Candy Bar Sleeve

This is quicker than you'd think and it makes an impressive presentation of a chocolate bar! Gather your supplies and then follow the steps. You'll need:

A 7"x6" piece of colored cardstock
Scoring tool
Ribbon (about 25")(I like wider ribbon better than narrow)
Hershey chocolate bar
Stamps & Ink
Sticky Strip (or the equivalent, a SUPER strong adhesive)
Hole punch (for making a hole as wide as your ribbon)
Extra paper for embellishing


1. Laying the paper down so that the 6" side is parallel to your body, score the paper at the 1/2" and 3 3/4" marks. (This isn't the best photo, sorry.)


2. Stamp your cardstock as desired. The center panel will eventually be the front of your candy bar sleeve.


3. Place a length of sticky strip on the face of the skinny panel and also one on the back of the outside panel, at the bottom.



4. Peel the backing off of the sticky strip and fold first the skinny panel in, then the outside panel, smoothing as you go. This stuff is permenant, so go as slow as you need to in order to align it correctly. You will now have a bare sleeve.


5. Punch a hole as wide as your ribbon near the top opening of the sleeve. If you don't have a punch that wide, just use a regular square punch and keep punching so that the holes all connect until the correct size is attained.


6. Embellish any way you wish.


7. Run your length of ribbon through both holes, keeping it flat.


8. Place the candy bar in the top of the sleeve, between the ribbons. Push it down into the sleeve, letting it take the ribbon with it.


9. Tie the ribbon securely, it will never need to be untied. When you give the candy bar sleeve away, just tell the recipient to pull on the knot at the top and see what happens! I promise they'll smile!

The Ultimate Cheater Bow

This is a great cheater bow! And no one will ever guess that it's not real! I'm again using a coaster for the purpose of the tutorial, but you'll be using cardstock.

1. I'm going to get you started: Lie a piece of ribbon across the face of your cardstock and secure it on the back with adhesive. The front will look like a ribbon stripe.


2. Take an additional piece of ribbon (use matching for a cheater bow, use a complimenting color for a decorative touch) and run it under the flat piece.


3. Tie the smaller ribbon in any style you choose. (Check out my X-shaped Bow and How to Tie a Knot That Lies Straight and Flat tutorials for two ways to tie it.) It is now mobile and will slide easily across the flat ribbon so that you can place it wherever you'd like on your project. And we were always taught that cheating wasn't acceptable!

Flat Faux Bow

Here's a third ribbon tying idea. This is super easy and deffinately a cheater bow! All you'll need is a double square, rectangle or circle punch to be used on your cardstock, in addition to your ribbon.

1. Use your punch on your paper so that you have two holes side-by-side. If you don't have a double punch you can fake it by punching a regular punch twice. Just make sure that you get them lined up evenly.


2. Thread your ribbon through the holes so that both tails are on the same side. Note: The tails should be on the BACK of your project and the flat piece should be on the FRONT. Pull snug.


3. Flip the left tail down and to the right.


4. Tuck the right tail into the left hole. Pull snug.


5. Tuck the left ribbon into the right hole. Pull snug.


6. This is what the back of your cardstock should look like now.


7. And this is the front! Trim the ends and it's ready to go, no adhesive needed if it's been pulled snugly. It's a nice bow for masculine cards.

Tying an X-shaped bow

I'm posting a series of ribbon tying tutorials because I've noticed that a lot of people are afraid of ribbon because they don't know how to make a good bow or knot. This is the second posting of ribbon tying. We're going to make an X-shaped bow, so go get a length of ribbon and hurry back to your computer!

1. Hold the ribbon in your hand like this, creating a loose loop shape, with the longest tail off to the left.


2. Bring the long tail up and over the loop.


3. Then bring it around the backside.


4. Next, you're going to push a bit of the ribbon through the loop you've just created, making another loop. Just like tying your shoe...


5. Pull snugly to secure and snip ends. You can make the "ears" of the bow as little or as large as you'd like by pulling the tails and ears accordingly.

How to tie a knot that lies straight and flat:

Everyone is always in search of a perfect knot, whether it be for a card, a scrapbook page or a special package. Here it is! You're (k)not going to believe how easy it is either! For the purpose of this tutorial, I'm wrapping my ribbon around a coaster, but you'll be able to do this on sturdy paper if you need to. I'm using a ribbon with a deffinate front and back so that you'll be able to follow easily.


1. Bring the right-hand side of the ribbon across your surface and then turn it back under itself at a right angle, aiming away from you. (It will resemble the letter "L".)


2. Bring the left-hand side of the ribbon across your surface and turn it back under itself at a right angle, aiming it toward you. The two ends should be intertwined.


3. Pull snugly to tighten it up. You will have the letter "T" now.


4. Hold the center knot snugly and bring the top end of the ribbon down to the right.


5. Still securing the center knot, bring the bottom end up and to the right. The two ends will now be crossed.


6. Take the end that is aiming up and tuck it into the hole created where the two ribbons cross and start to pull, turning the ribbon slightly to position it so that the correct side of the ribbon is showing. Pull tight enough to secure and trim the ends. Viola!! Easy right? After you do this a few times, you'll never forget how to do it again.

Customize Ribbon to Match Your Project

Here's a great way to custom-color your ribbon to match any project! It's really quick and super easy to do. There are a few different ways to color your ribbon; this is the least messy one. Others include reinkers, ink pads, heat tools....yadda, yadda, yadda. This one can go from start to finished on your project in about 5 minutes. You'll need:

Pastels (Mine are SU Stampin' Pastels)
Sponge Dauber
A length of Grosgrain Ribbon in a nuetral color (I used cream, but white is an option)
Spray acrylic sealer


1. Load up your sponge dauber with pastel color. You'll see how much is needed as you go.


2. Liberally apply the color to the ribbon, using a side-to-side and up-and-down motion to be sure it gets good coverage. If it doesn't get even coverage it will look splotchy.


3. You may choose to color the opposite side also. I used a slightly different shade in the same color family so that once my bow was tied it would have the depth of two colors.


4. Blow off any excess pastel dust and take the ribbon outside to spray it. Just a quick spray (not at close range) to coat it will be enough. The ribbon will have a bit of stifffness to it now but will still be pliable. Let dry for about 60 seconds and tie it onto your project! (If you sprayed too much you'll have to let it dry for longer before using it.)

To see the rest of this card being made, look for the tutorial Watercoloring With An Aqua Painter.