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!

Tinkerbell Clippie

The above picture was made by yours truly. Which means......I finally figured it out! Hooray! And the best part - I didn't buy the instructions! I was almost completely flying by the seat of my pants. It was a little scary there at first, but overall, it turned out great!

I went over to my friend, Linzie's* house today, and together with a tiny bit of help from some of her free instructions on how to get the body and head, and looking at pictures of some that others have made, we were able to make our very own Tinkerbell! Isn't she cute? I even let Brooklyn wear her to Michael's afterwards. It was my bribe to keep her happy in the store while I searched for supplies to make the other Disney Princesses.

If you are interested in learning how to make the Tinkerbell clippie for FREE (I'm being serious here folks!), please leave a comment! And I'll see what I can do....

(*As a side note: Linzie makes some adorable bows herself and sells them here if you are interested. She's taking a break for awhile as she is pregnant, but if and when she starts up again be sure to grab them while you can!)

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!

Ribbon Art

A couple of weeks ago I found these Disney Princess Clippies on a website. They are made by someone who didn't leave instructions, so you have to buy them. But aren't they amazing? I almost want to try and teach myself to make them.

And speaking of instructions, I found some on a freebie website to make little pumpkin clippies. They looked cute online, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

And guess what?

It's adorable in real life!


See what I mean? Even Brooklyn begged to wear it today. Can you blame her? If it was socially acceptable for a 30 year old, mother of two to wear a pumpkin clippie, I would have just worn it myself.

The directions are not my own, but I will be posting pictures soon on how to make it, along with other fun ribbon art!