Easy Storage Snowflake Luminaria Tutorial

May Arts has a Challenge on right now. They send you four 4-yard lengths of your choice of ribbon to complete a winter project and when you send a picture(s) in to the company, you get A FULL SPOOL of ribbon!! If you want to play, hurry up! Projects are due at the end of the month. The winner gets 3 FULL SPOOLS of ribbon. So I requested some ribbon (5/8” sheer white, silver and navy plus the snowflake trim) and here is the result. I thought others might want to make one so I took pictures as I made it and here’s the tutorial! Best part is it is collapsible so after the season is over, you can store it (minus candle) in a 9x12 manilla envelope!

You Will Need:

3 pieces of 8.5x11” CS or 2 12x12”
3.5-4 yards sheer 5/8'” ribbon-colour A (silver-weaving)
2.5-3 yards sheer 5/8” ribbon-colour B (navy-weaving)
2.5 yards sheer 5/8” ribbon-colour C (white-tying up sides and bows)
6” snowflake trim
Other stamps, ink and bellies as desired.
4 medium sized coordinating brads
craft knife and mat
hole punch (recommend screw punch and Crop-a-dile)
1/4” red line or Scor-Tape
faux tea light ‘candle’

Step 1. Cut 4 panels 5 1/2 x 6 1/4”. Cut one panel 5 1/2 square. Score the first 4 panels at 5 1/2”. This leaves a 3/4” flap. (The white paper is just to allow my camera to focus. It has trouble with large amounts of the same colour.) Click to enlarge any photo.

Step 2. Use binder clips to hold the panels together with score lines aligned. Punch holes in the sides of the panels as per photo below. Use a 3/16” crop-a-dile or other anywhere punch. The top hole is 1/2” in from the top and side. The hole closest to the score line is 1/2” in from the score line and the side. The last hole is 1/2” in from the side and halfway between the other two holes. (the side opposite the score line will be the top)

Step 3. Cut out windows from the middles of the panels. I marked mine at 1/2” in from the holes, bottom and top on the INSIDE of the panel. In retrospect, I might have chosen to cut out a square instead of a rectangle making all the edges the same width. If you are making a bit smaller luminaria, you may be able to use a square Nestability or other die to cut the windows. I used a craft knife and a ruler. Don’t bother erasing the pencil marks, they will be covered by ribbon.(You are looking at the inside of one of the panels with the top at the top this time.) Stamp the outside of the panels if you wish.

Step 4. Fold the score lines. Place the window panels at right angles to the 5 1/2” square panel as per photo. Line the corners up very carefully and punch a hole in the corners through all three layers at once. (The size of hole will be based on the size of brad you will be using.) I recommend you use a screw punch or other punch that does not require you to lift the papers off your cutting mat. Add a brad to the hole. Repeat with the remaining 4 corners. Mark each corner with a letter or number. Mark each panel and the base with the same number in each corner because you will have to take this apart for the next step.

Step 5. Take the whole thing apart! Trim a tiny edge off the corners of each panel near the holes you just made. This will help it fold together more smoothly when completed. See photo below.

Step 6. Now you will add your ribbon to the windows. Start by adding 1/4” red line tape or Scor-Tape to the insides of your windows. I took a photo but it didn’t turn out so well. Start adding your ribbons alternating colours, taping the sides only. You can see I have left the top and bottom adhesive backings on. My ribbon was a perfect fit side to side (5/8” wide).

Step 7. Remove ONE other adhesive backing strip. Start weaving ribbon through the other way. You want to start weaving at the non-sticky side. If you have never woven anything before, basically, one ribbon starts by going under, then over etc. The next ribbon does the opposite. This time, my ribbon doesn’t fit perfectly. A small space needs to be left between each ribbon so I threaded the first and last and adhered them (left side in the picture below), then adhered the middle ribbon, centered between the other two ribbons. Next, I threaded through the navy ribbons and adhered them, centering them in the space remaining.

This is what the inside looks like after all the ribbons are woven.

The outside after the ribbons are woven.

Step 8.  Cut 2 pieces of ribbon 12” long and two 28” long. Use your heat gun to melt the ends of each ribbon to prevent fraying. Fold over 1/2” of both of the 12” pieces of ribbon and pierce a hole with an awl in each through both layers. (sorry, no picture) While reassembling the panels as in Step 4, put brad through the hole in the ribbon BEFORE putting it through the panels. This will anchor it to the luminaria. Do this for two adjacent corners; these will be the back two corners. Thread the ribbon through the holes as seen in the photo. From the brad, the ribbon goes out through one bottom hole, in through the adjacent hole, once inside, thread the ribbon up to the next hole and repeat. When you get to the top, tie the ribbon to itself inside and tuck in the tail.

Step 9. Fold the 28” length of ribbon in half. Starting inside, bring one ribbon tail out through each of the lower holes. Criss cross the ribbon and put ribbon through the next hole, criss cross on the inside and bring the tails out through the top holes and tie in a bow. If you would like another criss cross under the bow from middle holes to top holes: after threading the ribbons from the outside to the inside at the middle holes, cross inside and pull back through the middle holes from inside to outside. Cross on the outside and thread through the top holes from outside to inside. Cross in back and bring ribbons through holes front inside to outside and tie bow. (I am planning on going back to do this.)

Decorate as desired. Mine is decorated with specialty snowflake ribbon from May Arts of course! The chipboard snowflake is covered in glass glitter and hung with silver elastic cord. To collapse, remove the brads and fold the upper portion in half. You shouldn’t even have to remove the ribbon! Store in an envelope! I strongly recommend a fake candle to prevent a fire hazard.

A couple of notes: I am considering making the bows smaller and trimming the ends. What do you think?? Also, the corners didn’t want to line up perfectly, buckling slightly where I tied the ribbons. So I added a small reinforcement piece. Cut 4 pieces of matching cardstock 1 1/2 x 3/4”. Score in the center dividing it into two squares. Punch a hole 1/2” from the score line on each side. Apply adhesive to one square around the hole. (Actually, you could adhere both, I wrote this while I still thought that you’d have to remove the ribbon and take it all apart to store it in which case the reinforcements could only be adhered to one side.)Use this piece to reinforce the upper corners. if you are using 12x12” paper, it might make sense to add a tab to the top corners instead but if you are using 8.2x11” that would waste a lot of paper and my reinforcements worked out really well. Up to you!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Ink: VersaMark Dazzle
Paper: night of navy CS-SU!
Stamps: SU! snowflakes
Accessories: May Arts ribbon, red line tape, chipboard snowflake-stash, Art Institute Glass Glitter, elastic cord-SU!, brads-stash