July 2021 Instahop

I’m excited to be part of an Instagram hop today with fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrators from around the world! For our group’s inaugural hop, we‘re showcasing Christmas in July projects.

I chose to use the Simply Elegant Designer Series Paper (DSP). Although it’s not specifically designed for Christmas, I think this beautiful paper makes fabulous ornaments!

Each ornament requires 2 squares of paper, and I used 6”x6”. You could choose a different size, but remember the smaller it is, the more challenging it is to fold.

To make the multi-faceted round ornaments, I followed the origami tutorial shown below, which was very clear and helpful. I do have some tips for working with the DSP, since it’s much thicker than origami paper:

Score the initial horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines. This is easy to do and helps you get accurate folds.
When creating a new crease, gently roll the paper and line up the edges before pressing down with your bone folder. Start from the tip of the crease and gradually work out to the edges, adjusting as you go along if necessary.

The elongated triangular ornament is very cool because the 2 pieces are held together with tension, not glue! You could even exchange the top and bottom pieces between different ornaments for a new look. This one is actually simpler to make, but the tutorial I used is harder to follow since there’s no audio. If you do the other video first, you’ll have an easier time of it since they both use the same foundational folds.

To complete the ornaments, I threaded gold embroidery floss through the top to form a hanging loop. The “beads” you see at the top and bottom are made from 1/4“ strips of gold and silver foil paper (silver foil will be available again starting August 3rd!). To quill them into simple coils, start by gently curling the back of the paper across the open blade of a pair of scissors, just like you’d curl ribbon. This helps to soften up the paper. No need for a special quilling tool for this simple shape—just use your fingers to roll the paper into a tight coil and secure the end with glue to keep the coil in place. Or, you can grasp one end of the paper strip with tweezers and use your fingers to wrap the rest of the strip

tightly around that to form a coil.

I hope you’ll go check out the rest of the Instagram hop! There’s tons of great inspiration!