Here is a little stitchery I created for a project at the store... and I thought I'd show you how to make the paper embellishment--or cocarde. In the 1920's some of the wonderful hats--or cloches, as they were called--were decorated with ribbon cocardes. This one is a fairly simple paper version.
First, you need to cut a piece of scrapbook paper 1 1/4" x 12". My Omnigrid mat from Prym is an old one I used for quilting, but it works very well when I need to cut paper strips!
Make tiny pleats, and I do mean tiny. Practice makes perfect. It took me a try or two. The first one started out with tiny pleats, but they seemed to 'grow' as I went. Like I said--practice!
Next, when all the pleating is completed, glue the two ends together to form a circle:
Now, just press the top to flatten it--I promise, it works!
You will note that I flattened it to show the light brown side of the paper. That's the wonderful thing about two-sided paper: You have instant color coordination, and since this cocarde is to decorate the aqua-colored side, it's perfect! Now, to keep the cocarde from turning into a tube again, you need to add a little bit of hot glue to the scrap of paper you will use as a base:
Glue on an embellishment, like this wonderful Prima-brand flower, or a cute button, etc.:
Now, use some decorative-edge scissors to 'shadow' cut around the outside edge of the pleats:
Now, it's ready to glue onto the frame (which you have already painted and papered):
Voila!
