If you are looking for some amazing freebies, go check out Giveaway Today! There are some incredible items being given away, including photography, clothes for your little ones, and a blog makeover! So hurry on over!
Maybe one day I'll be featured on there too. {wink!}
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
And so it begins....
Well ladies, the move has begun which can only mean one thing....
....my ribbons are packed away!
After a long week of packing this week, and an even longer drive this weekend we will finally be at our destination!
I'm hoping to be back up and running by sometime next month and I'm so grateful to all of you for your support and patience! Wishing you all the best during the month of January!
....my ribbons are packed away!
After a long week of packing this week, and an even longer drive this weekend we will finally be at our destination!
I'm hoping to be back up and running by sometime next month and I'm so grateful to all of you for your support and patience! Wishing you all the best during the month of January!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Sew Those Korkers!
I've often referred to myself as the Queen of Live and Learn, because I do things, think it's easy, then find a better way.
Take my korker bows for example. Follow all the steps right up to the part where I tell you to tie them together. You see, tying them all together works, and it's easy! That is until your two year old gets bored and finds her korker bow is way more fun when all the curls can be pulled out. And then you have ribbon korkers strewn across your home and a child with no bow.
With that said, I'm here to encourage you to sew those korkers!
For this I just grabbed a few korkers I had left over from Halloween, so today - the FIRST DAY of 2009 - you get a festive orange korker! It might be a good idea to have about 24+ korkers on hand. They seem to make a nice round bow.
Don't forget the needle and thread. For this I doubled it up to make it stronger.
Tie a knot about 5-6 inches up from the end. As you can see I tried three different times to get the knot to double. And it just wasn't happening.
Take one korker, find the middle and press it onto the needle.
Push the korker all the way down to your fingers, but keeping it on the needle.
Add a second korker and have it go in a different direction.
As you place the korkers on the needle try and fan them out as you go.
Soon you'll have them all on and a tiny tip of the needle left.
Go ahead and slide the bunch off the needle and onto the thread.
Gently slide them all down to the knot. Be careful because if you push too hard against that knot you'll lose korkers - like I said, "Queen of Live and Learn".
Now, turn that needle around and go back through the korkers. You can try to bunch them together and push hard, but that can get a little dangerous. So I like to keep my korkers semi-loose and go back through in sets of 2 or 3.
If you want those korkers to be extra secure go through two more times.
Once your two ends of the thread are on the same end, trim off the needle and tie the ends together to tighten the korkers up.
And don't forget that double knot!
Finally, with your fingers, play with the curls and get them to fluff up just a little.
And now you have a korker that little fingers can't pull apart! YAY!
Take my korker bows for example. Follow all the steps right up to the part where I tell you to tie them together. You see, tying them all together works, and it's easy! That is until your two year old gets bored and finds her korker bow is way more fun when all the curls can be pulled out. And then you have ribbon korkers strewn across your home and a child with no bow.
With that said, I'm here to encourage you to sew those korkers!
For this I just grabbed a few korkers I had left over from Halloween, so today - the FIRST DAY of 2009 - you get a festive orange korker! It might be a good idea to have about 24+ korkers on hand. They seem to make a nice round bow.
Don't forget the needle and thread. For this I doubled it up to make it stronger.
Tie a knot about 5-6 inches up from the end. As you can see I tried three different times to get the knot to double. And it just wasn't happening.
Take one korker, find the middle and press it onto the needle.
Push the korker all the way down to your fingers, but keeping it on the needle.
Add a second korker and have it go in a different direction.
As you place the korkers on the needle try and fan them out as you go.
Soon you'll have them all on and a tiny tip of the needle left.
Go ahead and slide the bunch off the needle and onto the thread.
Gently slide them all down to the knot. Be careful because if you push too hard against that knot you'll lose korkers - like I said, "Queen of Live and Learn".
Now, turn that needle around and go back through the korkers. You can try to bunch them together and push hard, but that can get a little dangerous. So I like to keep my korkers semi-loose and go back through in sets of 2 or 3.
If you want those korkers to be extra secure go through two more times.
Once your two ends of the thread are on the same end, trim off the needle and tie the ends together to tighten the korkers up.
And don't forget that double knot!
Finally, with your fingers, play with the curls and get them to fluff up just a little.
And now you have a korker that little fingers can't pull apart! YAY!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
My NEW Favorite Tool
Have you ever heard of a wood burning tool?
Neither had I.
Well, not until about 2 months ago. My friend showed it to me and I fell in love with it and decided I just HAD to have one of my own. And since Michael's is so kind to send out those 40% off coupons every once in awhile I figured my purchase was justified. One trip to the store and $7.53 later, I was the proud owner of this little guy....
The beauty of a wood burning tool (we'll call it WBT for short) is that it combines two steps into one. Rather than cutting with scissors and the melting the ribbon ends with a lighter, you hold the ribbon down, cut with the WBT, and voila - cut and sealed.
Take a look.....
Cutting....
And sealed.....
Another advantage to this little guy is that your thumbs will thank you profusely. No more trying to flick that lighter on constantly. Believe me, after making about 50 princess clippies and all the ends that needed to be sealed, I was about ready to throw that lighter out the window.
If you look closely at my WBT, just past the tip (where it has lovingly been discolored) the entire top portion of it heats up. Which is great for sealing ribbon that has already been cut.
For example....
You've cut your ribbon to the appropriate size....
Take the end and slightly dab it against the side of the WBT until you see it melt.
That $7.53 was worth every penny.
Now don't you want one too?
Neither had I.
Well, not until about 2 months ago. My friend showed it to me and I fell in love with it and decided I just HAD to have one of my own. And since Michael's is so kind to send out those 40% off coupons every once in awhile I figured my purchase was justified. One trip to the store and $7.53 later, I was the proud owner of this little guy....
The beauty of a wood burning tool (we'll call it WBT for short) is that it combines two steps into one. Rather than cutting with scissors and the melting the ribbon ends with a lighter, you hold the ribbon down, cut with the WBT, and voila - cut and sealed.
Take a look.....
Cutting....
And sealed.....
Another advantage to this little guy is that your thumbs will thank you profusely. No more trying to flick that lighter on constantly. Believe me, after making about 50 princess clippies and all the ends that needed to be sealed, I was about ready to throw that lighter out the window.
If you look closely at my WBT, just past the tip (where it has lovingly been discolored) the entire top portion of it heats up. Which is great for sealing ribbon that has already been cut.
For example....
You've cut your ribbon to the appropriate size....
Take the end and slightly dab it against the side of the WBT until you see it melt.
That $7.53 was worth every penny.
Now don't you want one too?
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Channeling My Inner Princess
I've been really MIA over the past few weeks and I feel bad since I left you all hanging, but I promise it was for a good reason.
After spending three and a half years cheering my husband on as he did grad school, we took a family vacation to my favorite place in the world.....
And just because we can't seem to keep still or relax, in about 3 weeks we'll be moving across the country.
So, I have a few items lined up to post over the next 3 weeks and then my computer will be packed up and shipped with the rest of our belongings (sniff, sniff.....)
In the meantime, let's make some bows!
After spending three and a half years cheering my husband on as he did grad school, we took a family vacation to my favorite place in the world.....
And just because we can't seem to keep still or relax, in about 3 weeks we'll be moving across the country.
So, I have a few items lined up to post over the next 3 weeks and then my computer will be packed up and shipped with the rest of our belongings (sniff, sniff.....)
In the meantime, let's make some bows!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Cute Hairstyles Deserve CUTE Bows!
A couple of weeks ago I emailed the girl from She Does Hair and told her about my blog on how to make bows.....and she listed it just recently! YAY! I am so excited! If you haven't checked out her blog before, it's a must. It has some of the cutest hairstyles for little girls! And after you check it out it'll make you want to go to your ribbon box and start whipping out some bows to go with those rockin' styles!
And before I go I have to apologize for my lack of blogging.....with the holidays approaching and getting ready to take my family on a little vacation, I haven't spent much time picture taking. But here are a few things you can expect over the next month:
*My New Favorite Tool
*MORE Princess Instructions
*Simple Bow Tie Style Clippies
*The Best Non-Slip for your Clips
I'll be back soon.....
And before I go I have to apologize for my lack of blogging.....with the holidays approaching and getting ready to take my family on a little vacation, I haven't spent much time picture taking. But here are a few things you can expect over the next month:
*My New Favorite Tool
*MORE Princess Instructions
*Simple Bow Tie Style Clippies
*The Best Non-Slip for your Clips
I'll be back soon.....
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Success!
I'm finally back! Sorry I was MIA for SO LONG. Every spare minute went to some serious bow making. Whew!
I survived my first craft fair on Saturday and it was so much fun! I was really nervous at first, but everything turned out great. I'm totally kicking myself for not bringing my camera because I LOVED my table set-up. On one end I had two small Christmas trees that I had my boutique bows cascading down on ribbons, and I had the larger ones all around the base of the trees. On the other end I had the six Disney Princesses on display up on a box covered in a white damask cloth. Then all the other clippies (Minnie Mouse, velvet strawberries, simple clippies, etc.) were all around the box with the princesses.
The craft fair was at my old Elementary School, so there were lots of young girls who LOVED those princesses. And I was really surprised, but even the teenagers were buying princesses! I also ran into my old 2nd grade teacher and librarian which was kind of fun.
Overall, it was a big success! I even posted the remainder of my bows on my Etsy site along with some BIG sales. So if you get a chance go check them out.
In the meantime, send in those requests for bow instructions! I'm going to start with the simple bow tie clippies, and then after the new year more Disney Princess instructions!
I survived my first craft fair on Saturday and it was so much fun! I was really nervous at first, but everything turned out great. I'm totally kicking myself for not bringing my camera because I LOVED my table set-up. On one end I had two small Christmas trees that I had my boutique bows cascading down on ribbons, and I had the larger ones all around the base of the trees. On the other end I had the six Disney Princesses on display up on a box covered in a white damask cloth. Then all the other clippies (Minnie Mouse, velvet strawberries, simple clippies, etc.) were all around the box with the princesses.
The craft fair was at my old Elementary School, so there were lots of young girls who LOVED those princesses. And I was really surprised, but even the teenagers were buying princesses! I also ran into my old 2nd grade teacher and librarian which was kind of fun.
Overall, it was a big success! I even posted the remainder of my bows on my Etsy site along with some BIG sales. So if you get a chance go check them out.
In the meantime, send in those requests for bow instructions! I'm going to start with the simple bow tie clippies, and then after the new year more Disney Princess instructions!
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