Tuesday Tip -- Straightening Ribbon

Well, it's only Tuesday for 15 more minutes where I live, but I just might make it!

This weekend, while cropping at a friends house, I was reminded of an awesome tip for ribbon straightening.

Have you ever found yourself frustrated because the ribbon you want to use looks like this?

Tuesday Tip -- Ribbon Straightening

There are several easy ways to flatten out the kinks in your ribbon.

1. Water -- wet it down, then hang it over something to dry. It takes a long time, but it's very frugal.

2. Xyron -- run it through your Xyron machine to coat the entire back side of the ribbon with adhesive. (Not always truly effective, but it is quick.)

3. Iron -- get out your big clothing iron. (Who wants to pack that in their cropping tote?)

4. Buy one of the mini irons out on the market.

5. My favorite: Curling Iron!!! This works great -- especially if you put the ribbon through slowly, with the kink facing opposite the curve of the curling iron. I happened to have an extra in my linen closet, but my friend Chris bought hers at a garage sale for 50 cents!! Can't beat this tip for prudence -- inexpensive, easy to handle and store, quick and very effective!

Happy Scrapping!

Tuesday Tip... Ribbon Organizing

I've been trying to decide how to organize my ribbon for a while now. I started with some of the cropper hopper ribbon drawers, but quickly outgrew them. I saw the Lisa Bearnson rail system, but too expensive. I saw several containers with holes in the sides, but would've needed many of them to fit my current collection. I saw a lazy susan thing with 3 posts sticking up. I had at one point taken most of my ribbon off their spools and put them on plastic cards like for embroidery thread, but bigger. Unfortunately, that left my ribbon with lots of kinks and wrinkles.



Then I saw Fiskateer Lisa Pizza's example of how she decorated her scrap space and started thinking... You can see a video of her idea that inspired me on her blog La Femme Papier



As money is tight all over the country, I hope you'll all appreciate my cheap and easily expandable ribbon organizer. The whole thing cost me about $20 and I could expand it for less than a dollar! I have a friend who's neighbor uses a lot of ribbon in her baking business. They're collecting empty ribbon spools and sending them to me for the rest of my ribbon collection (only 1/2 of it is on the wall at the moment). You may be able to find a store or other business that would do the same for you if you need it.




Tuesday's Tip: Inexpensive Ribbon Holder

(only 1/2 my collection so far)

Supplies needed:



1 curtain rod kit with wall brackets (got mine for $10)
1 package (minimum) curtain clips (found 10 for $5)
wooden dowels (make sure they fit through your ribbon spools, but aren't too thin and week (less that $1 each)
16 inches of ribbon for each dowel (used my stash)
paint and brush (already owned)
Optional: tape to hold down ribbon ends on the rolls (I used blue painter's tape)




Paint the dowels - try one half at a time and let dry before doing the other half




Cut ribbon into 8 inch sections, fold in half, and clip the ends so it makes a loop




Install the curtain rod on the wall, hanging 2 curtain clips on it. Hang dowel from the ribbon loops. Add more levels as needed for your collection. Slide ribbon rolls on the dowels. They're easy to take down and put back up.






Now I've got all this extra space where my ribbon used to be. WooHoo!

Happy Scrapping!