Tassels are fun and festive. Tassels are very
in for every event. And now tassels are being partnered with some very cute art to give them a new twist on celebrations. Learn how to make these festive tassels with Little Cuties
animal tags and
garden tags for your parties with the
how to directions below~
Hanging Tassel Supplies:
Art from the circular Little Cuties tags at Lettering Delights (three tags per each part)
Tissue paper in a variety of colors for the tassels
Colorful wide straws, can be plastic or paper
String or twin to string the swags together and make them hang
Gluestick, double sticky and Scotch tape
Honeycomb tissue balls (if desired for additional decor)
The photo below shows the supplies as well as prepared pieces for this craft.
How to make the Cuties Tassel Swags:
Print and cut out each character tag in three inch circles (to make a swag of 4 characters, you will need 12 circles). A swag of 4 parts will be about 6 feet long, and will have 5 straws (if you put one at the top). Make sure to cut the string longer than 6 feet for hanging.
Using gluestick, glue each of three tags together, so that one is glued to
less than half of another vertically, but glued also to a third tag until the set is glued into an inverted triangle, so that all three parts are glued to one another.
Note—see photo above—do not glue the circles completely to the centers so that a wide straw can run through the center of each inverted triangle. Also, before glueing, make sure that the circles are lined up vertically straight to one another so that they will hang straight.
Next, make tassels from tissue paper (see photo above). Take one sheet of tissue that is 20 x 30, fold in half to be 15 x 20, then continue folding in half at 7.5 x 20 and then 3.75 x 20. Fold the length of tissue in half to make a band 3.75 x 10 and cut into two piece at that fold. Now with two 3.75 x 10 pieces, slit the all-folded side of both so that you have many pieces stacked together. Keep all in one stack and hold tightly in place while cutting through all in .25 inch slices to fringe the tassels up to one inch from the top. You will have many sheets of fringe. Then roll one or two fringed tissue pieces around a wide straw, 1.5 to 2 inches from its top and tape to secure. See photo below.
Once you have all of your tassels made and taped to the straws, take one inverted triangle of Little Cuties and slide it down just over the tassel where it is taped. Then use double sticky tape to adhere the triangle to the straw (taping gently inside the triangle to the straw). Do this on all tasseled straws until you have all of the straws decorated with tassel and circular art.
Now it is time to string the pieces together. Cut your string or twin to at least an 8 or 9 foot strands. Thread the string down each straw, one to the next to make a garland, or swag of tasseled Cuties. You can adjust each piece to get it positioned just right. I chose to not tape the pieces together at this point, as the string will hold them together, and allow them to flow gently in the breeze.
Finish off each swag with one remaining tassel inserted and taped to the end of the last straw (see photo below). Make sure to knot off the string and tape or glue to the last tassel, so that they will all hold together and not slip loose.
If you want to have honeycomb tissue balls in the decor, use larger circle tag art to stand atop each ball, as shown in the photo below. Use two circle tags the same size and sandwich the string between.
If you want to have honeycomb tissue balls in the decor, use larger circle tag art to stand atop each ball, as shown in the photo above.
If you would like to use paper straws (as seen in the photo above) and can find them in the wide size, they work even better than the plastic straws. You can even use the thin paper straws, but they are a little harder to string and are a bit thin looking for the swags.
This is a project that can be used with any fun art that is made in a circular format, or even just fun pattern designs. Fill free to make my Little Cuties
animal and
garden tassel swags with any other art. Go to my site on
Lettering Delights to find many other collections and themes and use the patterns and designs for all of your holiday tasseling needs! Think — Swell Noel Swags, Costume Clubhouse Swags, Sweet Peeps Swags and many others in the Sheri McCulley Studio collection. Enjoy!