Teeny Tiny Tassel Tutorial - for a Graduation Card

My Mother and Father in Law left for home yesterday, after a lovely two week visit with us.  Precious time indeed!  Now I’m walking around bumping into the walls and getting back into the sync of “normal life”.  I confess that I work very hard before they arrive and then directly afterward as well so that I have the option to just bask in family time together when it is presented to me.  It truly feels like how when I was a kid and got to go on vacation - our days were filled with small outtings and lazy days.  Though we had a few larger, formal meals, most days nobody worried so much.  It was “forage for one’s self” most of the time and forage we did - to excess!   Almost every night we watched movies projected onto the front room wall - mostly documentaries. 

Today is  Graduation at YouLearn.ca - the school where my husband instructs.  He likes me to build a few cards to honour the grads - a BIG event.  I say big because I too was a late learner, completing my high school at YouLearn.ca at the age of 43.  I remember how I used to say “I don’t NEED my grad for anything” - but I also know that was a cover-up, now that I have my diploma I know that indeed though I may never have to use it for a resume perhaps, I DID need it for … ME!  Education is a gift you give yourself.  Its a gift to yourself to be able to say “I CAN DO IT!)  It does not take up any space, it goes wherever you are and nobody can ever take it away from you. 

I get all “teary” especially when the more senior grads receive their honours.

So this year I made this card:

I would love to give you the file for this grad cap but I don’t know where it originated and I’d not like to infringe on any copyright.  But there is a basic grad cap svg HERE which you could download and adjust for your own project or I’m confident there must be grad cap files in the Silhouette online store or at SVG Cuts.  With a little tweaking and removing the tassel afterward you then all you need is to have your Silhouette software put a small hole in the center of the cap for the brad and tassel. 

I used the IMPACT font for this bold 2013 text - I also used the offset feature in Studio to make the backdrop.  the sparkle paper is from a dollar store.

I’ve assembled a small tutorial for the Teeny Tiny Tassel:

You will need:

Wire thread, crochet thread (this is a medium weight), a brad, scissors.

Cut a length of thread (aprox 30 inches long)  Cut off about 6 inches.  This is the folded piece you see in the photo.  Take the remaining and wrap it around your thumb, at the base where your it’s wider, until all the thread is used up.  Slide this off.

Loop the folded thread around the circle of thread.

Pull it snug.

Squeezing the tassel together from the top, wrap a small length of the wire thread around and around until you are happy with the size of the band.  Snip it off - give another slight squeeze to firm it around the threads.

Insert a sharp scissor blade into the loops - pull taut and snip. 

Trim any loose ends flush. 

Voila! 

I poked the top strings through the hole in the cap, added the brad and affixed the works with some foam adhesive tape. 

Thanks for visiting - hope you might pop back in tomorrow to check out my Family Challenge #6 as I’ll be trying out a fun stamping technique along with my Sister Nina and SIL Judy!

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