Supplies include:
- A clear container (I used an Archer Farms butter crunch cashews from Target, because they are just darn tasty). It is plastic so it is light weight and non breakable.
- Glue or some form of adhesive. Depending on your situation there are a multitude of adhesives out there. If you are going to do this with kids you may want to look for non toxic or tacky glue. You can also use Hot Glue (if you are doing this on your own) or Fabric glue (this contains acitate so if you have a manicure you may want to avoid it). If this is an outdoor tree mail, you may want to use something more weather resistant like the fabric glue or the hot glue, and it works well with plastics.
- Ribbon of all sorts. For mine, I used some organdy ribbon and thin satin ribbon.
- Fake leaves, silk flowers, feathers, beads, bells or whatever tickles your fancy.
Step 1: I took a strip of the organdy ribbon just slightly longer than the circumference of your container. Of your satin ribbon cut 7 24 inch strips.Fold the satin ribbon half way and knot them equally and evenly on your organdy ribbon.
Step 2: Take 2 strips of ribbon from 2 knots and tie them together. this will create a V shape. Continue this with the other 7 knots.You may want to put a dab of glue on each knot not only to keep them in place and to attach them to the container.
Step 3: Create a new row with the ribbon, knotting the ribbon with its mate from the knot. You should get a basic diamond shame and should look like this when you are done.
Step 4: With the remaining ribbon knot it all at the bottom. Add some extra organdy ribbon or anything else you like at this point to the tassel.
Step 5: With the lid, I wrapped the side with ribbon and covered the top with leaves. The open mouth of the lid wrap some satin ribbon and secure it around the base of the mouth. Make it long (I would say about 36 inches) so you can use it as the hanger.
Step 6: On with the ribbon tassel I like to tie charms, bells, buttons, leaves, feathers or any other little things to add interest. You can also collect things with your child and tie items on the ribbons together. It may also be a fun idea to occasionally leave items in the tree mail for your child to add to the ribbons.
And there you have it. Simple, easy and pretty. I like the idea of a clear container so they can see that there is something inside for them. What you put inside is entirely up to you. Like I mentioned before, charms, bells little trinkets with a note attached is fun. You can also leave them notes or assignments for them. Hopefully there will be plenty of ideas coming in the near future.
That is all for this week! See you all next week, and in the meantime, keep wishing and keep dreaming!
