Crafty Corner: Ribbon Dancer

I was at World Market a few weeks ago and saw this:

I had been thinking for some time of something I could hang from the ceiling in my classroom. Something that would be colorful, something I could make a bunch of, and for cheap.

This little item would fit the bill just perfectly....except it was $5 and I wanted at least 6 of them to hang all around the room. Doesn't quite fit into the limited non-profit preschool budget for extraneous purchasing. Lucky for me, I felt this could be something easy to replicate for a lot less than that!

I headed to Joann and picked up ribbon, beads and some metal rings. Also needed: scissors, glue gun, big needle and a lighter:

First, I cut 4 pieces of ribbon (one of each color) 3 feet long each and marked the middle of each with a marker:

I took the metal ring and the first piece of ribbon and wrapped it once around an end, making sure to center it, then secured with a little dab of hot glue:

I stretched it across to the other side, pulled tight and wrapped the other end the same...securing with another dab of glue:

I continued with the other 3 ribbons in the same manor trying to space them out evenly:

Ok, this is going great! But what can make it better? A little sparkle....so I added some beads to the ends. A big needle works great for stringing them through...once it was on the ribbon, I tied a little knot on the end and used a lighter to melt the ends to prevent freying:

Final step was to add string to the top to have something to hang it from:

And done! I am pretty satisfied with the final product....although now that I am looking at it, I think I will add a few more ribbons to make it full and flowy...crafting is always a process, don't be afraid to modify as you go (I will add an updated photo when I get that extra ribbon party underway):

As soon as I hung up the new ribbon dancer in the classroom, the kids immediately took notice and gave me their little toddler approval....victory! And I was able to make 6 of these for about $1.50 each....double victory!