Friday, December 10, 2010

Sweet Bee: International Paper Crafter of Mystery

Hello, dearies. I've been neglectful in posting this week, but I haven't had much going on. I've gotten a touch of the holiday lazies--much of my to-do list has been crossed off and I've been taking advantage of this to do not much of anything. HowEVER--I saw something online the other day that made me whip out my scissors and ruler and hop to.

First up: some woven paper baskets known as Swedish hearts (or--if you're Swedish--jhartkorgar). 


Traditionally they are done in red and white, but I had some green I wanted to use.

My dad has a bit of Swedish in him, so I thought these would be one of those cute "connect with your heritage" projects. I'd rather connect with my mom's heritage and eat lotsa ravioli, but paper-weaving it is. I couldn't remember where I had seen them so I had to scout for a few tutorials--I ended up using this one. If you give these a whirl one thing you need to know is that the rectangular part needs to be more than twice the width (or else you end up with some not-so-neat edges or edges that don't snug up at all). Usually handles are hung on these and they are filled with small treats--but I was a bit frustrated and disinterested so I am just letting them be.

Then, while I was perusing Allsorts I saw some sweet German Christmas paper stars (also known as a Froebel star--you didn't know you were signing up for language lessons, didja?). My dad is half German, so I'm claiming this as another heritage craft. Using this tutorial, I sat myself on the couch and trimmed and folded for a few cozy evenings.

This was my first one. The paper got a little smashed and torn but I kept going just to get the hang of it. 

It took me about forty minutes to make this happen. After a few more I was down to about ten minutes, start to finish. Not too bad for something that looks intricate and scary (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

 These are a small fraction of what I made--I got a little bit carried away. Some of the papers were double-sided so those ended up looking really cute. They aren't very large--they come out to be about 2ish inches.

On a few of them the parts that make them look a bit 3-D tore, so I have a few that are flat stars. I didn't want to just toss them away where they'd feel neglected and unloved (yes, I do that thing where I personify silly paper stars and other non-human things--I get it from my mother), so they're sitting in the bowl with the others right now (yeah....I sat long enough to fill a bowl with these).

Then I thought "I wonder if I could make these out of ribbon!" I had some wired ribbon I thought would work but it was too smooshy looking, so I pulled the wire out and remade it. It's much larger (about 7 inches) but it's not as cute:

Eh.

So then, because I have this personality quirk where I just HAVE to make it work (which translates nicely into having to have the last word) I used some other ribbon I had and it came out much cuter:

It holds the shape surprisingly well for ribbon and has a nice puffy look to it. 

Here's the side view:


These are supposed to be much more 3-D than they are, but try as I might I could just not get those points to happen. I like them the way they are though--kind of flat, but not really. Maybe I could call them German-American stars...y'know...to differentiate a bit...or something.


Here's one more closeup of a paper star:


And here's the side:

Those little loopy parts are supposed to be very pointy, but every time I tried to shape them it would tear or wrinkle and just not look good, so I left them how they seemed to want to be.

Now I just have to figure how I want to string them up. I think the paper ones would be really cute as a kitchen garland. I am for sure making a few more of the ribbon stars, though. I think that one's my favorite. 

Have a happy Friday!
My CSN giveaway ends tomorrow--see the entry post for a chance to win! I'll be announcing the winner sometime on Saturday.

18 comments:

  1. So I have this plan to go to your house and raid your stash of specialty papers. The red/minty blue one is so pretty.

    Those would make lovely tree ornaments.

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  2. wow! These are so pretty! You make it look so easy, but those look pretty complicated to make!

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  3. Hi,
    I love paper crafts!
    Your blog is lovely, I have been enjoying getting to know you through your blog! Please stop by and visit me sometime!
    Have a wonderful Holiday!
    XoXO

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  4. I love it! Very beautiful!

    Cidinha

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  5. Hi Bethany!

    These are wonderful! I would love to share them!

    Your pretzels look GREAT also!

    It's always fun to visit your blog!

    Have a beautiful day!
    Love, Brenda

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  6. These are really beautiful! I would love to have you link it up to my Saving Christmas Party at: http://spartasavings.blogspot.com/2010/12/saving-christmas-week-8.html

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  7. That was such a process wasn't it and I love that you were so real about it and showed it all to us. With all that perserverance you ended up being quite an expert on making them with beautiful results. I love that red paper one near the end of your photos.

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  8. Those are beautiful! Thank you for sharing these - my parents made some ornaments like this one of the first years they were married, and still have them today, 27 years later. I would love to make some of these too, and carry on that tradition!

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  9. Cute - I'm Swedish myself and I've made quite a few 'hjÀrtkorgar' in my day.

    The stars are lovely!'

    Merry Christmas - or God jul, as we say:-)

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  10. Cute little stars! :)
    Tnx for linking up at Naturally Me Creations!

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  11. LOVE THEM!!!! My mom's dad is full German and his mom made these and they were a unicorn in the family for a long time because no one else ever got any. But then my Aunt learned to make them from a German woman and two years ago my mom made a set for all of us kids. They are a prized possession of mine. I've never actually tried to make them :)

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  12. I make these as well (although we call them Danish Christmas stars:)). You know the part that turned out flat could be because you have folded them in the wrong direction. I have had this issue a few times. It is a minor adjustment, but it will make them pointed instead of flat.


    I made a post about our Danish Christmas Hearts...

    Braided Danish Christmas Hearts. They look just like yours...

    JRFrugalMom from
    Frugality Is Free

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  13. I make the Danish Christmas stars too mine are pointy in 3 dimensional. I also dip them in wax and sprinkle glitter. You can add a dash of your favorite oil to the wax.

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  14. My great-grandma always had these on her tree. (We have Danish in our heredity.) I finally learned how to make them about 5 years ago. Made so many and gave them to all my family that Christmas. Love those kinds of traditions. Very pretty made from ribbon! Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Ooh, love the crafties! Haven't done the stars and must try some. Good use for my hands in the evenings.

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