Monday 1 December 2008

bauble tutorial


December the first, its officially the festive season! This is the corner in my home where memories are kept and is the first area to get a quick makeover. As Christmas is about sharing I thought I'd demonstrate how to make my beloved baubles. The one in the picture is a giant, which is what happens if you don't choose the correct size circle before you begin! Still love it though!
To start off you need to make a cardboard template of a circle with an equilateral triangle inside. If you are like me and maths was left in school then google it et voila! This is not the actual size you want to use. I found to get a bauble the size of an apple the length of the triangle sides were about an inch long. This can be worked out by trial and error with your printer.
If you have old Christmas cards then great, otherwise coloured card could be cute too. Using your cardboard template cut out 20 circles for 1 bauble.


Next you need to draw the triangle on the reverse side of every circle. The easiest way I found was to make the circle template into a triangle template.


You then need to score the triangle and bend the edges up.


So now you are ready to glue! I use uhu as it is strong enough to hold the card together yet sticky enough to manoeuvre. You need to glue the turned up edges, one by one. I wont lie to you this is the tricky stage and you may think its impossible, but once you've reached the next stage you get the hang of it.


Do not worry if its not perfectly lined up, mine are not. Nobodies perfect are they?
When you get to the halfway point don't forget to slip in a loop of ribbon or whatever you wish, for hanging.


Then just carry on adding circle after circle, all the while squeezing the already glued ones tighter together. Finally you will have a bauble shape!


At this stage the structure should be quite solid and once you have stuck the last bit together you will be hooked!

12 comments:

ginny said...

Fab tutorial Clare. Have a pile of old cards so will make some with the girls... feeling very festive and excited now it is December. Even have my Christmas cd playing while i work.
Have a great week.
ginny xx

Simone said...

Great tutorial. What a good idea for using up old Christmas cards. I think your bauble looks lovely hanging up.

Lisa said...

Here's the link for where I found the little Christmas tree pattern if you would like to have a go too.
http://www.freechristmascoloring.com/
Lisa x

Sal said...

Excellent idea,Clare! I must try it! ;-)

Country Bliss said...

Great tutorial, I have to find my old Christmas cards. I haven't even got my decorations out yet!
Yvonne x

Country Cottage Chic said...

They are a great way of using up old Christmas cards - I have some that my children made in primary school.

Mrs Moog said...

Lovely!! I've wanted to make these for ages and have never quite managed it. I'll have to give your tute a go with this year's cards.

xxx

Ginger said...

Wonderful tuorial thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.

trish said...

Oh I just love this!! :o)
Thanks for sharing.
Sincerely, Trish

MaryAnnB said...

Just saw this tutorial (as I just discovered your blog via another!) We did these way back when I was in 8th grade geometry class! Now I know what I am going to do with the box of old Christmas cards I've collected over the last 30 year!

JoAnn SweetPepperRose said...

Hi - just found this tutorial - thanks for sharing. I have a stack of all sorts of cards to cut up and make these with.

Umm-Yara said...

What a wonderful idea! I just wish I'd seen it before I decided to throw away most of my old Christmas cards.
Thank you for sharing!