Decorative Ribbon Tassel- Part 1

(13 pictures)


I wanted a decorative tassel to hang on the corner edge of a new single sleigh bed I bought, just in case I have an overnight visitor.

The type of  tassel I wanted can be expensive.   Being the creative and frugal  person that I am, I put on my thinking cap and tried to figure  it out.

I was inspired by the DIYs of tassels made from salt shakers such as the ones below.

Curiouspeddler.com

DancingBearTassels on Etsy

  So of course I scoured thrift stores to see what I could find.

On a whim I bought this ceramic 49 cent dinner bell, which is about  2.5 inches high and 2 inches wide. I was thinking I could remove the clapper and stuff the tassel inside of it. But, then I realized I wanted more color. It had the green of the walls in the room but not the turquoise I wanted to also use, so 49 cents gone. I'll figure out something else to do with it.












 Hobby Lobby was next, and thank goodness for cameras on phones. I could discreetly take a picture of what I liked and then  use my own imagination and that's what I did.

I ended up liking the style of the orange one on the right.

















I had ribbons galore from $ Tree and other places. I also gathered other things that I thought I might use.

I measured the ribbons to 28 inches each.     The eggshells, I  dyed overnight in a vinegar, food coloring and water bath. I've used this egg shell method in another project. Then I crushed the shells fine so that I can use them as a mosaic on the foam ball.

I used a regular pair of  scissors to make a hole through the ball so that the tassel will go through.

Cross the ribbons 4 at a time in the midpoint and tack together with a stitch

Here's a close up view of the ribbons tacked together at their midpoint. NOTE: It'll be hard to push a needle through all of those layers so content yourself with sewing each layer to the one directly underneath. In the end they'll all be together when you finish.

Next I wanted to test to see if the ribbons would go through the hole.  They did. But, I noticed there's a  lot of foam dust after digging the hole and pulling the ribbon through. 

I painted the inside of the ball with Mod Podge to tamp down the foam dust for when I get ready to pull the tassel through. The outside I painted green as the background. The egg shell mosaic with be attached to the outside. Drying the ball from the inside has proven to be the most challenging. It's taking a long time.

Part 2 -Coming Soon