'I Made It' Monday: No Sew Fairy Wings

I first made these wings last week, but they came out so cute that I decided to recreate them for you today. Besides being cute, our daughter loves them! There are no wires to get poked with, no pantyhose like material to get a hole in, and they gracefully flap when she moves.

Without further ado, I present the no sew fairy wings!

Here is what you will need:

18" Mesh Tulle (this is the tulle with wider holes)

16" Traditional Tulle (much smaller holes)

24" of ribbon (I used 1.5" wide Offray ribbon)

24" of skinny elastic (I used 1/8th inch elastic)

Scissors

Rotary Cutter (optional- you can substitute scissors)

Clothespin or Other Clip

Ruler

The hardest part of making these wings is picking what colors you want the tulle to be. This pair is going to be light pink (mesh tulle) and bright pink (traditional tulle). When you pick out your tulle at the store, you could very easily make this a "No Sew AND No Cut" project by having the clerk cut the tulle to the needed lengths. Then, all you have to do at home is assemble.

Gather your materials and here is how to make them:

1. Make all of your cuts.

Cut the tulle, ribbon, and elastic to the lengths specified above.

Tulle can be a little unruly to cut because it slips and slides, so just do your best. I like to line it up and lay it as flat as possible and then hold it down with a ruler so I can use my rotary cutter to get a somewhat straight cut.

2. Assemble the ribbon/elastic portion.

Get the elastic. Put the ends together and tie a knot in it.

Take your elastic circle and line up the middle of the elastic loop with the middle of the ribbon.

Tie the elastic around the ribbon (see pic- I like to hide the knot on the elastic in the knot with the ribbon. You are doing this so your little fairy doesn't pull the elastic out when she puts the wings on).

Set the ribbon/elastic to the side.

3. Folding the tulle.

Lay out your mesh tulle and then lay the traditional tulle on top.

Fold the tulle in half, with the traditional tulle sandwiched between the mesh tulle (the traditional tulle will probably be a little shorter than the mesh tulle. Don't worry, it will look great when you are done).

Fan fold or gather the tulle in about 1" folds, back and forth until you have folded/gathered the whole thing.

Use your clothespin/clip to hold the folded tulle together so you can get your ribbon (If you have a 4 year old helper, you can ask them to hold it while you get the ribbon.)

4. Finishing the wings.

Find the middle of your wings and move your clothespin to mark the center. This is where you will be tying the ribbon and elastic you assembled earlier. (I lay mine back on the ruler and use the ruler as a guide).

Lay the tulle bundle on the ribbon/elastic, making sure the elastic bands go out to different sides.

Tie the ribbon around the bundle and make a bow.

Trim the ends of the ribbon to your liking.

Ta da! No Sew Fairy Wings

Now, find your fairy-child and watch how they fly! It always warms my heart to see the kids enjoying things I create for them.

Total Cost: Less than $5 (not counting tools- scissors, ruler, etc)

Time to Make: About 10 minutes after you get the materials together

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Additional Notes:

By using a small amount of heat, you can seal the ends of the ribbons to prevent fraying. I take a lighter and run it back and forth along the cut edge of the ribbon. Be careful not to hold it too close or you will blacken the ends of the ribbon. If this happens, just trim it off and try again.

My thoughts when brainstorming about this project:

- 18" on the mesh tulle is just enough to stick out from around her shoulders

- 16" on the traditional tulle leaves a little bit of a gap between the two colors so it creates a bit of a silhouette

- You could easily make the wings bigger or smaller depending on the look your fairy wants.

- The mesh tulle is thicker and stands up on its own so it helps to provide structure to the wings

- Store bought wings typically have metal or wire to hold the up, which I think can be a little dangerous. These wings are totally flexible.

- If you have a fast flying fairy, then you already know how likely it is that you will quickly need to need repair or replace metal wings because the easily get holes. Tulle is somewhat forgiving and because these are bunched a hole could more easily be disguised. Tulle is also very inexpensive.

- I created these for a little Fairy and Pirates Tea Party we had with a few friends. They were easy enough to make for each girl and they took them home as a gift.

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In the first picture is my fast-growing fairy, Caroline! She is sipping her pink fairy tea which I am sure helped her to fly. Her flower headpiece is simply a flower lei, folded in half. The adorable tulle skirt was a gift and is one of her faves.

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Other 'I Made It' Post:

Summer Pre-School (Make Re-usable Worksheets)