Friday Focus - Seasonal Burlap/Jute

Welcome everyone! I'm Rebecca Deeprose from PaperPrimrose and I'm delighted to host this week's Friday Focus. I adore burlap and the texture of jute twine~ it adds a wonderful contrast to the pretty and often vintage elements that I love to use. In the hope of getting ahead of the curve with holiday gifts, I've decided to prepare all my little packages way ahead of time. There are some helpful hints to working with burlap/jute, that have been included in my comments.

I've chosen a few different designs and will be setting up a production line to make a dozen of each. These little sacks will hold something special..perhaps brownies or candied orange rind dipped in chocolate or whatever I'm in the mood to make in December. Having a stack of sweet little gifts is so handy during the holiday season. I can grab a gift on the way out of the door to visit a friend or neighbor or to give to a delivery person.

A 5.5 x7" kraft sack is my base for all three designs. Then I selected some gorgeous red jute (burlap) ribbon, contrasting it with red silk ribbon and a small bit of an elaborate white lace...

To make the assembly quick and easy, I applied a 1/4" wide strip of double sided tape onto the straight edge of the lace...

I found it easier to handle this way...

and attached the pieces to the bag, approximately an inch from the bottom, leaving a 3/4" space between the two strips...

I cut a 6" piece of the red burlap trim and applied two strips of double sided tape...

then adhered it over the edges of the lace...

To make the burlap bow, I used an 14" piece of burlap ribbon. Before cutting the ends on an angle, I ran some 'Fray Check' along the diagonal I planned to cut and up each side of the ribbon, for about an inch from that diagonal. Let it dry and then cut the diagonal through the part that's been treated. You'll be able to feel the treated part and it will keep the burlap from fraying. Tying a traditional bow would have been very bulky, so I made it by putting the length of burlap ribbon in the position above and wrapping it around the middle with red jute twine, tying it tightly to gather the loops...

Because sometimes more really is better, I made a red silk ribbon bow and a bow from a double strand of red jute. I just love the contrast of the fine and shiny silk against the rough and rustic red burlap!..

I added a trinket pin to the burlap bow and used a wire cutter to remove the portion of the stem that extends past the center of the bow (and keep the recipient safe!). Because the sharp ends tend to fly around the room, and I have to use both hands to make the cut, I 'flag' the sharp end with some colored tape. Blue or green low-tack tape is always nearby and good for the job. Adhere your layers of bows (I used Fabri-Tac), and weight the center of the layered bows down while they dry. This really eliminates lots of bulk from the assembly. I couldn't resist adding a little snowflake embellishment on top of the pile! When it's time to fill the sack, I will add a glue dot under the fold of the bag.

This is a second design using kraft, natural jute and a fluffy white fabric flower with a wood button center for contrast...

This design is super quick to assemble. I cut the large fabric flower apart from the strip it comes on and trimmed off some of the fabric in the center...nothing too fussy, just a couple of snips. This made a little depression for the button to nestle into the center. Distress ink added some character to the wood button and natural jute twine to thread through. I pulled some stray threads from another piece of ribbon and included them under the flower. I like the way they just flow and keep the design from being too rigid. When I'm ready for my 'assembly line' production, I will add some fray check onto an end of the twine, twirling it in my fingers to compact it and then letting it dry before using that end to thread a whole line of buttons! After 'stitching' the buttons onto a long length of twine, I'll space them, cut them apart and tie them. It's so much faster that way~

And a third variation...

I used the new Tim Holtz Alterations 'Snowflake Rosette' and just love it! The circular image is from Melissa Frances' 'Vintage Cardstock Stickers'. I love the images on this sheet and plan to use a circle punch on some of the square and rectangular stickers so that they can be mounted on the same snowflake rosette for other gift bags. A tip I would like to pass along to you is that when assembling the rosette, lightly fold the dashed lines on your die cut strip, fold just that portion of the strip back and forth~ don't continue the fold into the decorative edge, just the dashed lined area and when you're ready to glue it into the rosette shape, a hot glue gun will give you the quickest result. I used a 1" circle punch of card stock, hot glued under the rosette and hot glued the sticker on the top. It was easy peasy using the hot glue and rather fidgety with my trials using both double stick tape and liquid adhesive. I love the playfulness of the rosette and flourish die on top of burlap and kraft~

It's so much fun making sweet little packages...when I'm not rushed!!! For each of the designs, the only thing needed to finish them off (besides filling them with treats), is a glue dot to hold the flaps closed. So now's the time for me to get going and enjoy the process~

Thanks a bunch for taking time from your day to visit!

*Hugs* and blessings,

Rebecca

First Bag

Venise Lace Trim - 1.875 Inches

Red Jute Mesh (Burlap) Ribbon

Red Jute Twine

May Arts Red Silk Ribbon - 1.25"

Card stock	whisper white	Stampin'Up
Kraft sack	5.5" x 7"	PaperPrimrose/Etsy
Embellishment	snowflake	Michael's

Second Bag 

May Arts White Frayed Flowers Ribbon

Ivory Jute Mesh (Burlap) Ribbon

Venise Lace Trim - 1 Inch

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain

Kraft sack	5.5" x 7"	PaperPrimrose/Etsy
Tickets	white on kraft	Maya Road
Button	wood	Michael's
Stamps	tiny tags	Papertrey Ink

Third Bag

Sizzix Alterations Decorative Strip Tim Holtz Snowflake Rosette Die

Melissa Frances Vintage Christmas Stickers

Ivory Jute Mesh (Burlap) Ribbon

Kraft sack	5.5" x 7"	PaperPrimrose/Etsy
Digital patterned paper	nordic holiday	Macaulay Arts
Die	la rue flourish	PaperPrimrose/Etsy
Metallic card stock	foil/silver	Bazzill