Ribbon Bow Mini Hair Clips Tutorial

Several years ago I was very ambitious and made hair clips for my girls. I got a bunch of supplies to get started. Then, over the years, I collected more. And more. And more. And made less. And less. And less.

They are so cute! You can make them for holidays, stocking stuffers, and Easter egg fillers. At one point I wanted to have headbands or hair clips to match all of my girls' outfits!

Ha! I am happy if I can find a plain, black hair elastic most days. (Seriously! Where do they all go?!?)

But in my #springdeclutteringchallenge I purged a lot of my ribbon and trims. It needed to be done because I had way too much stuff. I also used up a lot of what I had, even inviting a friend over to make hair stuff with me. (There were unfinished felt flowers in my box that we made last time- just before her 5yo was born!)

Since I was mass producing these adorable (and EASY!) little bow clips I decided to put together a tutorial. We had a Nor'Easter here at the time, so the pics are kinda dark. That is PA spring weather for you, though. Anyway, here it goes...

Here are the supplies you will need:

I used 3/8" glitter ribbon from the Target Dollar Spot that I got around Valentine's Day. Grosgrain ribbon also works. I got my 1 3/4" double prong alligator clips from etsy (in bulk) but if you just want to make a few of these you can pick some up at craft stores.  That bottle with the lettering worn off is my fray check. :)

Side note: The U.S. government has all sorts of safety rules to keep our kids safe from lead, so please be aware that there are regulations out there if you sell things like this!

You will need to cut two pieces of ribbon 4" long and one piece 1 1/2" long. Seal the ends with fray check. If I am using grosgrain I carefully melt it with a lighter.

Wrap one piece of ribbon around the hair clip, using hot glue to attach it. The underside of the bent, top prong will have ribbon over them, but the bottom prongs on the flat side do not. These clips are actually really cute with only the glitter ribbon covering them so you could stop there if you would like. I usually add the little bow, though.

To make the bow, take your other 4" piece of ribbon and overlap the ends, hot gluing them together. Then, glue the top and bottom of the circle together in the middle. Be careful to make these loops the same size!

Next, glue the bow to the center of the top of the hair clip. I just glue it down in the middle. You could glue more if you would like.

Finally, use the short pieces of ribbon to wrap the center of the bow. Glue it on top and overlap both ends on the bottom of the upper prongs. You have to squeeze the clip to open it up so that you can get to the underside. If you have non-slip grips you can put them on the underside of the top prongs as well. I don't have any.

Finished! These only take a few minutes to whip up. Can you see why I overbought supplies? I am being good now, though. I promise!

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A new trend I have noticed is displaying portions of handwritten notes enlarged as a sign. I think it is a lovely way to remember special words. I was recently asked to create a sign with a portion of Clarence's note from It's a Wonderful Life so I thought I would snap a few pictures of the process to share a tutorial on the blog.

I happened to have the perfect size board already on hand. It is a rough cut board sanded slightly, so it has the rough edges and saw blade marks still visible. It really gives the piece some rustic character. I just lightly brushed some cream paint onto the board to get a weathered effect. You can also sand the edges to remove paint and make it more rustic.

Next, I resized the portion of the original note I was using and printed it out. (I just use Microsoft Word because I can use the page size to estimate dimensions.) I used carbon paper to transfer the image to the painted wood.

I used a fine tip black paint marker to paint the words onto the wood. It is more natural to make handwriting with a paint marker vs. a paintbrush. I also let the roughness of the wood texture the lettering by not filling in chips and grain.

Finally, I applied an antiquing wax to further age and seal the piece.

I think this technique would be really sweet for old love notes from your spouse, cards from special occasions, or even treasured family recipes!

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I think my 17yo son inherited some of my crafty genes. When I took him school shopping he asked to go to craft stores to get inspiration for his girlfriend's birthday gift. I didn't mind. ;) They are renovating her bedroom, so he wanted to make something for her new room. He combined inspiration from a few different pieces that we saw, made a small tray for a practice run, then built the final product.

He chose the paint colors (the aqua will match her decor) and did everything by himself. The back of the display is made of plaster lath so it has a rough texture that looks really rustic when painted.

His sisters also wanted to make something for her birthday. They insisted that I was not allowed to help them, but somehow blamed me when things didn't work. (You can't hot glue shells to wet sand!) On the third attempt, after much fighting and drama, they finally succeeded.

Hopefully she likes to decorate with pictures. :)

Mod Podge Toy Doghouse

My parents have a great tradition with the grandchildren. When they reach a certain age, they are treated to a birthday dinner out/shopping spree/sleepover. My kids really enjoy it. They love having some one on one time with them and getting a break from their siblings! Last year, my dad helped my 9yo build a toy doghouse for some stuffed animals she chose on her shopping spree. She brought it home to have me help her decorate it. We finally got around to it a year later. I am going to let her tell you about it!

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Hi! I'm Lydia. I have 2 stuffed dogs named Sky and Rose. My Pappy and I built a doghouse for my dogs.

 

Then, my mom helped me decorate the doghouse and it was looking pretty good! First, I decorated the roof. We punched circles out of scrapbook paper. Then, we used Mod Podge to glue them on the roof.

 

Some of them stuck out over the edge so we had to sand them off.

 

Next, I painted the outside of the house red and the inside aqua. Then, we cut out windows, flowers, and butterflies from the leftover paper. We used Mod Podge to put them on, too.

 

Last, Mom painted grass, stems, and leaves on the sides of the house.

My doghouse turned out beautiful!

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Thank you, Lydia! The before and after is pretty impressive. I was glad that we could work together on this. It is sometimes hard for me to let go of my perfectionism and let the kids have control of the craft projects. She did a great job!

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