Bows, bows, bows....

So I'm back now that our new house is somewhat unpacked and under control (haha) and while I've taken a break from blogging about my projects I've still been crafting away so I've got a lot of catching up to do.  So today I'm writing about some bows I've made Lizzie.  I have 1 miserable fail, 1 so-so bow and 1 bow that turned out pretty well.
I've been trying to use up some of my patterned ribbon because its cute but doesn't always work so well in ribbon sculptures very often.  So I attempted some basic bows that can be ANY color or pattern.  The first one I attempted was this cutesy bow:


Here's my attempt:

Ugh... Uneven, doesn't do the little pop on each level of ribbon... Now that I look at it again, I realized a few things: There is an extra layer of ribbon below the 3rd but its shorter so maybe that's what gives the layer the pop.  Also the white ribbon goes around the layers but NOT the clip.  When I did that it makes it impossible for the clip to close.  I don't think I'll be trying this one again.  Its not really my favorite look and it failed miserably the first time so that's it for this style.

Next I decided to attempt Korker screw bows.  I LOVE these bows.  They are relatively easy to make and can be customized to any outfit or needed color scheme and they are also a great way to use patterned ribbon.  So here are my 2 attempts, one is better than the other and I'll explain how I made the difference in the second one.

 Now the first one I was following a blog that told me to lay all the ribbons in a pile, wrap a thread around them and pull very tight and then tie it again to make a knot.  This method is ridiculous! My hubby had to put his finger on the thread to hold it down so I could tie it again and even then the thread didn't stay tight enough to keep all the ribbon in.  I eventually had to run a small line of hot glue on a ribbon and put that around the middle (and I'm still praying none of the ribbons fall out!) In addition the white ribbon I used was not grosgrain ribbon so it didn't hold the curl very well.

For the second I had a hunch that I needed to run the thread through the ribbon instead and did a quick search on how to make these bows (again!) and found a video on youtube that showed how to make the bows this way.  So I tried again and success!   The only thing I'll do differently when making these again is to get dowel rods (when I have money again- haha) because right now I'm just using pencils to curl the ribbon (You curl the ribbon around the pencil, use clothespin to hold them in place and then bake them at 200 degrees in the oven for about 25 minutes) and its taking longer because I can't find as much ribbon on them as I could a dowel rod, but someday :-)

So there you have it- 2 kinds of bows.  Now I'm off to finish more bows and felt food (my 2 current crafting passions).  Hope to be back soon and catch up on my finished projects!

2 Hair clips and a Nail design

So today's post includes 2 new bows and an attempt at a new nail polish design. So here are the original bows.



Both of these are on sale at Etsy.com so I won't share all of how I made these, just a few tips again.
The purse is pretty simple.  As always make sure to take the time to cut and test out the size of your ribbons (especially in comparison to the clip) before ANY gluing.  The hardest part of this clip was the bow on the purse.  There is a really easy video on YouTube to help make the bow.  I like this pattern because the purse is really easy and you can make it in lots of different colors and styles.
The caterpillar is REALLY easy.  Its simply 5 colored ribbons of your choice and roll them, then glue them onto the clip.  I LOVE this clip because it doesn't take very much ribbon so it would be a great way to use up some ribbon scraps. Plus its easy to customize your caterpillar to your liking.
Here's my results

Then I also tested out a nail design.  Here is the picture: 

So I changed the colors to gray and pink because I didn't have these 2 but obviously this is an easy design to change the colors.  When doing this design make sure to pick 2 colors that are pretty solid, otherwise its hard for the colors to show up on one another. This design is relatively easy, you just have to have a steady hand, which I do not so my line didn't turn our as straight as these but it is still pretty cute.  Here's my results: 

Good night all!