The little girl I used to nanny for is turning 2 soon and I wanted to make her something fun for her birthday, I had made her some streamers when I was working with her and she loves them but they are sticks and as she gets more enthusiastic about swinging them I foresee more being whacked in the face for her and her parents. So I made these, they are really simple, cost less than $10 and take like half an hour.
Here's what you need.
- Round bag handles or something similar, I'd have preferred smooth plastic ones but they only had the bamboo.
- Ribbon, I bought 2.5 yards each or green, yellow, blue and red ribbon but you can use as much or as little as you like and what colours you like. It would make a good ribbon stash buster.
- Glue gun.
- Scissors.
- Lighter for heat sealing ends.
- Tape measure if you want specific lengths.
Cut ribbon to desired length. I didn't measure just laid different lengths over the hoop and figured out what I wanted. I wanted them both to be the same so I cut the ribbon in half and then in half again but you could mix it up if you wanted.
Just remember you'll need about an inch extra to secure the ribbon so if you want a 10 inch long ribbon at the end you need to cut 11 inches. My ribbons ended up at around 24 inches I wouldn't recommend making them much longer unless you are making them just for grown ups, you don't want the children tripping over them!
Heat seal the ends of your ribbon to stop fraying. If you don't know how to do this don't be afraid its really easy. Cut off any fraying that has occurred. Pass the ribbon over the flame of the lighter, you only need to wave it through you will see the ribbon melting and sealing the ends. You can also use a match or a candle. You shouldn't have any problems with most kinds of ribbon although I'm not sure about sheers.
Fold over about half an inch and pin the ribbons.
Now is a good time to see if you like the placement and length of the ribbon. Pick it up from the table and wave it around, see if you like the way it moves and looks.
Now comes the fiddly part.
Add some glue along the width of the ribbon on the short end. Make sure you cover the who width or the edges won't stick together which might cause them to come undone later.
Quickly but carefully fold the short end onto the long end and press down. Be careful the glue is hot and I ALWAYS burn myself using a glue gun usually by touching the end to see if its on because I'm not very bright.
Keep going until they are all attached.
Do the same thing with the next one, if you want to make 2. If you just make one you won't be able to join in the play later.
Once the glue is dry you can tug pretty hard on the ribbon without it coming off but like all children's toys you should examine it occasionally to make sure everything is still ok.
And that's it! These are great for music and dancing and learning about movement and colour. Also they are heaps of fun to wave around even for grownups.
This is my first tutorial so I'd really like to hear feedback from you about if you liked it. I have some more I'm thinking about posting. If you make one take pictures and send them to me, I'd love to see what you do!
