Hanging Ornaments from ribbon/string

[Coffeebean]

I am working on a Christmas LO and would like to hang ornaments from a string or ribbon attached to a brad, but I don't know how to do that. One, I can't really find any string anywhere to buy (and don't know how to make it) and two, don't know how to make it look like it is looping through the ornament. Here is the page in process so that you know what I am talking about.

http://thebirrfamily.blogs.com/christmas_help.jpg

Thanks for looking!
Maegan

[scraprascal]

Hey Maegan,

This is such a great page, and idea! I don't know how set on string you are, but I know Michelle has some fabulous bows in a lot of her kits that would look so great here! That said, if you find a loopy string (hopefully someone else can chime in here about either finding or making it for you) a good way to "loop" it is to magnify it and use your magic wand tool and eraser-just erase the part you need behind your ornament. Hope that helps a little bit! :) I'll be anxious to see your finished product!

[missusking]

I don't have a specific answer to your ribbon/looping question, but another option would be a pretty metal "hook" - I think you could make one rather quickly from one of the shapes (I'm speaking in reference to an adobe product) and then apply a metal style to it?? I'd put it thru the ornament and then put a small bow at the top of it.

If you're having trouble with a "hook" I'd be happy to send you one.

HTH,
Mandy

[DianneRigdon]

Great ideas you guys! One thing I have done before is to draw a string loop. If you want a knot on it you'll need that on another layer, but a single loop all by itself is pretty easy. Use your hard round paint brush at maybe 35-50 pixels to do so. Then apply a soft bevel and also texturize it. I find that the burlap texture is great, but you can play around with it. Wouldn't hurt to give it a little bit of a drop shadow, but not too much. Then to make it look like it is going through the loop, you just need to do some careful erasing of either the ornament loop where it goes "under" the string, or of the string where it goes inside the ornament loop. Since they will be on separate layers, you can use your selection tool to select the area around the string, select the ornament layer, and erase the pertinent parts. Sounds crazy, but it works.

You might also be able to do this using a ribbon, but it would be a much more advanced process using distort tools and more detailed shadowing and painting if you want a knot. Of course, you could always get a ribbon and make a loop out of it and scan it or take a digiphoto and extract it. Just a bunch of ideas to make your head spin!;)

[Coffeebean]

Thanks for all the great suggestions ladies! I am going to work on this and get back to you. I may actually try each of them and see how they each look. (I'm funny like that). I will post my finished product when I am done so that you can all see. You are awesome! :D

[Nevermore]

I would love to see what you end up choosing--I think that the layout is just great!