There were a couple of things that inspired me to start sewing and quilting again. One was my trip to Keepsake Quilting. Seeing all the fabric and beautiful quilts definitely motivated me. The other thing, though, was making ribbon streamers for Dale’s birthday party earlier this summer.
You may recall that we had a carnival theme for this party and I really wanted the tent to explode with color. We had brightly colored table cloths and candy, giant tissue paper globes and more, all in an attempt to bring lots of color to the party. I didn’t want to spend money on flowers or balloons so I decided to make ribbon streamers for each corner of the tent.
I bought a whole mess of ribbon on sale at Michael’s. I got lots of colors and patterns, along with different widths and textures. I cut them into 7′ lengths to that they would be long enough to hang from the edge of the tent to the ground.
Then I routed through fabric scraps from my quilting days. I think I used one orange, one green, one red and one blue. I cut rectangles that were 24″ long by 4″ wide. I folded those in half and pressed them. I also pressed in the edges so that they wouldn’t fray.
I then laid out a fabric “pocket” against a ruler and evenly placed the ribbons across the length of the fabric. I wasn’t too fussy about this part and mixed up the colors a lot. I tried to make sure each piece of fabric got at least a couple of sparkly ribbons mixed in with the satin and grosgrain ones. And I tried to mix up the colors as much as possible.
I pinned each ribbon in place and then sewed a seam along the edge of the fabric. It was, as Lois calls it, quick and dirty sewing, but it had great results.
The day of the party I hung a ribbon streamer from each corner of the tent.
They added color and life to what would have been just a plain tent.
They danced in the wind and really looked beautiful.
I think it cost about $30 for all the ribbon and the rest of the supplies were things I already had. It took me just over an hour to make all four pieces. DIY Ribbon Streamers are a very good decoration.
What a clever idea! They looked PERFECT! (And — they’re re-usable! Even better.) I’m definitely filing this idea away for future parties!
They were very cheerful and a carnival is really about all the pretty distractions while they take your money, no? I did think your post might be about how you repurposed those ribbons, and I was waiting to see what clever idea you came up with. Although an excuse to simply re-use as is would be good too.
You do so many creative and fun things to do to make a party more fun, more meaningful and more colorful! The streamers are wonderful.
So festive! You are the best party planner!
Have you ever thought about writing a party planning book? You have the best ideas, I am always sending them to my almost as clever daughter. This is another great one, adaptable to many situations. Thanks!
What a great idea!! Love it.
Those look great. I’d steal the idea if I could sew.
and now i get to save them for a sensory material in my future classroom 🙂
What a great idea! They sure add a festive look in the photos!
That is a wonderful idea!!!
Hey, I went to that other quilting store last weekend & bought some hot pink wool flannel that I’m making a cape out of. Thanks for the tip!
Did you save these? They could come in handy for my reception next summer.
I’m always telling my kids that the devil is in the details. You always exercise that devil and enhance what you touch by paying attention to the details! I admire that!
And now you have all that ribbon to play with 🙂