Making a ruffle ribbon flower

Making a ruffle ribbon flower hair clippie

There are many variations of this ribbon flower, and I got my inspiration from a great crafty blog www.floralshowers.com.  Her instructions for ribbon flowers were so cute, I just had to start making my own versions to add to my store for girls hair accessories.

In this tutorial I will show you how to make the simplest ribbon flower, then you can expand from there.

You will need:

• One 5 inch piece of 5/8” ribbon
• A button or brad of some sort
• A lined alligator clip – lined with coordinating ribbon
• Sewing machine (or needle and thread will work too – I just love my sewing machine!)
• Hot Glue gun (Cause what project DOESN’T need a hot glue gun??)

**For instructions of how to line an alligator clips, see my instructions How to Line an Alligator Clip.

• First, heat seal the edges of your ribbon. I do this with a standard cigarette lighter; just lightly seal each edge of the ribbon to prevent fraying. (The more you do this, the better at it you get!)

• Next baste ONE edge of your ribbon. On your sewing machine, this is your standard stitch, made as wide as possible.

• Pull on ONE of the two threads and scrunch the ribbon all together, like this:

• Tie a knot at the ends of the thread so your scrunch holds.

• Form the ribbon ruffle into a circle.

• Use your hot glue gun and apply a thin strip on glue to one edge of the ribbon.

• Place the other edge on the strip of glue, forming a neat circle with your ruffled ribbon.

• Attach button or brad to the center.

• Attach the whole ribbon flower to your alligator clip.

Here is a set of clips using these simple instructions:

Here is a larger variation I have made using the same technique, but with different size and textures of ribbon:

Check out some of my creations at The SunshineShoppe under the Ribbon Flower Clips section!

Dog Bows

Ok – so this is kinda silly, but I had this great idea the other night to try some of my hair bow creations on my dog, Sophie. Might be due to the fact that my daughter (my model) is refusing to keep anything in her hair these days. Now I KNOW I can’t use Sophie as my model in my store(s) but it sure was fun! And I think I might be on to a new market!

Dog bow:

Really? What could be cuter that a dog with a hair bow? Maybe a dog in a sweater? How about both?  If I had a sweater, I’d put it on her and take more pictures, but Sophie is 30 pounds of fur. The only outfit she wears is at Halloween, and THAT is an ordeal.

So all I really did was use a baby hair clip and snap it onto her head fur. The baby snap clips work great for hair that is as short as 1/4″ so PERFECT for any kind of  pooches!

See my instructions  on how to line a baby snap clip – then add anything on to make a little doggy hair clip!

How about a doggy flower hair clip?

I have great instructions on how to make a hair bow that you can follow as well.  Instead of making a HUGE bow like in those instructions – you can size it down by using 5/8 – 7/8 inch ribbon and use a starting cut of about 10.5 inches per bow.

To purchase your own dog bows, please visit my store The SunshineShoppe.  Check out the baby snap clip section – lots to choose from for humans and pooches, I guess!

I’m thinking these hair clips might be next for family pics!!!

How to make a lined snap clip

Girls Hair Bows

How to Line a Snap Clip

Snap clips make awesome hair accessories. They come in a ton of sizes – starting with my specialty, the baby snap clip. These babies measure only 1 1/4 inches in length, and if you find the right ones, a 3/8th inch ribbon just covers the clip in width. These make awesome clips for infants and newborns because the will hold in just baby fuzz. The bigger sizes are great for toddlers and I even wear the larger ones to pull my bangs back at least 4 days a week.

What you’ll need:

Snap clip (these instructions will be for a baby snap clip)

3/8 inch ribbon (bigger clips will require wider ribbon)

hot glue gun

embellishment

Instructions for lining a snap clip:

1. For a baby snap clip, you will need to cut 2 3/4″ length of your 3/8″ ribbon.

2. Open your snap clip and place ribbon in between the clasp.

3. Close clip, ensuring that ribbon is straight.

4. Use your hot glue to cover the top of the snap clip – leave a little room for your fingers to hold the clip! **Be careful not to use TOO much glue, or it will squish out the sides

5. Fold the ribbon over and smooth the ribbon over the clip.

6. Glue the back of the ribbon that will be folded over the back of the clip **Again – not too much glue!

7. Fold the ribbon over the back of the clip.

8. Embellish with anything!

Baby snap clips are so fun and easy to make. They don’t require many supplies and can be done in a flash. I may be known to make a quick clip for my baby girl just before walking out the door so she has something to match the outfit she is wearing!

Free Card Making Templates

Free Card Making Templates

I have recently become addicted to a new craft – a smaller version of scrapbooking. Card making!! Making cards can take as little as 15 minutes, if you have a good idea – or free card making templates! I’ve been collecting card making magazines recently and they have some really great templates that you can put your own spin on. In fact, I made a few that once I finished “card lifting” they looked nothing like the original. The most recent I made, was a card for a baby shower I went to. I actually whipped this out 30 minutes before I had to leave. Here’s how I created this baby shower card.

1. Cut a 12×12 or 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper down to 11″x5″. Fold it the long way so the inside of the card is showing when you close the card (about 1 inch).

2. Use a scrap from the let over paper and stamp or emboss “welcome” on it

3. i used my cricut to cut out the word “baby” – but you could use any left over letters, stickers, etc.

4. I found a fun striped scrap and cut this to fit the front of the card, leaving room at the top.

5. After attaching the striped paper, I used a corner rounder to round the bottom of the front of the card.

6. I used my creative memories wavy trimmer to trim a piece of paper to put above the striped accent paper.

7. I found a leftover felt flower and attached it with a brad.

8. I used 2 brads to attach a thin strip of paper I cut out from the base paper.

This next card I used for a bridal shower, but could be given for many occasions…

1.  Cut a cute piece of paper (I used a flower pattern) for the base of the card.  Fold in half (dimensions are flexible!)

2. I used a coordinating scrap I found a cut a strip to use of the bottom of the card .

3. I found some extra “bling” gems and used them as centers to the flowers.

4. The “congratulations” was embossed, matted, and then adhered to the card with those dots that make it stick out from the rest of the card.

5. I used a light blue ribbon across the card.

The best part about card making is that you don’t need a lot of special materials. You can use leftovers, scraps and thing you never thought you would use again. Card making can sometimes be the inspiration you need to start up on scrapbooking again when you’ve hit a slump. It makes you take a new look at all those supplies that sit on you shelf. After making a card, I usually think to myself, “that would make a cute layout for a scrapbook page!”

Card Templates