Thursday, April 14, 2011

How to make: Hair Bows

Upon purchasing my fair share of hair bows, flowers, butterflies, and headbands; I decided that I might be better off in the long run if I could just learn how to make some of these things. The first thing I wanted to learn was hair bows; 1) because I don't have very many of those, and 2) because it seemed easiest.

Upon reflection I have 2 insights for you before you start.
- floppy grosgrain is a great ribbon to learn on
-you can do just about anything with hot glue

You will need:
  • ribbon (about 1 yard) -I find I like 1"-1.5" ~ 31 cents/ yard
  • a hot glue gun ~ around 2.99 if you don't already own one
  • a lighter -if you're using grosgrain ~ 99 cents for a 3 pack
  • thread~ who doesn't have this? you can get it al the dollar store for a bunch of colors!
  • small alligator clips~ $2 for a 10 pack
  • patience!!!!~ priceless
Start by getting all your stuff out and your glue gun warmed up.
Tie the very end of your ribbon in a knot. Don't pull it all the way tight, leave it with that cone shaped triangle bit in tact.
Cut the knotted end off and set it aside, run the ends of the big piece through the lighter flame to seal the ends. Don't catch it on fire! Fold the ribbon over kind of like a breast cancer awareness ribbon leaving one side much longer.
This is the part that takes a lot of patience and practice!!!
Wrap it around itself losely so the front and back look like this

Back


Front
Straighten it out a bit and scrunch the center together. (This also takes practice and patience)
Bind it REALLY tight with your thread to hold it. Bind it enough that the thread can hold itself in place. The flip it front side and put a dot of hot glue on the top.

Glue the flat side of your knotted piece to the top of the bow.
Put a dab of glue on the back and put down your alligator clip and run one end of the knotted piece through the clip. You may need to glue that down or if your clips were like mine they have a slit through the center so the glue holds down your ribbon as well.
Trim the excess ribbon and wrap your other end around and glue it down.
The finished product might resemble this!


Some people like to start with big bows, they say it's easier. I prefer smaller bows from the floppy more forgiving ribbon as I learn. My bigger bows still don't look like the store bought ones but I think they still look pretty cute!
I saved around $2.50/ bow by making it myself. I found a website that will sell these for 79 cents but the colors can be limited and even if I went that route to buy all my bows I would still save around 29 per bow by making it myself.

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