The Beachy Blues Guest Room is one of my favorite rooms in our house. It’s so relaxing that I use it frequently for meditating and may or may not sneak under the covers for some shut eye on nights I can’t seem to sleep anywhere else in the house like when the puppies are snoring too loudly.
Recently while meditating, or trying to meditate, I found myself noticing the bamboo shades and thought they needed something to jazz them up a bit. Normally I’d use curtains in addition to the shades, but there’s such a small walkway between the bed and the wall that curtains would make it difficult to walk there without pulling the rod down. And I actually really like the bamboo in this space; it adds to the beachiness and I love the way the light filters in through at various times of the day {which you can see in the various photos}. So I imagined cute tassels hanging from the ends and went to my local craft store to pick up some blue yarn.
I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited about the results… which you may note from all the photos I took 😉
Here’s What You’ll Need…
* Yarn… I used blue gradient yarn for a monochromatic multi-color look
* Scissors
* A card, etc., that is the size you wish your tassels to be. The smaller the card, the smaller your tassels, etc.
* There are tons of tassel tutorials on youtube if you need further instruction.
Also note: for a sleeker look, use embroidery thread, or simply buy pre-made tassels or tassel trim and cut off each to use separately.
Steps…
1. Cut two pieces of yarn about 12 inches long and set them aside. I chose to use only dark blue for the top string so that it would be consistent across the bottom of my shades.
2. Wrap your yarn around your object of choice about 35 times and cut off the excess… more wraps will produce thicker tassels.
3. Holding your string in place on the card, push one of your cut strings underneath the wrapped strings on the card so that it’s equally long on both sides. I had to use a pen cap to nudge it under, but if you use a piece of cardboard as your base instead of plastic like I did, it will be more flexible and easier to push your string under.
4. Pull the string to the top and tie it in a knot… just a single knot, around your string group.
5. Snip the bottom strings opposite, with scissors or a blade… and now your strings are off of your card.
6. Make sure each side is even and tie your top string in a tight final knot to secure it all in place.
7. Holding the top string, pull all your yarn down, holding it in place, and take your second string, about 1/2″ down from the top and begin wrapping it tightly around until both of your ends are about the length of your tassel, then tie them in a tight knot, hiding the strings/knot within the tassel.
8. Trim the tassel so that the ends line up. Give it a little hair cut.
NOTE: Since my yarn is multi-blues, it’s easier to be a little messier, leaving the knot semi-visible if it won’t entirely tuck beneath the others. If you want it to be a bit cleaner, I’d suggest using a piece of embroidery thread instead of yarn, on a large needle, and hiding the knot beneath the tassels.
Your final step is to hand-tie each tassel onto the bottom of your bamboo shade. I simply threaded the yarn through the easiest opening between the bamboo sticks, and tied a bow but you can also tie all of your tassels to one long string and then attach the long string to the bottom instead of each one individually. I liked the individual look because it really added that custom hand-made/Moroccan vibe I wanted.
And… Voila!
I ended up tying a tassel to the end of the lever strings as well… but later, so it’s only visible in some of the shots.
Have Fun!
* Find all my DIYs here
* Find all my HOME DIYs here
* Find my DIY Rope Pendant Light Fixture seen in the photos
