winnie & walter :: february leading lady, part 4 :: diy embellishments

Oh, I'm sad!  It's my last Saturday with you wonderful folks at Winnie & Walter, being their Leading Lady.  I've had a blast, challenged myself in more ways than one, worked with amazing products, and connected with a bunch of new friends--it's been an awesome month!  (**Don't forget the giveaway!  Keep scrolling for details!)

I'm leaving you with a few fun little DIY tricks.  The beauty of many paper crafting products is all the different ways you can use them.  A designer may have one intention, but then another creative comes along and shows us all a different way to work with it.  Those are my favorite products because of their versatility.  So I took one of the best W&W dies and used it in a few different ways, essentially making do-it-yourself embellishments.

If you don't have the Lulu Fringe cutaway, go and buy it right now.  It is the best thing ever!  I started by using it to make the fringe hearts that are all the rage right now.  I'm sure you've seen them, so here's one way to make your own...(okay, two ways ;)

I started by cutting a heart out of white card stock using the True Multifaceted Heart cutaway.  Then I picked a few papers to fringe.  All the papers seen here today are Pink Paislee's Fancy Free line by Paige Taylor Evans.  I used prints with smaller patterns from the 6x6 paper pad.

I cut small strips for the hearts, approximately 3/4" by 6".  When I had a few strips cut, I lined them up on my heart, starting from the bottom up.  Be sure to put adhesive only on the flat, un-fringed part of your strip or the fringe won't stick up and be fringy!  You can trim the excess as you go or trim all at once in the end.  Either way, when you've finished, you have a pretty fringe heart!

(*Here's a tip that might be even easier, but it was one of those things that didn't dawn on me until I was writing up my post: Take a 4"x4" piece of white card stock and adhere your fringed strips to it, just as I did with the heart.  When you've reached the top, run it through your die cutting machine with the heart die.  Done!  Way less trimming, and much faster!  But, if you don't mind taking your time, you can try my first way!!)

To show it in use, I've simply used it as a gift topper here with some seam binding and a simple tag, also cut from Fancy Free paper.  The hearts are pretty enough to not need much else on a small package.

The second embellishment I made with the Lulu Fringe cutaway is a paper tassel.  If any of you stopped by my blog during the W&W World Card Making Day Blog Hop, you saw me use them on a card there.  It's still my favorite thing to make with the die and it's so easy!

Again, trim your papers--longer this time, around 1 3/4" long.  If your paper stock is thin, 6" is a good width; if it's thick, 5" is best.

You will need some tassel caps--I've used these small gold plated pieces here, which are 4mm in diameter.

Starting at one end, start rolling your strip.  It should look like this when you're done:

Pop your cap on (some adhesive inside the cap will ensure that your paper doesn't slip out) and you're done!  Super easy!

I made a fringe tag next, similar to the heart.  I actually had white shipping tags that I used, but the tag from Essentials: Katharine Cutaways would be a great die to use if you wanted to do it the card stock way.  Again, had I thought of that trick earlier, I would have done it!!  But, honestly, this way is not hard.  I didn't put fringe all the way up, but opted instead to use coordinating paper for a hole reinforcement.

It's all about the fringe on this present!  Yup, I absolutely did cover the box top with fringe strips, too, because once you start fringing, it's difficult to stop fringing!

For my last DIY embellishment, I made a little bow clothespin.  While I didn't use the Lulu Fringe die to make it, I'm including it because it still qualifies as a DIY embellishment.

I used the Take A Bow cutaways to make the big looped bow and adhered it to a chunky wood clip.  That's all.  Easy, again, but effective, especially with a few fringe scraps on a plain white gift box.

That's a wrap!  I hope you try some of these fun DIY embellishments!  Thank you so, so much for welcoming me into the W&W family and being so hospitable.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  You have until Monday, February 27th to leave a comment on this week's post or last week's to be eligible for the $30 W&W gift card.  I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, February 28th.

Your comments on last week's post were awesome and so many of you had terrific ideas for last-minute cards.  This week, I'd love it if you'd tell me one thing about yourself--your favorite season (give me autumn, please!), the state, city, or country you live in (Southern California here), your guiltiest pleasure (mine are donuts and Roxette :)...any little nugget you'd like! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Winnie & Walter (and friends) for making my February AMAZING!!

~Rebecca xo