| Free Tips and How To's |
| Here are some things I've figured out along the way that I thought I would share. :-) You are more than welcome to these instructions for personal use, but save yourself some trouble and respect the copyright laws. In other words, do not replicate these instructions without my express written consent. Thank you. |
Super Handy Ribbon Cutting/Meausuring 'Mat'
I never was told what a person should use underneath when cutting ribbon with a wood
burner and metal ruler so I tried a piece of glass and it worked great. Later I retired my first
small cutting ‘mat’ for this larger one with a built in ruler and grid. I especially love using
this for making clippies because I can combine the cutting and measuring steps which
eliminates a step for me. When folding bows, I measure my loops on it before tying them. I
like this because my work area is more concise and I don't have to reach between my
measuring and cutting tools.
Materials Needed:
Directions:
1. Using the ruler and black pen, trace the lines halfway between the grey lines on your
printed graph paper. These will be your 1" grid lines. The grey lines will be the 1/2" lines
between the black lines. You can also color in the outside margins if you wish.
2. Cut out the ruler portion of your printed ruler. Use a little glue or double stick tape
underneath each end and position it where you want it on your grid. Mine ended up being a
7" ruler with about 1/4 inch on each side. If you need it longer, I'm sure it would work just
as well to turn the whole thing on it's side and use it horizontally instead of vertically.
3. Stack up your shelf liner (non-slip side down), grid, and glass. Trim any excess from the
edges of the shelf liner and grid if necessary.
4. CAREFULLY wrap duct tape around the edge of the glass. I started with about 1/4" on
the top and then folded it around the side to the back. Sure you end up with more duct tape
on the back, but you never see that part anyway. If you're careful, you can use one
continuous piece - it's easiest to do one side at a time though. The duct tape will protect you
from the edges and corners of the glass.
5. If you want, hot glue your wood burner stand onto your new mat - personally, I like
mine to stay put. :-)
6. Viola! You have a new ruler on which you can directly cut ribbon.
If you have any tips about your own workstation that you would like to share, let me know
and I'll pass it along here.
burner and metal ruler so I tried a piece of glass and it worked great. Later I retired my first
small cutting ‘mat’ for this larger one with a built in ruler and grid. I especially love using
this for making clippies because I can combine the cutting and measuring steps which
eliminates a step for me. When folding bows, I measure my loops on it before tying them. I
like this because my work area is more concise and I don't have to reach between my
measuring and cutting tools.
Materials Needed:
- 1 - 8 x 11" piece of glass (try the framing department at your local craft store or just
pull one out of a cheap certificate frame from the dollar store) - 1 - 8 x 11" piece of non-slip shelf liner (helps keep the mat in place while you work)
- Duct tape in your favorite shade (I used purple because it was what I had)
- Grid paper printed from here. Hint: choose 1/4" Engineering graph paper. I printed
mine on cardstock. - 1 foot ruler printed from here. I also printed this on cardstock, but I'm sure regular
paper would work. - Ruler and black pen (I used a fine point scrapbooking pen, but that's just because it
was already sitting on my table.) - A little glue or double stick tape
Directions:
1. Using the ruler and black pen, trace the lines halfway between the grey lines on your
printed graph paper. These will be your 1" grid lines. The grey lines will be the 1/2" lines
between the black lines. You can also color in the outside margins if you wish.
2. Cut out the ruler portion of your printed ruler. Use a little glue or double stick tape
underneath each end and position it where you want it on your grid. Mine ended up being a
7" ruler with about 1/4 inch on each side. If you need it longer, I'm sure it would work just
as well to turn the whole thing on it's side and use it horizontally instead of vertically.
3. Stack up your shelf liner (non-slip side down), grid, and glass. Trim any excess from the
edges of the shelf liner and grid if necessary.
4. CAREFULLY wrap duct tape around the edge of the glass. I started with about 1/4" on
the top and then folded it around the side to the back. Sure you end up with more duct tape
on the back, but you never see that part anyway. If you're careful, you can use one
continuous piece - it's easiest to do one side at a time though. The duct tape will protect you
from the edges and corners of the glass.
5. If you want, hot glue your wood burner stand onto your new mat - personally, I like
mine to stay put. :-)
6. Viola! You have a new ruler on which you can directly cut ribbon.
If you have any tips about your own workstation that you would like to share, let me know
and I'll pass it along here.
Super Handy Ribbon Spool Organizer
My work area is in our dining room, therefore I needed something that could organize a fairly
large amount of ribbon while still looking nice. Of course I wasn't able to find anything to
meet my needs and finally I decided to try making it myself. It was much easier than I
thought! If you can work a drill, then you're all set!
Materials Needed:
Hint: If you don't plan on painting your ribbon holder, choose the nice wood without knot
holes. Also, most hardware stores will cut your wood for you. I just smiled real nice at the
Home Depot guy and he was really helpful.
Directions:
1. Use wood glue to glue the vertical pieces upright at each end of the horizontal piece you
want to use for the top.
2. Drill 4 holes down through the horizontal piece into the ends of the vertical piece, 2 per
end to help guide the wood screws where they need to go. Drill a larger hole the size of your
wooden buttons about 1/8" down into the smaller holes to sink the screws. Use a
screwdriver bit to attach the 4 screws.
3. Turn upside down onto a towel or newspaper to protect the top.
4. Use wood glue to attach the vertical pieces to the bottom horizontal piece. Use wood glue
to attach the feet.
5. Drill 4 holes just a bit smaller than the diameter of the wood screws down through the feet
and horizontal piece into the vertical pieces. Drill a larger hole 1/8" into the smaller hole to
sink the screws. (Otherwise they might scratch the surface where you set the ribbon holder)
6. Turn back over and glue wood buttons into their holes.
7. Measure where you want your your holes to be in the vertical pieces. Mine were drilled at
4", 8", 12", 16", and 20" from the top of the vertical pieces. Drill 1/2" holes down the sides
for the rods to sit in. You may have to hollow out the holes a little on the inside for the rods
to slide through easier.
8. Stain and let dry if desired
9. Fill the rods with ribbon and then slide one side, going from the middle to the outside of
the wood, past the edge of the holder until the other side can be put in place on the other
side. Depending on how full you keep your holder, you may have to shift the ribbon a little at
a time to get them into place.
I pull up a chair to my ribbon holder and cut ribbon to my heart's content.
large amount of ribbon while still looking nice. Of course I wasn't able to find anything to
meet my needs and finally I decided to try making it myself. It was much easier than I
thought! If you can work a drill, then you're all set!
Materials Needed:
Hint: If you don't plan on painting your ribbon holder, choose the nice wood without knot
holes. Also, most hardware stores will cut your wood for you. I just smiled real nice at the
Home Depot guy and he was really helpful.
- 2 - 1 x 4 x 36" pieces of wood (these are the horizontal pieces)
- 2 - 1 x 4 x 6" pieces of wood (these are the 'feet')
- 2 - 1 x 4 x 24" pieces of wood (these are the vertical pieces)
- Wood glue
- 8 - 3" wood screws
- 4 - small wood 'buttons'
- Stain, if desired
- 5 - 3/8 diameter 36" aluminum dowel rods (yes, you can use wood, but I don't
recommend it since I found out the hard way that they warp terribly with pounds of
ribbon on them)
Directions:
1. Use wood glue to glue the vertical pieces upright at each end of the horizontal piece you
want to use for the top.
2. Drill 4 holes down through the horizontal piece into the ends of the vertical piece, 2 per
end to help guide the wood screws where they need to go. Drill a larger hole the size of your
wooden buttons about 1/8" down into the smaller holes to sink the screws. Use a
screwdriver bit to attach the 4 screws.
3. Turn upside down onto a towel or newspaper to protect the top.
4. Use wood glue to attach the vertical pieces to the bottom horizontal piece. Use wood glue
to attach the feet.
5. Drill 4 holes just a bit smaller than the diameter of the wood screws down through the feet
and horizontal piece into the vertical pieces. Drill a larger hole 1/8" into the smaller hole to
sink the screws. (Otherwise they might scratch the surface where you set the ribbon holder)
6. Turn back over and glue wood buttons into their holes.
7. Measure where you want your your holes to be in the vertical pieces. Mine were drilled at
4", 8", 12", 16", and 20" from the top of the vertical pieces. Drill 1/2" holes down the sides
for the rods to sit in. You may have to hollow out the holes a little on the inside for the rods
to slide through easier.
8. Stain and let dry if desired
9. Fill the rods with ribbon and then slide one side, going from the middle to the outside of
the wood, past the edge of the holder until the other side can be put in place on the other
side. Depending on how full you keep your holder, you may have to shift the ribbon a little at
a time to get them into place.
I pull up a chair to my ribbon holder and cut ribbon to my heart's content.
The above picture is version 1.0 which used 3/8" hardwood
dowels. As you can see they bend quite a bit which actually
lessened the amount of ribbon it could hold. By adding two
more 1 x 4 x 24" pieces just inside of the other two and
hollowing out the 1/2" holes some, I am now able to use 36"
long aluminum dowels and they are much sturdier. We just
used little 1 1/2" nails to attach the new wood pieces to the
inside of the others. A little more stain and it was good to go!
dowels. As you can see they bend quite a bit which actually
lessened the amount of ribbon it could hold. By adding two
more 1 x 4 x 24" pieces just inside of the other two and
hollowing out the 1/2" holes some, I am now able to use 36"
long aluminum dowels and they are much sturdier. We just
used little 1 1/2" nails to attach the new wood pieces to the
inside of the others. A little more stain and it was good to go!
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Version 2.0 with doubled verticals and aluminum dowels. It
holds almost 160" worth of spools sitting side by side.
holds almost 160" worth of spools sitting side by side.