Pick of the Week ~ Paper Towel Ruffles

Hello stamping friends, Esther here with my Pick of the Week in stamps.
I recently saw an idea on Pinterest for creating gigantic ruffles (for parties) using a whole roll of paper towels, some acrylic paint, and water.
They were pretty cool looking, so I thought I’d try and adapt the idea to card making.
So…here’s my take on Paper Towel Ruffles

First off — gather your supplies:
~ Three Paper Towels folded on top of one another and cut into 2 inch strips
~ Acrylic Paint
~ Water
~ Food Coloring

Step #1 Pour a little paint into a plastic container (I used a lid) and dilute it with water
Step #2 Dip the sides of your folded paper towel strip into the diluted paint
Step #3 Spritz with a water bottle to allow the paint to run and bleed towards the center a little
Step #4 Carefully unfold your layers and allow to air dry or use a heat gun to dry

Note: You can saturate the entire paper towel if you like - instead of just the edges (see the purple piece in my photo above)

You can also use food coloring and water - because this mixture is much thinner than the paint mixture it tends to saturate the entire strip.
I squeezed mine out a bit before unfolding and drying.

Step #5 Create a ruffle

I used a sewing machine to stitch down the center - feeding folds in as I went.
If you don’t sew, you can also use a hot glue gun to create the ruffle effect.

I folded my finished ruffle in half, and trimmed the top layer to be just a bit shorter than the bottom layer before hot gluing it to my card.

Supplies and tools used on this card:
Repeat Impressions Stamps… 708-K, Rebecca and 9007-E, Sweet Things
Watercolor Paper
Prismacolor Pencils
These colors of Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Worn Lipstick, Black Soot
Crochet Dies (Sizzix - Tim Holtz)
Album Tags and Accents Die (Heartfelt Creations)
Clear Glitter Pen (Sakura)
Black Gems
Paper Towels
Acrylic Paint
Food Coloring
Sewing Machine

I hope you’ve enjoyed this messy, but super fun tutorial! I’d love to see the ruffles you create so be sure to link your finished projects up to one of challenges this month!
Happy Ruffle Making!

For this week only (June 17-23, 2019), get 20% Off the stamps used in Esther’s creation above when you use the coupon code POTW61719