Ashley - Minne Mouse hair bows

So I have come to the conclusion that I'm not I'm not going have the time to make Melody's whole outfit so I'm still trying to decide if I'm still going to try and personalize something myself or just completely break down and buy her something to wear. No matter what I decide I wanted to still make sure to amke something for her to make so I felt better about it lol. I have looking around on pinterest to get ideas and I came across some very adorable hair bows on this website http://girlythingsbows.com/mouse_ear_clippies.html. This webiste has the full tutorial so go take a look. I made a goof and didn't buy the 1/4 in. balck grosgrain, my mind was completely somewhere up and I ended up with 1/8 in. ruban. OYE. lol so mine look different for that reason, but even so they still turned out pretty dang cute I think.

As you can tell I tried two different bows, I felt like the bigger bow was just a little over powering so I tried the smaller bow and all I did was took a 2 in or so piece of ribbon glued the ends together then creased it in the middle and then took a very small scrap of ribbon to glue around the middle and thus you have my smaller bow.

Which do you like better?

I can't wait for her party! September 8th is the day of it so make sure to keep checking back!!!


 Enjoy!


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Alisha - Earrings and bobbypins

I think I've mentioned before that Ashley and I are really sensitive (allergic really) to most metals. Which makes it almost impossible to buy earring that aren't either pure gold or made with surgical steel. Doesn't sound to rough does it? But let me just tell you that it is - no cute earrings from Claire's or really anywhere else for that matter. When Anika asked to have her ears pierced I agreed but had it done with gold studs just to make sure she wouldn't have any reactions. Again I ran into the problem of finding really cute earrings that weren't overly expensive because Anika has already lost 1 earring from two different pairs and her ears were pierced in October. I went on a mission to find a solution and since I started making earrings for myself I figured I could do it for her as well. Here is the result of my research and craftiness...

Aren't these so darn cute! They were so easy to make and relatively inexpensive too. I was able to find surgical steel ear studs so I know they won't cause a reaction for anyone in the family. I have several more pairs of flowers ans I was so excited I decided to make a few more pairs...

Heck since they were so cute (and I was on a roll) I even made some really cute bobby pins...

Aren't these the sweetest thing! I'll be on the look out for more flower designs and might even add some whimsy by making rubber duck earrings (Anika's favorite). I've considered listing these on Etsy - is anyone interested in purchasing? Pin It

Alisha - How to line an alligator clip

For anyone with a little girl you know the price of hair bows can be outrageous so I went on a quest to learn how to make them myself and save the cost. Great idea but I ended up with a lot of cost in ribbon to have the variety I wanted. Lined alligator clips can be cute especially if you find specialty ribbons and they are super fast to make.

 First you'll need to chose which color ribbon you'll want to make your hair clips. Yes, I think I have a problem but I like options :)

Supplies:
3/8" gross grain ribbon
alligator clip
hot glue cut scissors
fray check or lighter

First you'll need to lay your ribbon out and cut 1 length 4.5" long. I use my rotary cutter but it's perfectly fine to use scissors.

You'll want to treat the ends of your ribbon to avoid fraying. I use fray check - just dab a little bit on the end. If you'd rather you can heat seal them with a lighter. The idea of heat sealing is not to put the ribbon in the flame but next to it - you're just trying to melt it a little. (I used fray check on this picture and you can see the ends are a little darker than the middle of the ribbon - that's because it's wet and when it dries it looks completely normal.)

Start by placing your ribbon next to your alligator clip and heat up your glue gun. Place a bead of glue down the center of your ribbon the same length of the alligator clip (see picture). Quickly open the alligator clip and place the bead of glue in the middle of the clip (kind of like you're putting it where the roof of it's mouth might be).

Run another bead of glue up the tines of the alligator clip and press the ribbon on to the bead of glue. Make sure the ribbon is wrapped somewhat tightly around the tines.

 Here's what it looks like when you've got the ribbon pressed into the glue.

Use another dab of glue in the piece you pinch and push the fabric down.

 Place two dabs of glue, one on the upper portion of the squeeze part and one on the lower and push the ribbon on to it. I suggest holding it in place to be sure its secure. Now some may choose to skip this step and just go to directly gluing the ribbon to the bottom of the clip - I prefer the glued look and it leaves less space for the ribbon to get caught and pulled on by small fingers but by all means do this according to your preference.

Lastly run a bead of glue on the last portion of ribbon, wrap around the bottom and secure in place.









There you have a finished lined alligator clip, you can now personalize with buttons, cabochons or beads.

Alisha Pin It

Alisha's take on felted flower hair clips

Since Ashley showed us a great way to use up some of her tulle and felt I thought I'd throw another idea at ya! When our brother got married in February Ashley and I were tasked with coming up with hair "pretties" for the flower girls (our daughters). I went to work and came up with a really fun design I think other would like to make so here goes..

Supplies:

Felt - I'm using purple for the flower and green for leaves
2 - alligator clips (I'm making a matching set for pigtails)
Buttons - these are optional but I think they really add charm to the flowers.
Scissors
Marking utensil (highlighter, fine tip marker, pencil)
Needle
Thread
Flower template







Your flower template can be free handed if you wish but since I'm a little anal I like to use a template. Here is the template I used for this tutorial: Felt Flower Template (I used the bottom left flower). After you're happy with the size of you flower trace your pattern on to the felt 10 times (5 for each clip). Each square on my cutting mat is 1" so you can get an idea of the size I used.

Once you're finished tracing you'll want to cut out each flower - be careful to cut inside your marked line otherwise you'll end up with marks on the petals of your flower clip.

You'll want to start this step by threading your needle and tying a know at the end of your thread. I'm using contrasting thread so you can see how I'm assembling the flower but you may want to pick a coordinating color with your felt. With all the flower pieces cut out you'll start assembling the flower. 1 traced flower will serve as the base of the flower and you'll use the other 4 to build the flower. Starting with 1 traced flower fold in half length wise and then fold in half again.

You'll end up with a quarter of a flower.

Place the quarter of the flower on the flower base and tack it down - I just took a couple stitches to secure it to the base.









Continue adding quarter flowers in this fashion until you wind up with a base full of petals. Now you might be wondering why I didn't use the glue gun to apply the flower petals. I want to be able to add a button center which I need to sew on - if I have a big clump of glue I can't sew the button on. Additionally, I feel like the flower is more secure if it's sewn down but that's just my preference - you can do what is good for you.

To finish the flower you'll want to sew the button to the center once all 4 quarters are attached. Mine are just a white pearl with a shank (the back says they are 1/4" or 7mm). I go through my button a few times (my daughter can be hard on stuff) and secure the thread in a knot on the back of the flower.

To secure the flower to your alligator clip go ahead an heat up your glue gun. You'll need to cut out a circle to go between the alligator clip and the flower - like a sandwich. If you want to add leaves you'll want to do that now. I cut mine freehand but you're welcome to find a template if you wish. Lay out the circle with the leaves positioned where you'd like them and place a drop of glue to secure them. Press them together to secure the leaves. The last step is to place another drop of the glue in the center of your felt circle and secure that to the top of your alligator clip - please check the picture for clarification.

Alternately, you can attach one leaf to the bottom of the flower so it covers the alligator clip when you glue on and attach the other to the bottom felt circle. **This is what I ended up doing**

Have fun! Alisha Pin It

Ashley - Spring time felt flowers :)

Hey everyone :)
     As you can probably imagine I had a bit of tulle left over from when I made Melody her easter basket so I thought to myself what else can I use that in. Then I got to thinking about the felt that we had left over from Christmas ( I didn't end up using it because I made Stockings out of interfacing and fabric from one of my husbands old army uniforms) So I was trying t coe up with ways to use both and this is what I came up with.

So here's how you do it. First these are the supplies your going to need.

Tulle

Alligator clips

Felt

Rhinestones

Then for tools you will need scissor, needle, thread, hot glue gun, and a pen.

Let's get to work!!! First what you need to do is cut out a petal shape that you like. Once that's all done you will need to trace the amount of petals you will want with your pen onto your felt.

Then cut them out. 

Ok after those are all cut then you will take out your and cut out rectangle pieces about as wide and as tall as your petals. Then you will take those little tulle pieces take the long side and roll it tightly. then while keeping it rolled you will take one of your felt petals and pinch the tulle in between the two edges of the felt, hot glue it, and then pinchit until it's cool and glued together well. This is what they should look like.







Do that to all your petals. After your done with that step you are going to get out your needle and thread. I doubled up my thread so it was stronger. Thread your needle, tie a knot at the end and then one by one you will thread your petals onto the thread. When your done with that cut the thread but make sure you leave enough thread on both sides to be able to tie with like this.

Now take both ends, pull as tight as you can, tie it off, and then trim off the ends.



Now take your rinestone and your glue gun and and glue the center in place. Now you will put your pretty flower aside and get your alligator clip out and a piece of scrap felt and cut a rectangle out. Take your rectangle and sandwich it in between the top piece of the alligator clip. Now add some hot glue to hold the felt on the clip and then you can trim that how you like.

Then you take your flower and your alligator clip, put a little hot glue down and YOU'RE DONE!

Perfect for the springtime :)

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