In case you were coveting the new MSGM fringed sandals but weren’t able to buy them before they sold out – or you didn’t want to spend close to a thousand dollars for them! – we have the perfect solution. With some varied Jillson & Roberts ribbon, rhinestones, and a glue gun we made our own high fashion version!

We used 1″ Black ribbon (FR1021) for the strap and glued layers of fringe, made from strips of gold stretch tinsel (STC15), black curling poly (PC24), and natural paper raffia (PR18) onto the back. Then we made tassels from white and blue natural raffia (PR24 and PR01), orange curling (CM620), 5/8th inch brown satin (FR0907), and white grosgrain ribbon (FR1224 cut into smaller strips), which were glued on top. We also added some rhinestones in between for sparkle. To finish it off we put some velcro on the ends to hold it tight around your ankle. And voilà a versatile and fashionable embellishment for your favorite strappy heels! One of our beautiful and stylish J&R team members generously offered to model them for us.

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You know when you’re wrapping a present and a plain colored bow just won’t do? Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make a bow out of any paper you want! Exciting right?

Step 1: Pick your paper. We used Glitter Dot (R419). We cut two 12″x12″ pieces and used spray mount to attach them back to back (making it double sided). Then cut it into twelve 1″ x 12″ strips – note this will be enough for two bows.

Step 2: Find the middle of the strip and loop one end onto it. Staple in place. One easy way to do this is to bring the end to the middle flat then flip the end upside down to create the loop.

Step 3: Do the same to the other end. Once you get good at it you can staple both ends at the same time.

Step 4: Do this for 11 of the 12 strips.

Step 5: Take two loops and use a drop of hot glue (or other adhesive) to attach one on top of the other at a 45 degree angle to each other. Continue doing this placing each piece so it rotates and fills the gap between the previously placed pieces. We used six looped pieces on one of the pictured bows and 5 on the other. You can experiment and see how thick you like them.

Step 6: Take the remaining strip you didn’t make into a loop and cut it in half. Then staple it into a circle and glue it into the middle of the bow to fill the space.

Step 7: Add to your present and admire!

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For the decor at a recent soirée the host asked if I would make some paper flowers to match our Jillson & Roberts Bold Blossom 365 wrap – which she brilliantly used for the tablecloth! The flowers turned out great and the wrap created a perfect Spring-time mood.

Here’s the lowdown on how to create your own flowers….

It’s pretty simple, cut tissue paper (used here: FT16, FT39, FT09, FT27) petals in three sizes. Start laying them around in a circle with all of them overlapping on one center point. Go from biggest on the bottom to smallest on top. Lift the stack from the middle and scrunch/twist from the bottom center to hold them all together. Add some tissue circles in a coordinating color on the top and some crinkle (used here: CS27, CS24, CS39) on top of that.

Hang the finished flowers (after making sure everything is well glued together!), lay down some coordinating wrap and voilà! All you need is treats and guests! Bold Blossom 365 is the perfect colorful and modern addition to any party!

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In our Everyday 2015 Catalog we used some pretty white paper flowers for our wedding beauty shot. These flowers are so easy to create and make great backdrops for store displays, or special events – like a wedding! See our how-to below.

Part of what makes these flowers so easy to make is that they are meant to be part of a bigger installation and therefore no single flower has to be “perfect”. Outlined here are two types of petal you can use(round and pointed) but you can experiment with others to recreate the petal shape of any flower you like!

Step 1: Cut out shapes from paper. We used circles in three sizes for one flower and a long pointed petal shape for another.

Step 2: Cut a slit in the base of each piece going about 20% up the height of the petal. Then overlap one half of the slit over the other and use a glue gun or double sided tape to hold it in place.

Step 3: Arrange the shapes to make flowers. For the circles this entailed positioning the circles inside each other, rotating each one a bit, and using the larger for the outside and smaller for inside. For the petal shapes we cut a circle out of card stock and hot glued the petals one by one around it.

Step 4: For the centers, cut circles out of paper. Cut a few (at least 3) of multiple sizes then stack largest to smallest. Use scissors to fringe the edges. Then fluff them up a bit so the fringe isn’t all laying perfectly flat. Attach the circles to the center of the flowers, and if desired finish with a rhinestone or other sparkly element in the center.

Step 5: Repeat this with various sizes and petal shapes and then arrange and glue them to a white backdrop.

These are easy, stylish, and fun. We still have the flowers we used for our photo-shoot hanging around various corners of our office!

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New from our Everyday 2015 collection, our Photo Booth Tote does double duty at your next party! It’s perfect for gift giving and then creating some memorable photos – for kids and adults alike. We love this concept! Here’s how quick and easy it is to make fun photo props.

After the present has been opened cut the front and/or back face and find some wooden dowels.

Cut out the individual icons inside the dotted lines. Don’t forget to also cut the inside of the glasses!

Adhere the paper props to the top of a dowel with some hot glue.

And voila you have instant photo props!

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As Spring is approaching we’re jumping the gun with some pretty blooms! These paper dahlias make great decorations for a party or merchandising decor. You could even make a small one to put on top of a gift!

How to:

Step 1: Gather supplies. We used Jillson & Roberts tissue in Blue (FT05) and spray mounted it to both sides of some card-stock. Print out This Template and cut out it’s shapes. This template makes a finished flower that is approximately 10″ in diameter. Scale up or down for larger or smaller.

Step 2: Cut the shapes from the template out of your blue card-stock. We used 14 of the largest and medium petals, and 11 of the smallest.

Step 3: Fold the two bottom corners of each petal into the bottom center and use a glue gun to hold them in place.

Step 4-5: Glue the largest petals around the outer perimeter of the circle you cut from the template. Follow with a row of the medium sized and then the smallest.

Step 6: Cut 2-3 circles from the blue card-stock each a little smaller than the last. Use scissors to cut fringe on the edges and adhere to the center of your flower. We used card-stock that matched the petals for two of our inner circles and a slightly darker piece for the middle.

And now you have a beautiful paper dahlia! You can repeat in different colors and sizes to make a paper flower garden. As you can see below we used them for props in our last Everyday photo-shoot!

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Tassels are a big party trend right now. Beyond just decorating a room they can also make great embellishments for a gift – and luckily they are a breeze to create! To make ours we used J&R Paper Raffia in Silver (PR14) and Lime (PR41). Wrapping paper is R380.

Step 1: Gather your Supplies.

Step 2: Cut a piece of cardboard or thick paper to the length you want the finished tassel to be. Ours was about 4″ tall. Wrap the ribbon around it until it is as thick as you’d like. Ours was wrapped 14 full times around.

Step 3: Pull the ribbon off the card and tie a separate piece of ribbon through the top loops to hold them all together. Tie another piece of ribbon around the outside of the tassel about 1″ down from the top.

Step 4: Trim the bottom of the tassel to open the looped ends and even out the bottom. Repeat to make as many tassels as you want! Use different colors or even lengths to add variety.

Step 5: Use the strings on the top to attach the tassels to your present.

This is a great way to make your gifts even more memorable! Happy Gifting!
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Our easy to make pumpkin tote starts with 1. A J&R black kraft tote (MK921) 2. A piece of J&R solid orange wrap (R927) and 3. A print out of our pumpkin template (download here)

Print and cut the template then use it to trace and cut a pumpkin from the orange paper. Use adhesive on the back and adhere to the front of your tote. The template is scaled for a medium tote so print larger or smaller for different sizes. Use it for trick-or-treating or any seasonal gift giving. Have a Happy Halloween!

P.S. The treat bags in the photo above were made from two pieces of wrapping paper. One 4″ x 6″ and one 4.5″ x 6.5″. The edges on the larger were folded in .25″ on the sides and .5″ on the bottom. The smaller piece was inserted under the folded sides and the folds were taped down onto it. Perfect for sharing Halloween treats!

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Step 1: Cut 4″ squares from the wrap of your choice – we used Royal 916, Red Gloss 909, and Royal/Silver R996. Then fold the squares in half diagonally to create triangles.

Step 2: Take scissors and cut from the bottom toward the tip of the triangle. As you cut from each side toward the middle leave about 1/2 inch uncut so the cuts never reach each other and the square stays in one piece. Unfold back to flat square.

Step 3: Using a glue gun pull the corners of the first row of slits towards each other, blue side out and use a drop of glue on the top corner to hold them together. Flip and do the same on the other side for the next row and flip/repeat for the last row.

Step 4: When you have five individual pieces, arrange them in a star shape and use a glue gun to attach middle tips to one another. We then cut out stars from coordinating papers and used the glue gun to attach them in the middle of each.

Step 5: Arrange however you like. We punched a hole on the top of some and strung them from twine to make a hanging garland and also just laid some on the table to accessorize. Then sit back and enjoy some fireworks! Happy 4th!
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