Holly Berry Stenciled Ribbon

Hi all! How are the holidays shaping up for you? Do you have all your gifts ready and wrapped under the tree? No? Me either. I’m working on it though. This year I want to avoid buying new wrapping supplies. I never seem to use up all the paper and ribbon from the previous years, and it keeps adding up. But at the same time I want the wrapped gifts under the tree to look new and fresh, so I raided my craft room and decided to use leftover fabric to make my own ribbon using the Holly Berry Christmas Stencil designed by Jennifer Rizzo from Royal Design Studio. I love the traditional look of holly berries, but I wanted to add the modern element of using black, white and gold (and a little red.) Additionally, I wanted to mix rustic with modern, so I left the edges of the fabric frayed.

Making this ribbon was so easy. All you need is the Holly Berry Christmas Stencil, a pouncer, a small paintbrush, acrylic paint in your choice of colors, and a couple yards of fabric. Oh and maybe a pack of baby wipes to clean up any messes or to wipe off your stencil. Lay down some newspaper or something to protect your work surface (don’t be like me) and lay out a length of your fabric. Start stenciling with the paint and the pouncer and keep moving the stencil down the fabric until you reach the end. Periodically rinse off your stencil and wipe it with a baby wipe. There will be a side of the stencil that overlaps on to wet paint and you want to continuously clean it.
Let dry.  Then use your small paint brush to paint the little berries a contrasting color. I just dabbed some paint on top of the already stenciled berries.

Once the paint is completely dry, cut a little bit into the edge of the fabric where you want one side of the ribbon to be. Rip the fabric using that cut. Repeat on the other side of the design to make the ribbon. 

Use your ribbon to add color to your gifts, on a wreath, or as a garland for the tree!

**Royal Design Studio provided me with the stencil, but the opinions are all mine. I really do think they are awesome!**