1) To make a 6-pointed rosette ornament, you
need three pieces of 8" long narrow wired tinsel
roping; for an 8-pointed rosette use four pieces.
The finished rosette will measure 3½" wide. To
make tinsel rosettes of various sizes, just cut the
pieces of wired tinsel roping in different lengths.

2) The second step is to make loops out of the
tinsel roping. Twist the ends together about 1/4"
in from the ends; one twist is enough to secure
the loop. Form the loop into an even, oval shape.
Design tip: when working with Lametta, use a
gentle touch so as not to crush the metal tinsel.

3) To assemble the rosette, lay a loop across the
inside of the metal crown ornament fastener and
press it down between the prongs. Make sure to
adjust the loop so that each side, or "petal" of the
rosette extends evenly out from the center. Add
the second and third loops, pressing them firmly
down into the center of the crown fastener.

4) Using a pair of pliers, push the prongs down
towards the center of the crown fastener. Make
sure that all the prongs are pressed down tightly
enough so the tinsel loop "petals" will be held
firmly in place with no shifting. And that's it! You
have created an an old-time tinsel rosette that's
ready to be decorated.

5) If you prefer a stylized, contemporary look for
your Christmas tree, these tinsel rosettes can be
accented simply using embellishments of die-cut
Dresdens such as medallions, halos or stars. To
create fancier, more elaborate ornament centers,
try layering graduated sizes of Dresden trims in
contrasting color combinations.

6) To make our charming angel rosette ornament,
we glued a gold Dresden foliate star onto a silver
nimbus halo, then added an #EF7316 angel scrap.
To complete this rosette, each "petal" point was
tipped with a small gold Dresden star, then subtle
accents of sparkling icy flake glass glitter were
added to highlight the flower garland and wings.

7) Once you understand how to craft this basic
tinsel rosette ornament, it's so easy to customize
them to create a wide variety of looks. Try mixing
together different colors and lengths of the tinsel
roping, or use our narrow wired tinsel fringe and
wired tinsel bumps to create whimsically-shaped,
one-of-a-kind Victorian-inspired ornaments .

8) Lametta tinsel rosettes also make lovely tree
top decorations; just set the top end of a spiral
tree topper wire into a crown fastener before
putting in the tinsel loops. For a clip-on style of
ornament, add a piece of extra-stiff Steifkantille
or sturdy wire to the crown fastener, then glue
the other end into one of our bird leg clips.

Want the "inside scoop" about working with Lametta tinsel?
The following crafting tips and assorted notes from our artists
will help you get started on designing and creating your own
nostalgic, heirloom-quality Lametta tinsel rosette ornaments.

These instructions will teach you all the tips and techniques
necessary to create a 3½" wide, 6-point tinsel rosette ornament.
Once you learn how to make this basic, standard rosette, you
will be delighted with how easy it is to customize the rosettes
to create your own imaginative, fanciful tinsel ornaments.

We love graph paper, and keep a ready supply
of tablets with a 1/4" grid spacing for our artists.
During the design process, the grid serves as a
handy guide for estimating the cut sizes of the
individual pieces used in an ornament; plus, we
also make design and measurement notations on
the graph paper to keep as reference. When we
craft ornaments, graph paper has three aspects
that make it especially useful: first, it has a clean,
bright white surface to work on, second, marking
a vertical, central line plus the outer points of the
ornament on the grid makes it easy to check that
you are crafting the ornament evenly on all sides,
and lastly, the disposable sheets make clean-up
a breeze!

When crafting with Lametta tinsel, it's important
to use a light touch so as not to crush the metal
filaments. Manufactured in Germany especially
for Blümchen, our authentic Lametta tinsel roping
and fringes are made with real "Lahn," which
are filaments produced from flattened metal wire.
This Lametta will darken slightly over time, just
like tinsel ornaments did back in the olden days.
In fact, the real silver plating used is "guaranteed to tarnish" for a truly traditional look!

The most important thing to know about modern
scrap pictures is that they are produced on a
thinner-weight paper than that used in Victorian
times. If you aren't careful to work with a light
touch, gluing a scrap relief onto the embossed
surface of a Dresden trim and pressing it down
too firmly can cause the scrap to have a bumpy
appearance, which is quite unattractive on your
finished ornament! Before gluing a scrap picture
onto an ornament, it's a good practice to "back"
the scrap with cardstock or thin cardboard. The
scrap can be glued directly onto the backing,
then trimmed neat. An easier and faster way to
back a scrap is to cut a piece of cardstock that covers just a goodly portion of the scrap, then
glue the scrap onto it. In addition to providing additional support for the scrap, it also helps to
keep the edges of the scrap from curling.

Design tip: An advanced crafting technique is
to add a little "depth" to an ornament by slightly
raising different layers of the die-cut decorative
embellishments. We like to glue small pieces of
cardboard between the layers of the backed
scraps (see craft tip above) and Dresden trims
when assembling the ornament. This extra step
to ever-so-slightly separate the layers of the
decorative embellishments is a subtle refinement
that lends a more sophisticated appearance to
your tinsel rosette ornaments.

Worried that the tinsel roping "petals" are uneven
or lopsided on your ornament? It's a cinch to fix this problem: just flip the ornament over so that
it is laying face down, then, using a pair of pliers,
grasp a bit of the wired tinsel that's close to the
crown fastener and push the tinsel in towards
the center. You can adjust each petal until your
rosette ornament is nice and even in shape.

10) You can always change the finish of beads
to best suit your design. To create the frosted,
pearlized beads shown, our artists glimmered
blown glass beads using extra-fine "pixie dust"
mica powder.