To make it look frilly, girly and shabby chic-ish, we decorated it with pastel coloured sugar balls and pale ivory sugar roses from [Jane Asher]. Only 5 candles were on top because I didn't want to cause a fire! To really girl it up, I made a little net frill to go around the outside. Very simple to make. Cut two lengths of net (or more, if you want it very frilly), then sew a running stitch along the centre. Using the tin that I baked the cake in as a guide, I measured how long it needed to be, then pulled the stitching to ruffle the net up. Once the right size I cut a piece of cream ribbon - slightly longer so I could use the ends to tie in a bow and secure the ruffle - then machined along to hold ruffles in place. If you wanted to make it even more ruffly, just layer up more lengths of net. Nice and simple to do, and after a quick wash it's ready to be used again. (You may recall that I used this way of making net ruffles earlier in the year, to use as decoration for my faux Easter eggs.)
The cake was yummy ~ thank you Betty Crocker!
I have used net in all of my projects this week. This one is for Christmas.
Years ago, I bought a Victorian Christmas porcelain doll from [Past Times]. I thought I'd give her a vintage style makeover and place her on the top of our tree this year. Gorgeous girl helped, and first on our list was to paint her hair. She looked lovely with blonde hair, but the girls in this house are brunette, so we felt that she should be too!
I used one of the crown tree decorations from Cox & Cox as her crown. Total nightmare to stick on. In the end I had to glue it on to a piece of velvet ribbon, and glue the ribbon to her head. It wouldn't stick any other way. I then added millinery flowers partially to cover the ribbon. Here is a little montage, including the before & after.
Sometimes I start working on something and immediately regret it. This was one of those times. The crown wouldn't stick, her arms and head were coming away from the rest of the body and didn't seem keen on staying there when glued back in place. The dress ended up being more empire line for simplicity - it wasn't how I had pictured it in my mind. But never mind. I like the end result and the dress makes me think of the bridesmaids dresses from when Diana, Princess of Wales married Prince Charles. I was going to cover her black boots in glitter, but decided against it. I didn't want to cover the chip in her boot, as it's part of her life with me. So I left them as they were.
I was buying a necklace from an accessories shop in town, and spied a pretty net flower on a bracelet. I almost bought it as it had such a vintage look to it, but thought that I could actually make it myself. I love wearing pearls, and I love adding 'bits & pieces' to them (I clip on brooches or velvet roses and charms, depends on my mood). I thought I'd show you how I made a net flower, which can be used on necklaces, bracelets, or even as decorations on Christmas pressies.
The photos are pretty self explanatory, but I'll go over each one underneath this montage.
Nice and simple to make. Here's how. * First of all, cut 6 or 8 layers of net in a circle, and leave to one side. If you want a bow for the centre, then make a small one (I used pale pink velvet and added a small round diamante buckle), and put that to one side too.
* Take two layers of net circles, then fold in half and half again, so you have a little rounded triangle. Don't try to cut more than two of the circles at a time.
* Shape the edges of the triangle with scissors, but don't cut through the very centre (the part that's hidden underneath my thumbnail).
* Unfold your triangle, you should be left with a four petal flower shape. Do this with each net circle, until you end up with a stack of flower shapes.
* Place the flowers on top of each other, moving them round slightly so the petals overlap. Stitch in place and then sew the ribbon bow in the centre. You don't have to use a bow in the centre, you could push through an old earring, or brooch. It depends on you and what you are using it for. You can make them as large or small as you like, and add as many layers as you feel like. Mine was to add to a necklace, so I wanted it to be quite light.
So there you have it. How to make a very quick and easy net flower. This took me about 10 minutes to make.