Thanksgiving Decor and Tulle Rosette Tutorial

If you're in Canada, the upcoming week-end marks our Thanksgiving holiday. Since we moved into our new home a few weeks ago, I'm going to be hosting Thanksgiving this year (usually this is my Mother-in-Law's job ;) ). Being a crafter, I wanted to make some of my own decor for the occasion. We'll be having about 14 people and these will be the table centerpieces:

I had a few sources of inspiration... This week, the Friday Mashup Challenge asked us to make a 'fall leaves' project and/or use twine on our project. This was perfect, because this week the leaves in the Ottawa area are a gorgeous red/burnt orange and they have been inspiring me too. The candle on the left is made with the Gently Falling stamp set. The candle on the right is made with real leaves from our backyard :) Curious on how I made them? Stay tuned for a tutorial.

In addition, I wanted to make my own placeholders. They were pretty time consuming, but 100% worth it!

For both my candle and placeholder bases, I used the Comfort Cafe DSP and the Bigz XL Rosette Die. When I saw the Silver Setting stamp in the new catalogue, I just knew I had to use it for placeholders. Embossed in gold. What's holding the name cards? An old-school wooden clothes pin!

Love the Tulle Rosettes? They are soooo easy to make. This idea was original presented by Shelli Gardner herself at the Hamilton Regional in August this year. I wasn't able to attend (I was moving that day!) but I was fortunate that a fellow demonstrator shared the rosette with us.

You'll need a big sewing needle (check out your local dollar store if you don't have one ;) ), Linen Thread or Baker's Twine (about 8"), and about 30" of the Scalloped Tulle in the Holiday Mini (available in Early Espresso - seen here, Cherry Cobbler or Crumb Cake). Simply run the needle and twine through the centre of the tulle. Let it bunch up because that's the end effect anyhow. It doesn't have to be threaded evenly, just through the centre at 1/2" to 1" intervals:

Once you've run the Linen Thread through the entire length of tulle, scrunch it up with even lengths of twine on each side and tie the twine in a knot. The tulle will fan out into a rosette as shown below.

You can use a button to finish it off since you already have two lengths of twine. I really hope that my guests like the decor. I wanted to do more, but the placeholders and candles took WAY more time than I expected ;) Don't these things always! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity! And to my Canadian followers, have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Project Recipe:
Stamps: Gently Falling, Silver Setting
Paper: Comfort Cafe, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe, DSP
Ink: Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Soft Suede, VersaMark
Accessories: Linen Thread, Early Espresso Scalloped Tulle, Cajun Craze Stampin' Write Marker, Big Shot, Bigz XL Rosette Die, Neutral Designer Buttons, Heat Tool, Electric Glue Gun (not SU!)