Pony 'O Holder with Streamers

I made this post way back in October of last year but I was never happy with it. Whenever I opened the post the formatting was way off. After some trial and error, mainly error I'm ready to post this again. So here goes...

Here lately I have been obsessed with bow making. I started looking at all the cute bows in boutiques and thought I could do that. After a little research online (not to mention several burned fingers from hot glue) I have developed a few styles that work with my daughter's hair type. One of my favorites is pony o's with streamers, they are so easy and simply to make. I get so many comments from these simple bows when we go out. As I started making bows tonight, late at night as you can tell by my pictures, I thought I would share the process of how I make them. This isn't my original idea I got it from this website. It's full of creative tutorials and all free.


The first thing you need to do is gather your supplies.
8 - 10 ribbons I chose sheer, grosgrain and satin ribbons in various widths. Mine are 1/4 to 1 inch.

Scissors
Tape measure
Needle and thread
Hot glue
Pony 'O
Lighter, Fray check or some other method to seal ends of ribbon. (I personally rather use clear finger nail polish.)

The next step is to cut ribbons to desired length, I chose 10 inches. The ribbons hang down 5 inches on each side of bow. As you are cutting the ribbons leave one ribbon an inch longer than the others this is attaching to pony 'o. I found a narrow ribbon works best for this. I didn't take a picture of this step, just measure and cut pretty simple.
 
After all the ribbons are cut it's time to seal the ends. Again, I personally like clear nail polish. It's a personal preference of what works best for you. I heard some people use a wood burning tool to cut and seal the ribbon at the same time.

Next layout the ribbons in the order you want them, this isn't that important once you attach the ribbons they all squish together.

I tried skipping the next step and the ribbons just fell out. I did omit gluing the ribbons to each other as the original tutorial stated. I had too hard of time getting the ribbon to go through the glue, I probably just used too much. I really like glue!

Thread the needle and weave it through the ribbons all except the longer one. Do not stack them the process is more like making one wide ribbon. After you have the ribbons weaved wrap the thread several times around the ribbons and pony 'o. Tie the thread attaching the ribbons and pony 'o, I put a drop of hot glue on the knot to make sure it doesn't come undone.

Here is where the longer ribbon comes into action. I tie it around the thread to cover it and add durability. It's hard to see in this picture but the lavender ribbon is tied around the pony 'o and bundle of ribbons. You could even add extras at this point like flowers or buttons.

Here is my cute not so willing model wearing it. She was too busy playing with play dough to take a good picture.

The above picture is her Halloween bow. I have made several so far. Why not they are so cute and easy? Look at these to get some ideas, you could match an outfit or holiday.

I also made a shorter matching pair, these are cute on "puppy dog ears." My daughter calls these her rainbow bows.

Are you ready to make some pony 'o with streamers yet? Don't forget to check out stores for 50% off ribbons, Hobby Lobby usually has theirs on sale.

Fairy plaques

I was recently at the Dollar Tree and found these cute wall stickers that I just had to use in my daughter's room.

Now came the next question, how to use them. I could of just stuck them on the wall and they would have been cute. I wanted to do something different, besides the last time I tried just putting stickers on her wall they lasted about a day before she pulled them off.

I had three 5x7 wood plaques that I purchased from Wal-Mart for a project I never completed. Sound familiar? Never finished projects.

Don't look at my nails, I was painting with black earlier in the day.

I had already painted them white, that would have been OK but I wanted something brighter that would add color.

These are the colors my daughter finally settled on after about 20 minutes of debating. Warning there is a difference in the final project.

The process itself was very simple. I just painted the plaques with the colors she chose, they were a little too bright for her room so I mixed a little mixing medium and white together with the paint color. The final look resembles a water color. I really like it.

Next I positioned the stickers in the location I wanted, pressing down to remove all air bubbles. Have you noticed the color change yet from what she originally wanted? Girls, go figure we can't make up our minds.

My daughter had to pose with her favorite.


I can't explain the hair!! This is how both of us look first thing in the morning. Curly hair, gotta love it?

I could have stopped right there and they would have been fine but I went a step further. I chose a sealant to spray over the plaque for added durability, hopefully this will deter little fingers.

I made a spray booth out of an old box, it worked great. I read the idea somewhere I just can't remember where. Thanks for the idea...

After looking at a couple of ways to hang the plaques I chose to simply hot glue a cute ribbon to the back. The plaques are very light so the ribbon is plenty of support. I forgot to take a picture of this step, pretty simple cut ribbon to desired length, put glob of glue on top two corners of plaque and press ribbon in glue; don't burn fingers.

This is how they look hanging on my daughter's wall.

There were a few extra flowers and stuff so I just placed those around the plaques.

I had one extra fairy, want to know I did with it? You will just have to wait. I will say that it's cute and storage at the same time.

What ideas have you tried with stickers?

My diamond in a rough....

I am so excited to show off what I found today. To start off with I see so many bloggers that find great deals on furniture that just needs a little TLC. Well check this out, all of my searching craigslist has finally paid off. Isn't it pretty?

I can't wait to get started, now I just have to decide if I want to paint, which I doubt it that wood grain is too nice, or stain. I leaning toward staining, the current stain does not really go with the rest of my decor so I will have to strip the whole thing. Unfortunately this will be a spring job, it's just too cold outside. Dang Oklahoma winters, it did get above freezing today, barely I think the high was 36.

After looking at it some more can you guess how much I paid? This is the best part....$15. That's right a mere $15. It is made very solid, I took my builder, handyman, contractor and furniture re finisher (aka step-Dad) along with me to make sure it had good bones. He gave the thumbs up. Heck, for $15 you can't hardly go wrong. One last look, check out the molding. I can just see it all finished. I will post updates after I finish it.

I will take any suggestions on tips and ideas. What's the best face lift project you have tackled?

Toddler Chore Chart

After much debate and deliberation I decided that my 3 year old daughter needed a little help and motivation to help remind her life isn’t all fun and games and there is responsibilities. My solution to this issue was to make a very simple chore chart that lists daily tasks that she needs to do. I did not find exactly what I was looking for after searching the internet; I did find lots of ideas and inspiration. These are the chores that are on her chart right now. I may change them a little over the next few months.

-Put Away Toys
-Comb Hair
-Brush Teeth
-Feed Lil Girl
-Take Vitamin
-Listen
-Go to bed on time
As she completes each “chore” we put a sticker (or star drawn with marker if stickers are MIA) on the chart. I do not have a reward system in place yet. My idea is to decorate a container; I have a large empty oatmeal canister, and inside put slips of paper with fun and creative activities we could do. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on these activities or make them too involved or messy. Any ideas would be great. I have nearly two weeks off from work so I'm hoping to get several craft projects marked off my never ending list. After I get the canister decorated I will post pictures.

Ribbon Storage

I have self diagnosed myself with a ribbon addiction. I love ribbons, I definitely do not discriminate. Every size, texture and color is welcomed in my collection. I’m not sure when this addiction started although I secretly suspect it has something to do with Hobby Lobby’s half price ribbon sale. I wonder if I could hold them responsible. Imagine headlines “Hobby Lobby blamed for woman’s dependence on ribbons.” Somehow I don’t think that would work. Since I couldn’t find a class for RA I had to come up with a solution for storing all of my ribbons.

Evidence Number 1

Evidence Number 2

Evidence Number 3 (Why do computers have a mind of their own? No matter what I did this picture kept turning side ways.)

The above box is a cute storage container I purchased at Hobby Lobby to help me store my ribbons. It has a dowel rod to hold spools in place and a convenient clear window to view ribbon collection. When I purchased it I was sure it would solve all of my problems. Too bad on that same shopping trip I got more ribbon than the box would hold, not to mention what I already had. Oh well, it is a cute design and I’m sure I will use it for something.

I’m always looking for ways to organize my home; we could all use a little inspiration. I recently stumbled across a very unique and cute way to store ribbon. It seemed as though Chris @ Just a Girl also suffered from the same ribbon addiction. She very creatively wrapped and organized her ribbon around cardboard, take a look at it here. Just a Girl: Ribbon 411 (and a sneak peak!)
Seeing this inspired me, I decided I would give it a go. This is how I attacked my spools.

The first thing I did was find a container I wanted to store my ribbons in. Hobby Lobby has boxes that are for photo storage, they come in different colors and patterns. (Even Christmas.) I use these boxes to store other things in and I really like them because they are cute, sturdy and have label holders. Not to mention they are only $3.99 and they go on sale for 50% off every few weeks. This is the box I had on hand so I used it. Notice my label….

After I chose my container I then had to find some cardboard. At first I was going to purchase some foam board so it would be pretty and neat. After tripping over the HUGE box WalMart sent my rain boots in for about the twentieth time I decided I would just use it. This solved several problems, first it got rid of the box I was tripping over, second I recycled which is always a plus, and third I had my cardboard and I saved money. Now I can use the money saved for some more ribbons to invest in a high yield stock. 

When I cut the cardboard I cut it a little shorter than the box allowing for the layers of ribbon. I then attached one end of ribbon using a piece of tape and started to wrap. I like to use small sewing pins to hold the loose end down. I personally think it does better than tape just because you don’t waste any ribbon from the tape pulling threads. So I started the process of tape, wrap, pin and repeat. This is pretty much a mindless task so I watched Christmas movies with my daughter while I did this.

It took a couple days to finally get all my ribbon wrapped however I didn’t work on it nonstop, an hour here and there. This is all my ribbon wrapped, I ran out of pins so I switched to taping the loose end down.


While looking at all the colors of ribbon I have I noticed I have a lot of pink, white and black. After thinking about this it came to me why I have so much of these colors…..dance class. My daughter takes dance class and of course her outfit is pink, white and black. I couldn’t find any bows that I liked so I decided to make her ONE for dance class, yes I said one. I found so many cute ribbons that I couldn’t decide on which one to buy. Oh well, at least she is cute……


My final box is all ready to be put on my craft shelf. Now if I can just find a way to store my fabric.

Is there anything better than apples and Nutella?

My little one after a snack of apples and Nutella.
I don't know if she got more in her mouth or around it.
Look at that smile, she looks like a little donkey.

If you have never tried Nutella you must try it. It is found in the peanut butter section at most grocery stores. Nutella is made from hazlenuts and chocolate, a delicious blend that is so creamy and rich. The flavor can only be described as enticing and addicting. A favorite afternoon (or morning, or midnight or anytime) snack of my daughter and mine is to slice apples and dip in Nutella.

A cheap and easy Holiday update.

This year my Mother gave me several of her Christmas decorations from my child hood. One of the decorations included two bells that have a little rustic looking roof over them. I have always admired these decorations and to me it wouldn't be Christmas without them. These bells have to be almost 30 years old so it looks rather dated. A few years ago I helped my Mother update them by adding new greenery picks, the old ones were the really fake looking plastic kind, very 70's. I decided to take that a step further this year by removing the ribbon (a red velvet that had seen better days) and ggreenery and starting with all new. My theme colors this year are purple and pink, us Punky girls like our girly bling. The process was very easy to do, I used some ribbon and greenery picks I purchased from the dollar store on clearance after Christmas last year. All the "new" items cost less than a dollar, not bad for a dramatic change.
The materials and tools I used:
Staple gun and staples (Already had, it's a "staple" in my house. Get it, staple, I'm weird I know.)
2 greenery picks (2 for $1 purchased for 50% off)
2 inch wide ribbon ($1 purchased for 50% off. I only used about 4 feet of a 9 foot roll.)
1/4 inch wide ribbon (I have tons of ribbon from making bows. I used about 2 feet of white.)



This is after I ripped everything off.

The first thing I did was remove the greenery pick and ribbon. I used the old ribbon as a template for how long to cur the new ribbon. My first step was staple a loop of approximately 3 inches on the back of the house to serve as the hanger. The next step was cut the purple ribbon to approximately 10 inches long then reassemble the bell using a piece of white ribbon approximately 6 inches long. I stapled both ribbons to the inside wall. Finally I stapled the greenery pick in place. I am very happy with the way they turned out. They are the same and different at the same time, just like my Mother and I. (Corny I know.)

After and Before.
The purple ribbon is so shiny it kept causing a glare on my picture.