Thursday, March 29, 2012

Tutorial: Red and Aqua Bunting and Paper Spinners!

I was so excited to celebrate my sister's birthday yesterday. We're both creative and crafty, so it's been lots of fun to make birthday decorations for each other over the years. After seeing adorable bunting all over Pinterest, I knew I wanted to take a crack at it, too. (If you need a Pinterest invite, let me know!)


I've seen so many beautiful red and aqua quilting projects recently that I was inspired to create my sister's birthday decorations in those colors. There were plenty of red and aqua fabric options at Stitch Lab here in Austin.


I took sections of fabric measuring 8.5"x18" and cut triangles that were 6" wide at the base. I paired up two triangles with wrong sides together and sewed the sides 3/8" from the edges. I chain pieced a bunch, cut them apart then went down the other side chain piecing. I trimmed the edges with pinking sheers before sewing them all through some 1/2" vintage bias tape from my stash of inherited goodies.


I recommend using 1" bias tape so that you have a good 1/2" of wiggle room once it's folded in half. I just sewed down the line making a string of flags as I went, eyeballing the distance between flags.


I put extra flags under the cake plate and platters we were using. I might sew them into proper decor at some point down the line. It would be a cute table topper just to appliqué a big red circle to the middle of those flags with a zig zag stitch.


The paper spinner decorations were made by taking 2"x 4-8" strips of paper and vellum and sewing right down the middle one strip after another. I sewed bunched up sections of leftover bias tape onto the ends to make an anchor I could tape easily onto the ceiling.


If you're reading this blog, making these crafty decorations is likely within your skills set. This makes a great set of reusable party decorations for very little effort. Let me know if you give it a go! I'd love to see your pictures!

I'm linking up with Somewhat Simple. It seems they have an Amazon gift card giveaway, so here's my entry comment for them: My entry into Strut Your Stuff sponsored by Appliances Online and the Bosch Washing Machines.

Somewhat Simple

2 comments:

  1. So very crafty!! I know she had a great Birthday!!

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  2. I love those colours! I hope it was fun. Great job. Janelle

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