Wedding Card and Melted Ribbon Flower Tutorial

Sorry it has been so long since I posted, I have been busy getting ready for my stepson’s wedding. Since I have this and several other weddings coming up in June, I have definitely been in a wedding card mood. Here is one that I made for a friend’s bridal shower. Please see the end of this post for the tutorial on how to make a melted ribbon flower.

I used Whisper White for the card base. Then I embossed a 4x5¼” piece of Whisper White with the Finial Press embossing folder and attached it to the cardstock using Sticky Strip. I used the Pinking Hearts border punch to punch the edge of two 1x4” strips of Daffodil Delight cardstock, and then I attached them to a 1¾ x 4” piece of Whisper White and attached that to the front of the card (once again with Sticky Strip). I stamped the “happiness always” from Happy Greetings with Pear Pizzazz Classic ink on Whisper White cardstock, then I punched that out with the 2½” circle punch. I cut out a scallop from Daffodil Delight cardstock using the largest scallop from the Scallops Circle #2 Bigz Die and adhered that behind the Whisper White circle. I attached that to the card, then made the melted ribbon flower out of Daffodil Delight 5/8” Satin Ribbon and added that (sticky strip again!).  I have found that Snail Adhesive doesn’t work very well if both of your pieces of cardstock aren’t totally flat, so when I emboss cardstock I always use sticky strip to attach it to the card and to attach things to it. For directions on how to make the flower, see the flower tutorial below.

Melted ribbon flower tutorial

1.Cut out a base for the flower from Sticky Pages. For this flower I used the 1 ¾” circle punch to cut out a piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock.

2. Then I traced that cardstock to draw a circle on a piece of sticky pages and cut it out with scissors.  Don’t try to punch out the Sticky Pages with your punch, it will gum it up. (Hang on to the cardstock circle, you will use it later.)

3. Cut out a 21” piece of 5/8” Satin ribbon. (If you start with a larger circle, you will need a longer piece of ribbon)





4.  Cut that ribbon at 1” intervals, but not quite all the way through. Just cut until you are about 1/8” from the edge.  If you get to the end and your last segment is less than 1”, that’s fine.

5. Peel the red cover piece off of the sticky page circle. (My fingers look yucky! I have to remember to use lotion before I take these photos!)

6. Adhere the end of your ribbon to the edge.

7. Keep adding the ribbon, gathering it so that it is ruffled along the edge.

8 When you get back to where you started, start adhering the ribbon further in to start another row of ruffles.

9. Keep going until you get to the center.

10.You will have to add a few glue dots in the center to be able to stick down the last of your ribbon. (If you end up with too much ribbon, just trim the excess off.)

11. Warm up your heat gun for about 2 minutes before you start. Once your heat gun is warmed upstart slowly melting your flower along the outside edge. You will need to use something to hold it down so that it doesn’t blow away. (I usually hold onto my tool while doing this, but I can’t take a picture that way!)

12.I try to just melt it until the cut edges of the ribbon start to round up a little bit. Take the heat off of it when you need to turn it, otherwise it will overheat and the flower will get too messy.  Once all the edges are done, move to the center and melt the cut edges there.

13. Now turn your flower over and take the white cover paper off of the sticky sheet.

14. Attach your cardstock circle that you made in step one onto the exposed sticky sheet. You do this because sticky sheet is clear, and you don’t want the colors of the card base to show through your flower.

15. To make the leaves, take a 3” strip of 5/8” Satin Ribbon (I used Certainly Celery) and cut a notch in it at the half way point (1 ½”) but once again, don’t cut all the way through.

16. Lay the ribbon flat and add a glue dot to one end.

17. Then take the other end and slide it around until it is on top of the other piece.

18. Hold this with a clothespin to keep it flat, and heat only the cut end (you want the rest of the ribbon to remain flat so that it will lay neatly behind the flower.

19.Once the edges are curled up a bit, stop heating it, take it out of the clothespin and attach it to the back of the flower with glue dots. You can repeat this step if you want additional leaves. 

20. Add a few pearls or rhinestones to the center to dress it up a bit.

21. Attach your flower on the card with glue dots and enjoy!

A couple of pointers

1.I have noticed that a lot of people hold the heat gun a little too close, trying to make the flower melt quickly. You will have a lot more control get a better result if you kept the heat gun a couple of inches away and melt it more slowly.

2. Don’t over melt your flower. You will not be able to get it perfectly symmetrical, but you will drive yourself nuts if you try. Just soften up all the edges and call it done!

If you would like to order any of the items used here today, please visit my website at www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net

Thanks for reading my tutorial!