the two ends together to form a loop.

 2) Next take the 2.5" length of ribbon and add a thin layer of glue to one end. Pinch the previously made loop of ribbon together with the seam in the middle and wrap the 2.5" length of ribbon round and glue together. To make it as neat as possible make sure both of the glued seams are on the same side.

and...abracadabra let red become blue!!! ok ok so I don't have magic hands, and yes I made a mistake in only purchasing 1m of red ribbon. My middle section was just under 2" long so I simply glued both ends of the ribbon to the back of the bow. This is fine as long as you're making the belt.

3) For the hair bow. Simply choose the grip of your choice, I have tons of slides lying around so I used one of these. You can either glue it to the bow or simply slide the grip through the back of the middle section and attach to one's head :) I chose the latter because I'm lazy it means I can reuse the slide for different accessories.

4) For the belt. Measure the width of your waist. If the belt is for a particular dress/top then it's worth wearing that when measuring so you can see where the waistline is.

Cut the ribbon to the length of this measurement + 5". Next measure in 1.5" from each end of the ribbon and mark it with a dressmakers pencil or the like. Next sew each part of a snap fastener on either end of the ribbon ***on opposite sides of the ribbon***. I highlight this because I drifted in to a little dream world whilst sewing and did not do so!! If you want to make this a completely no-sew project then you could use velcro.

5) I like tidy ends, especially as ribbon has a tendency to fray (and the fact it hides my messy sewing technique is a bonus). So add a thin layer of glue to each end of the ribbon and fold 1" over so that the reverse side of your sewing is hidden and the fastening is approximately 1/2" from the edge.

Press the edges and add a further thin layer of glue to the new ends of the belt and fold over again so that the raw edge of the ribbon is hidden. Press the edges again with an iron. The belt should now be the length of your waist width + 1" for overlap to fasten it - always helpful :)

6) Okay so now come the fun bit...adding the bow! Add glue to the reverse of the bow and glue to one end of the belt so that the middle section of the bow is at the edge of the belt. Leave to dry.

And there you have two ways to wear a mini bow :) I hope you enjoy making it as much as I did.

'Two ways with a Minnie bow' coming next week...I really need to think of a different name!

p.s. I'm trying my first link party...I'm linking up to: