Make Something Monday: Crepe Ruffles

I recently taught a really fun Kitschy Christmas Wreath class for a Christmas in July event at Crop, Paper, Scissors. It was SO MUCH FUN. Seeing everyone make all of the little elements on the wreath and then put it all together was so inspiring! I taught the ladies how to make all of the paper elements for the wreath and then everyone worked independently to put their wreaths together. One of the things we learned how to make were the crepe ruffles, like the one you see behind the green pleated circle. I've seen these made so many different ways, but the method I used was great because there is no drying time involved, so we were able to use the ruffles immediately on the wreaths.
For the ruffles, you just need a regular stapler and some crepe paper rolls like you'd find in the party section. You know...streamers! Simply take a length of crepe paper (any length is fine since you can add to it or trim it shorter later) and follow this pattern – gather, gather, gather, staple. You'll start at one end of the crepe paper and keep folding the long end back onto the shorter end, making small gathers/pleats, holding together at the bottom with your thumb and index finger. Once you have a small section of pleats held down with your thumb (as shown), slide your stapler into the middle and staple all of the pleats together. If it doesn't hold, do another staple. You won't see the staples in the finished product since you'll be covering them up. Continue to gather and staple in a circle pattern until you get back around to the start of the crepe paper. If you have too much crepe left, just trim off the end. If you don't finish the circle and need more, simply start a new ruffle and then staple the two together into one circle. Keep all of your staples in the middle. Fluff up the outer edges and you now have a pretty crepe paper ruffle! Using a stapler for this is great because it has a strong hold and you don't have to wait for any messy glue to dry.

I recently listed some Halloween project PDF in my Etsy Shop...just $2 each! I will email you multi-page, multi-photo PDFs to print with downloadable elements, detailed instructions, and even a complete product list so you'll know what I used on my project....or use what you already have in your own stash!

Thanks for visiting my blog today! Have you ever made crepe ruffles?