Sunday, November 10, 2013

DIY Thanksgiving Bow

Baby L needed a bow to match her thanksgiving outfit so I decided to make her one. Couldn't be that hard, right? I took my natural creative talents and skills and tips I learned from being a florist and went to work! 

Now I know you are all wondering what skills a florist could use to make a hair bow, well, surprisingly a lot! I basically took my boss's way of making bows for corsages and went from there. Take a look below to see what I mean!

First off, the supplies:
Ribbon (I got a variety from Jo-Ann's)
Alligator clips (also Jo-Ann's)
Tulle
Thread
Needle
Scissors
Hot glue gun




I love ribbon! Seriously, I could hoard it. Decided that I wanted to have a lot of different textures in this bow so I made sure each ribbon was different. Ric-Rac, polka dot, satin, and burlap.



Started by taking my widest ribbon (the burlap) and making a base for the bow. I kinda eye balled how big I wanted it to be. But I put it next to Baby L's head to make sure it was ridiculously huge!



Now I used thread and needle at first to attach the ribbons and tack them down, but hot glue works too. Once you use hot glue though it is tough to get a needle through it, as I soon discovered today. 

Then I started layering the ribbons on, sewing (or gluing) them down as I went.


I love the tulle! It gives the bow some poof and softens it up a bit.

I also discovered that hot glue is the best way to attach the tulle.



Nice thing about the ribbon is that you can trim it up if you decided later that it's too long. :)

The curly ribbon was another nice way to add some different texture. They are really easy to make. Wrap some ribbon around a bamboo skewer, soak it in water for a few minutes then stick in the oven at 250 degrees until dry, about 30-45 minutes. 



To fill in the middle of the bow I took a little piece of tulle, tied some thread in the middle of it to kinda make a poof (should of taken a picture of it, oh well, hope you get the gist of my instructions) and then hot glued down. You could also use a silk flower or button. I originally wanted to use a turkey button in the middle but couldn't find one. :(


And now you're finished! 



Oops! I forgot to take a picture of how I attached it. I cut a little piece of burlap to cover the top of the alligator clip, hot glued it on and then hot glued that to the bow. So now you can attach the bow to whatever band you want. I happen to have a yellow one that matches perfectly. 




Isn't she just the cutest model?!?!

I just love how fun and whimsical it turned out!

Ah, yes, these flowers. Surely you noticed them in the first picture. I originally was going to incorporate them into the bow, but then decided that they didn't quite go with my ribbons.

They are super cute so I think I am going to use them as they are as bows!



I hope you enjoyed seeing and reading about my first ever attempt at making bows. Let me know what you think!

2 comments:

  1. I definitely agree- florists can have mad bow-making skills too! :) I Love the bow you made for your little girl. The perfect Thanksgiving outfit bow! Great job!! Hugs, Gail

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  2. Lovely. It's perfect!
    Man. I didn't know you could make ribbons curly like that. So cool!

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