[crafter] bow & headband holder

My daughter has a lot of headbands and bows. And they quickly began piling up in a drawer. For the organizational maniac {me}, this is a nightmare. I wanted a bow & headband holder to hang in her room.

When I got online to buy one, there were so many cute ones. But none of them had a lot of hooks.

So as usual, I decided to make one myself!

This project didn't take a lot of time or resources. Hooray! You'll need:

1. Some kind of wooden sign. I found mine at Hobby Lobby.

2. Paint. I used white craft paint.
3. Lots of little cup hooks. I found mine in the hardware section of Wal-Mart. I bought white, 7/8 inch, pack of 50- I used 21.

4. Ribbon for the bow at the top. You'll only need about 2 inches of a 3/8" ribbon.

5. Alligator Clip for the back of your bow.

6-7. Ribbon to hang from the bottom to clip on bows and the top to hang it. I chose gray & white chevron that match the nursery. Both found at Hobby Lobby. 

I used 100 inches (almost 3 yards) of the 5/8" that will hang from the bottom (4 strips of 25"). For the 1.5" I used almost a yard. 16 inches to hang it and 16 inches for the bow. 

* Tools - I needed a glue gun, heavy duty staple gun, a drill, pencil, & ruler.

After you've got your supplies together, you're ready!

1. Paint the wood.

I put on lots of coats and let it dry in the sun.

2. Now the annoying part. You'll need to figure out where your hooks go. I wanted to squeeze as many as I could on this thing. I also knew I wanted to hang bows on the bottom so I needed room for the headbands to hang down. So I started in the middle of the sign and drew a line with a pencil. Then I measured (I don't remember the exact numbers) and placed a dot where I would drill. I did this in an up-and-down pattern all the way across the sign, using the line as a reference.

I went back and used Photoshop to accentuate the line and dots for you.

3. Drill your holes then erase your line. Make sure you don't go all the way through the wood!

4. Screw in your cup hooks. Have fun with this {sarcasm}. Drilling the holes makes it easier but it's by no means easy.

5. Cut about 16 inches of the 1.5" ribbon & staple it into the back. Use lots of heavy duty staples here!

6. Cut 25" strips of smaller ribbon to hang from the bottom. I ended up using 4 strips. They are 1.5" apart. You may need to heat seal your ends with a lighter. Staple these into the back.

 

7. To make the bow to clip on the top:
    1. Cut a strip of 1.5" ribbon. I used 16 inches.

     2. Fold the ribbon in half and press firmly on the fold to create a crease.

 
     There should be a nice crease down the middle now. 

 

     3. Apply glue directly next to the crease.

    4. Press the end of the ribbon  on top of the glue.

     5. Repeat on the other side.

 

     6. To close up the bow, pinch the middle in half.

     7. Apple a dot of glue in the middle.

     8. Press firmly until it dries.

     9. Now, see the top parts that aren't glued?

     10. Fold those back and apply glue. Press firmly until dried.

     11. To cover your mess, cut a small piece of ribbon (3/8") into a 2 inch piece.

     12. Apply a small amount of glue in the middle on top.

     13. Press the end of your small ribbon there.

     14. Wrap the ribbon around and glue again. Then glue your alligator clip on the back.

8. Almost done! When it's time to hang the headband & bow holder, use a nail. Allow the ribbon to hang over the edge of the nail.

BEFORE

AFTER - Pull the ribbon over the edge of the nail.

9. Clip the bow on top of the ribbon, right up against the nail.

10. Load up the holder with all the bows and ribbons you can handle and admire your work!!

What do you think? Now you've got all your ribbons and bows in one place! Project done! And less than $10!!!!!!

[crafter] Monogram hanging decoration

I continue with my idea that a homemaker can be defined as a crafter! Not all homemakers are crafters and not all crafters are homemakers. But this gal is!

I am almost certain that "crafter" isn't considered a word. Sorry.

Today I tell you about how I made this monogram decoration. If you haven't read my other posts, you may not know these few things about me:
1. My daughter is 6 months old (turning 7 months this week though!)
2. We didn't know we were having a girl until she was born!

So when Baby was born, I crafted during her naptime. I had to make her nursery girly &  personalized. I started with this monogram.

This was easy. But you need a lot of stuff to do it. You need craft supplies and some tools. I live a few blocks from a Hobby Lobby. I get mostly everything there. I also visit Micheal's and Joann's which are both within minutes of my house. My daughter might begin to call these places home because we're there so often. ;o) Here's what craft supplies you'll need:

 

1. 10" x 10" Scrapbook Paper of your choice

2. Foam brushes. Several of them. I use one, rinse it out, and then use another. For this project I went through a few of them.

3. Craft knife. I bought it at Hobby Lobby. 

4. Spray Adhesive. Or you could use a different kind of glue. I just prefer spray because it's easier.

5. Mod Podge. If you don't know about Mod Podge, I urge you to learn!! It's decoupage. And it's glorious.

6. 10" Plywood Circle. Again, purchased at Hobby Lobby.

7. Uppercase wood letter representing last name. This "N" is 5.5" inches tall. 

8-9. First and middle initial letters. Two different sizes obviously because the "h" is taller. I bought these at Hobby Lobby. They didn't have small uppercase letters (which I preferred) in this font, so I settled for these lowercase. The "h" is about 4.25" tall and the "e" is 2.5" tall. 

10. Craft paint. I wanted a light purple and this brand was on sale! It's Light Lavender (516) acrylic paint by folkArt. Purchased at Hobby Lobby.

11. Craft paint. I already had this Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Paint in Princess Pink (11168). 

12. Ribbon to hang it. I used 2 yards then ended up cutting it down. You might plan for less.

13. E6000. If you don't have it, get it. I use it for everything. My only complaint is that the tube is a flawed design. Glue constantly comes out and then dries to the lid. It's a B%#@& getting the lid off. Have fun. But I've found nothing else that works like it does.

14. Flower or embellishment of your choice.

You'll need tools. Hopefully you've already got these things. Otherwise you'll have to improvise. 

1. Cordless drill. I used this to drill holes in my project at the top for the ribbon. But you could glue or staple the ribbon to the back.

2. A clamp. A crafter's must-have! I use this all the time to firmly hold in place things I've glued. I bought this one at Wal-Mart. It's an Irwin Quick-Grip 2" clamp.

3. A pencil to mark where you want your letters.

4. Push-Pins. Why? These will help you when you paint! Press them into the back of the letters to hold them up (and for you to hold onto them) while you paint. Found this clever idea here.

5. Measuring Tape. To measure where you want your letters to go. (Which I ended up not doing, but read on...)

Now I failed to photograph this craft process. So bear with me. And some of these things you could do in any order. I completed this over several day's worth of naptimes which allowed paint & glue to dry. If you're looking to complete in a day, bear that in mind.

1. Paint your letters. This took me several coats. And I utilized the push-pins! Allow to dry. You could also spray a clear glaze on top if you prefer that look. I did it with the "N" but left the little letters alone because I honestly forgot.

2. Go outside. Or lay a bunch of newspaper down. Spray the plywood circle and quickly & carefully press the scrapbook paper onto the it. Spray adhesive dries quickly so I strongly encourage you to do this step quickly. Otherwise you'll be mad. I know from experience in other projects. And listen, spray adhesive has the ability to make a sticky mess. This is why I say go outside. I made a massive mess on a friend's parent's nice wood floors before I learned this lesson. I felt terrible. I just realized that I love spray adhesive despite it's awful mess and potential to piss me off by drying quickly. Wow.

3. Using your craft knife, cut the excess scrapbook paper away from the plywood circle.

4. Using your foam brush and Mod Podge, apply a thin coat on top of the scrapbook paper/circle. This gives it a nice finish and keeps the paper from getting all messed up. I let it dry and added another. But if you do too many, the paper will wrinkle up. So be careful.

5. This part was stupid. I measured and measured and measured and marked my circle where I wanted the letters to go, then erased my measurements and just eyeballed them. So decide what you want to do. Spend a lot of time measuring and marking, or just put them on the dang circle and be done with it. Good luck.

6. Use your E6000 and glue the letters to the circle. Use the clamp to hold the letters down.

7. Glue your flower/embellishment to the middle letter or wherever you want it.

8. Drill holes and slide your ribbon through the top.

9. Hang it and be proud of your work!

This was one of those projects that afterwards I loved, but was nitpicking it. I felt like my letters didn't look centered or in the right position. I hated where I drilled the holes. I couldn't tie it to the crib in the right place or get the bows looking pretty. But now, several months later, I realize that I no longer care! I think it looks great! And I've gotten lots of compliments on it!

Note: I will have to take it off the crib soon, before baby realizes it's there and tries to grab the ribbon. Then we have a hazard on our hands. At that point, I guess I'll hang it on the wall or something! But for now I love it hanging on the end of her crib!

The possibilities with this project are endless. Different scrapbook paper, different letter sizes and fonts, different embellishments or ribbon. Heck, you could even do different shapes of wood, instead of the circle. Overall, it's easy and will hopefully stay in my daughter's room until her last name changes. ;o)