[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!!!!!!