Supplies:
- Ballerina file from my free library.
- Acrylic paint
- Glue gun and glue
- Wood: Basswood. I have ordered this from Glowforge and some from Menards. The Menards one is cheaper, but needs to be covered so the wood does not get burnt in the laser printer. Also the Menards wood has chunks of glue that can sometimes make it difficult to cut properly through. I buy 1/8 thick wood. Here is the link to a sheet of tape I use to cover my Menards wood. I like it a lot. Vinyl Ease 12″ x 100 ft Roll Paper Transfer Tape for Cricut, Silhouette Cameo, Oracal Self Adhesive Vinyl for Decals, Signs, Walls and More – V0821 or V
- Scissors
- Tulle in any color
- Small pearls to decorate the waste line. I got mine from dollar tree and used the second smallest size.
- Maybe a square piece of wood or canvas to put the ballerina or ballerinas on. I have a square file in my library you may use if desired. You could also make the square backing by gluing large popsicle sticks together.
- Hanging bracket
The first step is to go to my library to get the ballerina file. I have four different ones to choose from, or you could do all four, like I did. Once you downloaded the file, then you will want to cut the ballerina in your laser printer. The ballerinas have some small pieces that I am not sure if a Cricut Maker would be able to cut this pattern in wood. If you want to make a vinyl of the ballerina instead of wood, that could be done with the a Crciut machine. You can also download and cut the square shape I also have in the library to put your ballerina on if you would like. She would also look nice glued onto a canvas. I have mine on plain wood, but I thought about painting or staining the wood.
The next step was to paint my ballerinas. I do not have any gray acrylic paint, so I mixed some black and white acrylic paint till I got the shade of gray I was looking for. I used more black than white in order to get this shade. Since I am going to place my ballerinas on a piece of wood, I did not need to paint the back sides. I did paint the sides however, but this is up to you. Showing the darker burnt sides can be nice.
Now that everything is dry it is time to make the tulle skirts. I had some extra tulle already cut into nice pieces from a project I did years ago. The strips were about 18 inches long by 4.5 inches wide.
For the first ballerina I folded the tulle a few times, then cut the very bottom along the folded lines so that the skirt would open up more. Next, I pinched the top part of the skirt and applied some hot glue around the ballerina’s waist line. When placing the tulle on the ballerina be very careful, because the hot glue will seep through the tulle and burn your fingers. I used a plastic ruler I had to hold things in place as the glue dried so I would not burn my fingers. I heard dollar tree has some plastic finger protectors you could also wear, but I have never tired them. Once my glue dried, I then applied glue in any area that looked like it might need a little more (the edges or center pieces that did not quite get glued down the first time). Then I trimmed the bottom of the skirt to make it more even. I kept this one a little more long, but you can cut yours to any length that you desire. Once I had the skirt to my liking, I applied some hot glue to the ballerina’s waist line (the top of the tulle) and placed four of my pearls.
For the second ballerina I tried cutting the folded tulle after I attached the tulle to the ballerina. For me this seemed to work better. For this ballerina I probably should have trimmed my tulle piece down a little. Since she has a smaller skirt the tulle is a bit to bunched up on her. It also helps to just pinch the top of the skirt instead of gathering it in your fingers. Do not forget to add the four pearls around her waist at the end.
For the third ballerina I wanted to try a smaller skirt. Since I had a bit of extra cut off scraps from the first two ballerinas I decided to just try and use that. I started off by folding a piece of tulle long ways to cover her entire skirt. Once that was glued in place, I just kept adding little sections of tulle to the skirt to build it up. Once it looked to be a good length and size, I trimmed off all the extra pieces to make it look nicer. I did leave this one a little more uneven than the other though, because I liked the more uneven look for this smaller skirt. Then I added the four pearls around her waist.
My last ballerina I did it the same way as I did the second ballerina. I think the first ballerina and this last ballerina are my favorites.
There is a lot of versatility you could do with these pieces. I think they would look very cute all hung up next to each other in a little girl’s room. You could also add a pearl or ribbon to the ballerina’s hair. So, get creative with them and I look forward to seeing how you made your ballerinas. Please share your finished ballerinas with me.
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