Minnie Mouse Clippie

With the giveaway underway I figured it would give me time to get these Minnie Mouse Clippie instructions posted. As I was making the bow yesterday, Brooklyn was looking on. Her eyes got wide with excitement when she finally realized what I was putting together. Even my 22 year old sister said she'd wear this Minnie Mouse clippie in her hair if it was socially acceptable.


To start off you'll need these items: 3/8" black grosgrain ribbon, 3/8" red grosgrain ribbon, 3/8" red grosgrain ribbon with white swiss dots, 1/8" red satin ribbon, alligator clip, hot glue gun, scissors, measuring tape, and of course the lighter to seal the ends.


Start by cutting the black ribbon into 3 sizes for the head: 3.75 inches, 3 inches, and 2.25 inches.


For the ears you'll need two of each: 2 inches (x2), and 1.5 inches (x2)


Finally, cut all your red ribbons. The red with white dots needs to 1.5 inches long, the solid red needs to be 4 inches long, and the red satin ribbon needs to be approximately 6 inches (or at least long enough to work with).

**And don't forget to heat seal all ends with the lighter!


Using your hot melt glue, attach your ribbon to the alligator clip.


Add a tiny line of glue to the tip of each black ribbon.

(You know, as I was looking at these pictures I realized that I'm in serious need of a manicure. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I had one. I started having kids and manicures went out the window.....)


Bring other end around and press together to make a circle. Repeat these two steps for all of the black ribbons.


Once all the black "circles" for the head are made, add a small dab of glue to the top of smallest one(I like to put it right where the ends meet so that you can hide them when you glue it all together) and slide into the circle just larger.


Repeat again sliding the two small circles into the largest circle.

Do this same step for both of the ears.


Here is what the head and ears should look like before they are attached.


Add another dab of glue to the ears where those messy ends meet.


Press them to the head slightly off to the side. Do this again with the other set of ears on the other side of the head.


And there you have Mouse Ears. Now, if you want to just have Mickey Mouse rather than Minnie, you can attach this cute little head to your ribbon covered clip and you're good to go. For those wanting to do Minnie, stay with me.....


Take your red ribbon with dots and turn over and add that small line of glue again. Now....some swiss dot ribbons have those polkas on both sides, mine doesn't that's why it looks solid.


Bring the other end around and make a circle.


Using your thumb and forefinger, press the ends down to flatten the circle a bit. And make sure that you slide the ends that are glued together off to one side, otherwise your cute little bow won't cinch in the middle. I like to slide them as close to one of the pinched sides as I can get.


Grab that 6 inches of satin ribbon and lay it down on the table and lay the ribbon for the bow on top of it. You want to make sure the glued ends are facing up at this point. The knot and the glued ends should be on the same side so it will be hidden once it is glued to Minnie's head.

These next couple steps take a lot of coordination, and I will admit that I've had to use my teeth a few times with this one.


Carefully begin to tie the satin ribbon around the middle of the bow. Once you see that it is in the middle pull tight tight tight so you can cinch that middle part down as much as possible. Use your fingers on one hand to hold it and tie a second knot to make it stay.


Here's the back of Minnie's bow. Cute, huh?


Take your scissors and trim the ends. Try and get as close to the knot as you can without causing it to come untied. That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way!


Add a dab of glue right on top of that knot.


Turn the bow over and press it down right under one of Minnie's ears. I like to put it to the left, but you can do it on the right or in the middle. Whatever you prefer.


Grab that alligator clip you lined at the beginning and add a small strip of glue to the top.


Press Minnie's head, right where the ears and head meet, into the glue and hold until the glue sets.


And there's the obligatory shot from behind.


And the finished product! Isn't she cute?!

Now....before you run off to buy your supplies, be sure to leave a comment here so you can be entered into the Giveaway! You won't want to miss it!

Pumpkin Clippies

Just in time for Halloween!


You know, I was searching online for the instructions for these and I came across this one lady's website and she sold these clippies for $4.50! Let's be honest folks, that's a lot of money considering how E-A-S-Y these are to make! Really, you'll be amazed. In fact, just putting this one together it only took me about 15 minutes - and that includes the picture taking!

And before I go any further I have to point out that this is not my design. The design belongs to a lady named Michelle Cooper. I found her instructions here, but they were kind of blurry so I am recreating them just for you.

Now, let's get started.....


You'll need all the essentials: scissors, hot glue gun, measuring tape, lighter, alligator clip, and 3/8" ribbon in orange and green. For this I used the colors Pumpkin Pie and Apple Green just because I think they look cute, but you can use whichever colors you prefer!


Get out your trusty measuring tape and cut the ribbon into the lengths specified below.


And just ignore the incredibly crooked picture. Even Photoshop couldn't help me on that one. So here are the lengths again:

Pumpkin Pie: 3 and 3/4", 3 and 1/4", 2 and 7/8", 2 and 1/2", and 2".
Apple Green: 2 and 3/4", 1 and 1/4" (You'll also need 4" to cover your alligator clip!)


Don't forget to heat seal all your ends to prevent them from fraying.


Add a tiny line of glue to the end of each orange ribbon. Bring the other end around to make a circle and press the ends together.


This is what all your ribbons will look like when you are done.


Here is a closer look at the ends glued together.


Starting with the smallest orange ring, put a dab of glue on top where the ends meet and slide it into the ring that is slightly larger than it. Take those two rings and do the same thing with the next size up and so on until all the rings are glued inside the largest ring.


Next, take the 2 and 3/4" green ribbon, fold it in half and make a crease.


Add a dab of glue on the crease and bring the ends into the middle and press down to make two loops. And whatever you do, please ignore my incredibly dirty glue gun. I bought a new shiny one about a year ago and I hate it. So back to the old one.


Here's a better look at those loops....


Add another dab of glue where the ends are glued together and press on top of your pumpkin rings.


I put it right on top where all the rings meet, but you can put it off to the side too.


For the stem, take the 1 and 1/4" green ribbon, fold in half, and from the fold cut at a diagonal.


Be sure to heat seal the sides and ends where you cut. The sides will fray really easy if you aren't careful.


Put a tiny dab of glue at one end of the stem and bring the other end over to glue them together.


Another tiny dab goes on top of the leaves, and glue the stem down at a slight angle.


Now grab your ribbon covered clip and put your final dab of glue about 3/4" from the end (not the end that you open the clip with, the other end where it goes into your daughter's hair.)


Press your pumpkin down right where all the rings are glued together. I like to do mine at a slight angle. Surprisingly, it holds really well.


And there you have it! A Pumpkin Clippie!

Now, go tell all your friends, and brag about how easy it was to make this clip!

Korker Bows Halloween Style!

I'm a big fan of Halloween. In fact, my mom knows that when she goes out to look for clothes for my girls, if she returns with a Halloween shirt, it is sure to be a hit with me. So, when I started working on making korker bows I began going through my ribbon cart (yes, I have an entire cart dedicated to ribbon, it's an obsession really) I came across a bunch of leftovers that I hadn't used in awhile, and they were perfect for making Halloween bows!


To start off you need a few things: 1/4" wooden dowels, 3/8" ribbon (anything thicker doesn't curl as well), and clothes pins. If you are using 1/4" ribbon be sure to grab 3/16" dowels instead, they work much better on the thinner ribbon!


Hold ribbon at a slight angle and attach to the dowel using the clothes pin. I was once told to just use one of the metal alligator clips, and it was the worst advice I ever got. Almost all my ribbons came loose and unravelled. So learn from my mistake - don't use alligator clips!


Continue to wrap ribbon around dowel until you get to the end.


Once you reach the end, trim your ribbon with scissors.


And attach with another clothes pin.


Repeat this process until all of your ribbons are wrapped. They should look something like this!


Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.


Place your dowels on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. If you don't have one you can also use foil to cover the racks. Once the oven is heated slide your dowels in.


Set the timer for 30 minutes.


When the timer goes off, remove the cookie sheet and allow ribbon to cool completely before removing the clothes pins. Here's a look at my ribbon right before I took it off the dowels. (hint: I'm not a starch kind of person, but if you like your bows a little more crisp, take a can of starch and spray it on the dowels before they cool.)


Begin removing the ribbon by lifting one end off the dowel and twisting it around until the whole thing starts to come off. I've had ribbon just slide off before, other times it gets snagged. Do whatever is easiest for you, just pull gently so it doesn't undo the curl.


Here are all the korkers off their dowels. Aren't they pretty?


Each korker will be 12" long. If you are using an 18" dowel, then obviously the korkers will be that long.


First I cut the 12" korker in half....


....giving me two 6" korkers.


Then I take those 6 inch korkers and cut at the 3" mark....


....giving me four 3" korkers.


Repeat until you have a whole stack of 3" korkers!


Now we're ready for the fun part....getting those korkers to go wild. A word to the wise....be sure to invest in elastic cord! I tried just using thread and it's a pain because it slips. The elastic gives you a nice tight grip on the ribbon.


Cut a piece of elastic about 8" long, and stack about 12-24 korkers on top of it. The more korkers you use, the more round your bow will be. For this one I only used 12.


Begin tying and slowly bring the elastic together. Sometimes the korkers fall out of place, which is why I have the next step....


Holding the tie with one hand, take the other an even out the korkers. Some may be longer on one end, so just tug gently until they all look even.


Then hold your breath and pull tight! Look at all those korkers go wild! I love it! Do a double knot to make sure it's secure. If you see any korkers that are still long you can tug again to even them out.


Trim the extra elastic off.


Now we're ready to attach our korkers to a clip.


Put a line of glue on your ribbon covered clip.


Take the korkers and look for the knot of the elastic. That's the end that I like to glue down so you can't see it.


Press firmly in the middle and allow glue to cool.


A look at it from the back.....

....and there you have the korker bow. It's almost as easy as saying Trick or Treat!