Equestrian Ribbon Trend Project: A Tutorial

On Monday, I created and shared a tutorial for making your own equestrian- inspired prize ribbons over on 100layercake.

And today , I thought I would share the full tutorial here for anyone who wasn’t able to check it out.

Horse show ribbons have been making their way into a lot of decor lately, and I thought the look could easily be translated into a unique form of wedding place cards, that could also double as a favor for guests to take home as a keepsake.

OR used as eye-catching decorations in your home, by skipping a couple of the steps.

OR even incorporate them into holiday packaging somehow (as Molly Jean suggested in the comments from 100layercake- great idea Molly!).

There arent many supplies needed for this tutorial, just a couple of things you can pick up at any local craft store.

The materials needed include: ribbon (thin, easy bendable, wire ribbon is suggested), thin wood or chipboard circles (any size, but we used a mixture of 2 and 4 inch circles), craft glue, scissors, paint (optional), and access to a printer.

Prepping a couple of items ahead of time will help save time later.

So, start with painting your wood or chipboard medallions with acrylic paint or enamel, if you would prefer the woodgrain not to show through.

Several coats may be necessary depending on how porous the material.

While waiting for the circles to dry, design and print table numbers and name plates.

Simple is perfectly fine here, since the ribbons themselves are a lot of look.

I chose academy engraved LET Plain as my font, surrounding by a thin circular border.

I suggest using Photoshop, Pixelmator, or some other comparable editing tool.

Once those are printed, cut out the table numbers and use a paper cutter, if possible, to cut the name plates apart.

Set aside the names for later and glue the table numbers onto your now dry wood circles.

The next step is the most time consuming.

There is a bit of a learning curve here, but once you get the hang of it, its really simple.

Grab your ribbon and starting at one end, begin folding the ribbon in even increments, holding the inside part of the fold (see image).

Use your index finger to guide the ribbon towards the inside, eventually creating a circle.

You will use about a yard of ribbon (maybe more depending on size) for each finished piece.

Run a bead of craft glue around the inner ring of the now ribbon circle, when it is face up.

Place the wood circle, that now has the table number glued on to  it, on top and press down until secure. I used a quick tack glue, so the materials would bond quickly.

Once dry, cut extra pieces of ribbon to hang from the bottom.

Add your print-out name plates that were cut out earlier.

And glue all pieces to the back of the wood medallion (there still should be some room).

Turn back over. Fluff. And you are all done!

Hang with a sewing pin on a framed piece of fabric-covered cork, and you have the perfect place card for an outdoor farm wedding.