Dorothy's Decorating Ideas

General

Page 1 Of 1

How to Make a Bow with LED Ribbon Lights

Posted On 2009-02-16 , 7:57 AM

LED string lights have become a popular decorative item and today are used for just about every special occasion. The lights I'm using here are probably unlike anything you have seen before. These Ribbon Lights eliminate the need to buy the ribbon and lights separately. Have you ever tried to stuff small LED lights into the ribbon? Good luck! The Ribbon Lights we use are ready to go right out of the box. The lights are already in the ribbon. Just plug them in and your ready to go.

A unique feature of these Ribbon Lights is the 360 degrees of illumination from each individual light. This means that when you are decorating you don't have to be pre-occupied with orienting the lights so they can be seen. Here is the really nice thing about these lights, you can form them into any shape you want.   With that in mind lets get started making a bow.

So, here is How to Make a Bow Using these new LED Ribbon Light Strings

What do you need:

- One 9' LED Ribbon Light String (Available at Pack River Seasonal)

- 1 pipe cleaner to match the light string color.

The lights come in Red, Blue, Green, Amber, Cool White, and Multi-colored. Go to Pack River Seasonal to see the other colors.

Step 1 -  Place the Ribbon Light string between your thumb and index finger at a point 9" in
from end that does not have the electrical cord attached as shown in the image to the left.




Step 2 - Now measure another 12" along the Ribbon light string and loop the ribbon back to where you are holding the ribbon between your thumb and index finger. This makes the first loop in the bow. Be careful not to twist the ribbon.

Step 3 - Continue this process, looping back and forth until you have 8 loops. There should be 4 loops to the left and 4 loops to the right of where you are holding the light string.
There should be about 9 inches of ribbon at the power cord end of the ribbon light string when you are done.




Step 4 - Now secure the center of the bow using a pipe cleaner. (Note: Match the color of the pipe cleaner to the color of the bow. ) Do not over tighten the pipe cleaner. It should be just tight enough to hold the bow together without pinching the ribbon. The tag end of the pipe cleaner can be used to attach the ribbon to other objects.

Congratulations you're done.

comment

Seasonal Decorative Touches

Posted On 2007-09-09 , 11:59 AM

Dorothy's Seasonal Decorative Ideas

The holiday season is just around the corner and first up is Halloween. Halloween is second only to Christmas in popularity for decorating. A decorating idea that has caught on in the last 5 years is the Halloween Tree. For those of you who are interested in learning how to prepare and decorate a Halloween tree keep reading and I will tell you the step-by-step process I use to create one.

Materials Needed for the Project:

- 1 Tree Branch

- 1 Bucket (preferably painted in a Halloween theme) 6” Ht. X 6” Dia.

- About 10 Rocks ½” to ¾” in size

- Plaster of Paris

- A light weight floral wire for tying decorative lights on

- String of fifty (50) mini tree lights (orange, purple)

- Assortment of Halloween ornaments

- Decorative Spider Webbing

- Anything else you can think of to decorate the tree

The first thing you need is a dry tree branch that is ½” to 1” in diameter near the base. It should have several side branches.

Once you have selected a branch to use you need to find a container to hold it upright. I use small buckets I have purchased at the local craft store. These are available in a Halloween theme (see Photo). Put a few ½” to ¾” rocks in the bottom of the bucket to weight it down.

Mix up the Plaster of Paris as directed on the package. The Plaster of Paris will be used to anchor the tree branch in the bucket.

Place the base of the tree branch in the bottom of the bucket wedging it down between the rocks keeping it centered in the bucket. Next pour the mixed Plaster of Paris into the bucket to secure the tree branch. You can use duct tape placed across the top of the bucket to hold the tree branch in place while the Plaster of Paris dries. I do this by running a piece of duct tape passed each side of the branch and then do the same thing again at a right angle to the first pieces of tape.

Once the Plaster of Paris has dried (which takes about 2 hours) you can start decorating the tree branch.

Add the lights first. Try to line each side branch and the main branch with the lights. Use light weight floral wire to attached the lights to the branches. Wire the lights to the branches about every 3 inches. Plug in the lights to see how well you have done. If you are satisfied with where the lights are move on to the next step.

I put the ornaments and garland on first then the spider webbing. The reason I do it in this sequence is because once the webbing is pulled and stretched out it makes it harder to arrange the ornaments and garland on the tree.

The last step is to put an abundance of spider webbing around the base of the tree to cover up the Plaster of Paris. Throw a couple of spiders in the web and the tree is complete.