Ribbon Decorated Egg DIY

 As a crafter, it's always amazing to me what can be created using ribbon and special techniques. The possibilities are almost unlimited for what you can make! And this beautiful decorative egg using ribbon is the perfect accent piece for Spring and Easter -  adding a special touch to any home décor! First of all, there were several techniques used in making this. Ribbon braiding, ribbon rose flowers, and ribbon leaves - each one quite easy to do! I'm sorry the tutorial seems so long, but once you get the hang of the steps, you'll really get into it and can't wait to finish.

 Materials needed:

• Large paper mache or smooth Styrofoam egg
• 3/8" ribbon - brown
• 5/8" Ribbon - assorted colors
• Hot glue gun. glue sticks
• Scissors
• Lighter to seal ribbon ends
• Needle nose pliers

Let's begin by braiding the brown ribbon to make the "container bowl" around the bottom of the egg.

 didn't know how much ribbon I would need to cover the bottom of this 8" egg that's 14 inches around, so I began with two, 72 inch strips. 

1.  Make a slip knot on one end of ribbon.

2.  Make a loop on one end of the other ribbon strip and push that loop through the loop on the slipknot.  Pull on the long ribbon end of the slipknot loop to tighten, keeping the ribbon snug and straight.

3.   Pick up the opposite longer ribbon strip, make a loop and insert into the loop that's there. 

4.  Tighten the ribbon by pulling the longer ribbon of the loops each time, adjusting the loops to keep snug and straight.

5.  Continue alternating the ribbon strips, making loops and pushing the ribbon loops through the opposite loop, braiding the ribbon.  You will notice a pretty pattern as you continue to braid.

6-7. Make sure you are tightening the ribbon loops as you loop and push the ribbon through the loops until you have braided most of the ribbon. Wrap braid around lower portion of egg to see how much more you might need to braid. Additional ribbon strips can be added just by gluing new ribbon on the ends  evenly, matching the ends.

8. Finish off the braid by tightening ribbon, leaving the loops flushed, tucking ends back into the braid, cutting off excess ribbon and gluing ends down.  

Next, I glued on strips of ribbon to cover the bottom of the egg just in case the braided portion didn't cover all of it. 

I then tried out where I wanted to start the braid  .  .  .

and began gluing it on.

Round .  .  .

and round until reaching .  .  .

the end.

Luckily, the egg could still stand on its' own.

Now it's time to make the ribbon rose flowers! The technique is basically folding and turning the ribbon to make the rose. It takes a bit of practice, so don't give up if your first few ribbon flowers aren't exactly what you like.

For this size flower, I cut 14 inch strips of ribbon. Then, depending on how comfortable you feel with which hand to use in folding, turning and adding hot glue to the ribbon - first, fold the ribbon for a tail. In this case, I like to use my right hand to fold the ribbon, so the tail is on the left, with the longer portion of the ribbon, on the right.

Roll the tail over a couple of times with your left hand .  .  

to form the center .  .  .

bud.

Place a small dab of glue onto the lower bud area - and not on the ribbon strip to avoid burning your fingers from the hot glue -  pressing the ribbon against the glue to hold and then fold the ribbon over, back onto itself and turn, forming the petal. 

 

Continue folding the ribbon back and turning and .  .  .

adding glue to the ribbon base, around, forming the flower petals.

Continue forming the petals until nearing the ribbon end, adding a dab of glue, folding the ribbon end back on itself, underneath.

Cut off the tail, sealing the ribbon with flame from lighter and you have .  .  .

a pretty ribbon rose!

 I made about sixteen flowers in each of the three colors that I used for a total of 48 flowers and hot glued them in place around the egg.

 After gluing all of the flowers on, I thought maybe the arrangement needed leaves at the base. So I cut tiny 1 1/2" strips of green 5/8' ribbon, and folded in half. Then I cut across the ribbon fold to the end at an angle.

Then, holding the slanted ribbon edge with needle nose pliers, sealed together with the flame from a lighter.

Some of the leaf ends were sealed together with the lighter .  .  .

and gently glue to base of flowers.

What a perfect ribbon floral arrangement .  .  .

to enhance any décor for Spring and Easter!

Thanks for stopping by

and take a little time to enjoy,

Happy Crafting!