Earring Carousel Tutorial

I'd like to invite everyone to try making a carousel using my tutorial. It is currently posted in the Artz de Scrap website. Do visit the site to see what the Design Team (Felicia, Cabbi, Cathy, Kim and Emily) came up with as well for inspiration. A few months ago, friends were asking me how I did a carousel with ceramic horses. The tutorial is for an earring carousel, but the carousel can be modified and horses can also be used.

Title: Earring Carousel
Materials:
- illustration board or any stiff board (approx. 30cm x 60 cm or 1ft x 2ft)
- 7 pcs. disposable bamboo chopsticks (or barbecue sticks)
- empty ribbon spool with hole in the middle (piece of styrofoam with a hole in the middle)
- old cd (to be used to stiffen and add weight to the base)
- patterned papers
- ribbons/laces
- cord/ crochet thread for sewing, plus a hairpin instead of a needle
- glue
- hanging earrings (those with a hook attachments only)
- optional: metal trimmings used for fancy jewelry

1. Cut a big circle with a diameter of 20 cm. using the stiff board. Cover with pp. Make a 1/8 pie cut.. Cut a small circle with a diameter of 11 cm. Cover with pp. Cut another small circle of 11 cm or smaller. The latter is a back-up circle to be used to stiffen the base if needed. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel1.jpg)2. Punch holes along the left side of the big circle. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel2.jpg). Move the punched side towards the right side by at least 1''.3. Trace the holes made, then punch them as well. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel3.jpg) 4.Sew the two edges together. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel4.jpg)
5. Trace finished cone on another stiff board and cut. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel5.jpg)
6. Cover with patterned paper then punch a hole on the the traced circle. Push the chopstick through the hole. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel6.jpg)
7. Put glue on the sides of the circle on the stick, then stick this to the edge of the cone.. This will look like an umbrella cone. Push the stick through the previously cut circle with hole at the other end of the stick. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel7.jpg)8. Insert the open end of the stick through the empty ribbon spool. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel8.jpg) This is the framework of the carousel. Set aside.9. Measure 6 panels of 4cm width x 13 cm height on a stiff board. Add 1.5 cm to the height on top and at the bottom. Add another 1.5 on the width of the panel to serve as overlapping flap for gluing.. Cut and score all lines. Cover other side with patterned paper. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel9.jpg)10. Cut the edges to make triangles. Also punch 2 or 4 holes on each of the 6 panels. These is where the earrings will hang. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel10.jpg)
11. Fold the scored lines inward. This will make a hexagonal shape. Glue remaining flap behind one of the panels. For a more finished look, the patterned paper can be longer than the 6 panels and flap. When gluing, this extension goes on top of one of the panels. Punch holes where the previous holes are. Fold the triangles inside. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel11.jpg)12. Tape opposite triangles together. Do this to the bottom as well. This will hold the hexagonal shape together. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel12.jpg)13. Punch a hole where the tapes meet on both ends using the pointed end of the scissors. Take out the stick from the cone and circle base, then insert through the taped top and bottom. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel13.jpg)
14. Insert top end through the cone and bottom end through the bottom circle. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel14a.jpeg) Then stick the remaining end of the stick into the empty ribbon spool. DO NOT GLUE onto the ribbon spool. Make the whole carousel stand on a flat surface. The ribbon spool acts as a stand and as pivoting point. You can now turn the carousel. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel14b.jpg) NOTE: If the bottom circle on stop of the ribbon spool is not stiff enough, you can glue an old cd underneath or another cardboard circle with a hole in the middle to make the bottom thicker and stiff.

15. Cut 6 pieces of bamboo chopsticks into 13 cm lengths. Wrap with ribbon/-s. Glue ends to prevent unravelling. Optional decorative metal can be attached at the ends of the sticks for interest. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel15a.jpg) Glue top and bottom ends of the sticks to the carousel near the corners of the hexagonal prism. (See photo ADS Earring Carousel15b.jpg)16. Embellish the carousel, then hang the earrings through the holes. You're done!
(See photo ADS Earring Carousel Done1.jpg)NOTE: Ceramic horses with holes for carousels can also be used on the bamboo sticks.
(See photo ADS Earring Carousel Done2.jpg)IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT GLUE the stick through the empty ribbon spool as this will prevent the carousel from turning.

Do tell me if you've tried it. I'm sure there's a little girl in all of us that wants one. This is a perfect gift for a girl who has everything.

Sneak Peek Artz de Scrap November Tutorial

Here is goes, ladies! I'm sponsoring the November Tutorial this month of November. I think just with the sneak peak, you'd be able to guess what it is. I've been asked before to make a tutorial of this one. I tweaked it a little but I hope you'd try it out. Do wait for the reveal in the Artz de Scrap blog here. This would be a perfect gift for Christmas! Do check it out and I challenge all creative ladies to give it a try!

ADS Postcards of Thanks

For our next challenge, we were tasked to use postcards for an album for Thanksgiving. I decided to get postcards of famous Philippine sites. I decided that I need to travel the Philippines more than any other country.

I used Maya Road chipboard coasters for Transportation (airplane, car and truck). I traced these shapes and pasted them onto the postcards. I painted the edges with white acrylic paint, stamped Prima My Baubles text on top of it, then used mm tiny alphas to label each site. I also embellished each page with K&Co postal stamp stickers. Finally, I covered each page with mm Travel Clear acetates and trimmed off the excess.

I hope that this mini-album will be a reminder to give thanks for what we have in this country and that I still have several places to visit in my list. Do visit the Artz de Scrap site for the other team members' takes here. Also, do take a look into the Sneak Peak for the November Tutorial there.