Instead of throwing rice or bird seed or blowing bubbles, I thought we should have some ribbon wands to wave around! It won’t get everywhere, so easy clean up is definitely a pro. They are a little time consuming, but with both Matt and I working on them it’s fun. Matt is definitely the logistics behind them, measuring out the wood wands and getting the right kind of metal loops for the top. I just wish ribbon wasn’t so expensive. I need to keep an eye out for some sales.

Here’s some tips for anyone attempting them:

STEP 1: Home Depot has all kinds of different wood rod sizes to choose from. Also, they will cut them to any size you wish. They didn’t charge us, but I’m not sure if that’s typical—ask about a cutting fee first. We got each rod (1 yard long) cut into three pieces, making each wand roughly one foot each. Then we got metal loops to screw into the tops. We got a pack of 100 for about $8.00. Overall we spent about $48 bucks at good ol’ Home Depot. Not bad for 100 wands!

STEP 2: Find a local craft store and check out their sale bins. I am slowly buying yards of ribbon that I find, not getting all that I need at once. The benefit of doing this kind of project around the holidays is that there will always be a sale going on. Plan ahead so that you don’t have to break the bank when getting ribbon. When I can’t find any ribbon spools on sale, I buy some by the yard at $0.99/yard. It may not seem that expensive, but when it takes about 10 yards to do 20 wands, it can add up fast. I cut each piece of ribbon 18” long (about).

STEP 3: Start tying ribbon onto each wand. I would suggest double knotting them, seeing as people will be waving them around. Picking up a bunch of ribbon afterwards defeats the point of this no-mess item. Turn on a good movie or TV show marathon because this is where your time is consumed the most.

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Here’s a sneak peek at our next project (maybe). I am not sure if I want to do these as favors yet. I need to price out all the individual items first.

I’ll keep you posted!

photo collages 1 & 3 via my Pinterest

middle photo collage by yours truly