Rainbow Hair Bow Holder Tutorial

Rainbow Hair Bow Holder Tutorial

I am going all out in my daughter's room with DIY decorations that are budget friendly and very colorful.  Like rainbow colorful!  I have a quilt in the works, a tutu bed skirt, and a lovely painting planned.  I thought I would work on a project that I could finish in a day to make up for all the projects that are laying around waiting to be finished.  I get frustrated and like to see results.  I colored these ribbons, so you may wish to omit that step.  I wanted to make sure they would match her quilt perfectly, and I love dying stuff!

To make this Rainbow Hair Bow Holder, you will need the following materials:

White ribbon if you wish to color your own.  If not, ribbon in any color(s) you wish. I used ribbon with lots of texture.

A thrift store frame.  Just the frame, no glass or backing.

Dye-Na-Flow Exciter Pack and wax paper (optional).  You will not need this is you are buying colored ribbon.  I use Dye-Na-Flow because it allows me to apply bold color to whatever fabric I choose, unlike tie dye which only works well on natural materials.  Also, Dye-Na-Flow is not actually a dye but a liquid textile paint that simulates dye. 

You will also need:
Sandpaper
Gesso
Acrylic paint
Paintbrushed
Glitter (optional)
A sealer for your frame (I like to use Pledge Floor Care because it has no fumes and is a clear acrylic)
A low heat hot glue gun and glue sticks
New hardware if needed for hanging the frame

         

Step One:  Prep your ribbon.  Cut your ribbon to the length or width of the frame (depending on which way you want the ribbon to run) plus about 2 or 3 inches to work with.  If you are coloring your own ribbon, go ahead and apply the paint now.  I use a bowl when applying the Dye-Na-Flow so I don't make a mess, and so I don't waste a bunch of paint.

When you are finished coloring the ribbon, lay it out on wax paper until it is dry.

Dye-Na-Flow needs to be heat set, so once it dries put it in the drier for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Step Two: Prep your frame.  Make sure you remove all the staples and unwanted hardware from your frame, then give it a light sanding to give your surface tooth for the paint to adhere to.  Gesso the frame (this is important - priming the frame will help your paint stay on the surface.

Step Three:  Paint your frame and add glitter if you wish.  I painted my frame with black acrylic paint a bit at a time.  I added glitter to the wet paint as I went along so I didn't have to glue it on.

Step Four:  Apply Your Ribbons.  Plug up your glue gun.  While you are waiting for it to heat up flip your frame over and align your ribbon.

Glue all the ribbon down on one side.  You may wish to use a tool like a knife or bone folder to press your ribbon against the frame because the glue can leak through the ribbon to your fingers.  I like using my hands so I make sure to use a low heat glue gun.

Straighten your ribbon back out and glue the other side down.

Now you can trim the excess ribbon off and hang your frame!

Lula's hair bow holder hanging in her room.  She approves.

And here it is with some of her bows on it.  By the time I get all the bows up you probably won't even be able to see all the hard work I put into it.  Oh well!!!

Baby Shower Present - "Rachel" Painting

I love painting for kids' rooms!!!  I have learned a bit about painting doing them, and had tons of fun.  Here's one I did a few days ago for a lovely young lady at church who is expecting in March.  Her darling little girl will be named Rachel, and I went with something very simple even though that is not what I had planned.

I started out with an 18"x24" canvas, already primed.  I picked a font from MyFonts, a fairy tale font I thought made her name look pretty and adorable.  The font is Blue Goblet Serif, and I love it.  It is a little too spaced out, so I took tracing paper and traced the letters, bunching them up a bit.  Then I doodled flowers and vines coming off the letters.  Once I was done, I used my Artograph Tracer Projector (got it a Hobby Lobby 40% off) to project the words onto the canvas in pencil.  I used the tracing paper under the projector, which was a big mistake.  I started to notice my words were shifting around as I traced, and finally figured out it was because the tracing paper was wrinkling up from the heat off the bulb of the projector.

I usually start painting at this point, but the white has a tendency to show through the brush strokes and the pencil is hard to cover.  I decided to try something different with this painting.  I painted a base coat of khaki colored paint over my sketch thin enough so I could still see the lines of the drawing underneath.

Painting, painting, more painting..




Pretty pink letters.

Overworked it - drat!

Fixing my mistakes.

 And done!  Not the best picture unfortunately.  Glad to have it done, and I am happy with the result.

Tonight, Tonight

I promise I am still here, and I am still crafting.  Still taking pictures and making jewelry.  Just not making much time for blogging.  I know, no fun, right?  I just can't seem to find the focus to write.  

Here is a piece I have been working on for our bedroom.  I love The Smashing Pumpkins, and "Tonight, Tonight" is one of my favorite songs they have done.  I thought it would work well above our bed.  

I started with the picture above, which is a piece of old decor from a Subway store.  My mom had it in her yard and I asked for it.  It is huge and I thought it would be fun to paint over.  I took the frame off and put a coat of gesso over the picture  (which is two sheets of plastic with foam in the middle) and added texture with Liquitex Basics modeling paste.   Since I am not selling the piece I just used Apple Barrel and Fold Art fabric paints.  I printed the words out and projected them up with my Art Tracer Jr Projector and penciled them in.  

Here's the finished painting.  I am quite happy with it, and can't wait to get it up on the wall.  First I need to paint some shutters that I will used as a headboard.  

Hubby picked the font out.  I really like it!

Chalkboard Desk

I've had this really great desk for a while now.  Hubby got it for me at a local thrift store, and I adore it.  It have lots of work area and storage.  We just redid our floors in my craft room and our kitchen, so I decided this ol' girl needed a paint job.  I knew I wanted to use black paint, and I thought a chalkboard top would be great for me and my little girl.  I made my own chalkboard paint using this tutorial from Emma and Elsie at A Beautiful Mess.  It's super easy, just add 2 tablespoons unsanded grout to 1 cup of paint.  I used latex paint, but you can also use craft paints.  

Here's a before picture of my desk...

And here it is after painting...

I made the curtain from an old bed skirt.  As you can see in the next picture, Lula approves of the updates.  She has drawn on it for the last two days.  And if Lula is happy, then Mommy is happy.  

I'm also working on a mural in my art room, and I plan on posting some pictures of it soon.  

New Displays WIP

I'm working on some new displays for my jewelry.  I have these great large industrial bobbins and thought of a way to put these together to display my jewelry on.

My awesome bobbins!  A score at $1.99 each.

8mm reels.  Had to get rid of the severely corroded film.  Not a very good smell!

A few supplies for the makeover.

The general idea.

Now I just have to get these guys painted, drill a couple more holes, and assemble.  I'll post them when they are complete.