Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Thrifty Thursday: It's Chic to Be Cheap {19}

It's Do It Yourself Day over at Kimba's! I thought it might be fun to combine a DIY post with my own Thrifty Thursday: It's Chic to Be Cheap post. Please check out A Soft Place to Land for more inspiration!


One of the best things about having girls is getting to dress them up and fix their hair. Whether they like it or not. I have two of my own personal babydolls, even if the bigger one is cranky and the little one wipes her snotty nose on my shoulder.

We have a lot of hair bows in our house. A. lot. Poor T probably has nightmares about them. I cleaned out the tupperware bin that was holding most of the bows a few weeks ago and also found several hidden in Natalie's room. She sometimes likes to have impromptu beauty parlor sessions when she's supposed to be napping.

I decided that a little organization was in order, and I remembered that my mom used a hanging ribbon to organize bows for my sister and I when we were growing up.

I gathered my supplies:

~A pretty colored ribbon (I chose a standard pink because I wasn't completely sure that I wouldn't wreck this first-time project, and I didn't want to ruin a nice patterned one)

~ D-rings (can be found in any fabric or craft store with the sewing notions)

~Thread in a color of your choice

I cut a decent length and made a little fold at each end and pressed them both. Please pretend like you don't see the burn marks on my ironing board. Ahem.



Next, I stuck a D ring in one of the folds with the rounded part out and attempted to sew a tiny straight line to close it without crippling myself. This took me two tries because I am pretty new to sewing. Please stop laughing. You're hurting my feelings.



If you mess up, you can just cut the end off and start again. I love projects like that! This is what it looked like when I had it all lined up. You could totally sew that by hand, but I just wanted to practice threading my machine.


After sewing the other end closed (no D ring in that end!), I hunted for some fabric paint to jazz it up a bit.

I was going to paint something neat at the top, but Michaela Byrd started climbing onto the dining room table and attempting to turn the sewing machine on. Maybe she thought I needed another lesson. This is all I had time to do:



Then it was up to Natalie's room to hang it after it dried. I managed to hammer a small nail in the wall without maiming myself or a small child. I hung it behind her bedroom door so it would still be accessible when I'm getting her ready, but out of sight.



It appears I have a happy customer! I like this sytsem much better than stuffing dozens of hair bows into a cramped little drawer.


Close up:


The sad part of this tutorial? We still have a bunch of bows that need to be hung. I guess it's back to the sewing machine for me!

Maybe next time Michaela Byrd can teach me how to make a duvet cover.
But then she'd want her own blog and I don't like to share my lap top.
{Happy Thursday!}

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17 comments:

  1. That is so cute! I love how easy it is to make those things since they are so expensive.

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  2. Adorable! Have I told you how much I love your things I hate list on the side???

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  3. What a great idea-and I'm so glad that I'm not the only gal who is terrified of the sewing machine out there. Gives me shivers just to think about; and, actually squash gives me the shivers too.

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  4. Space saver & decoration in one! Great idea.

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  5. So cute Amanda! Yay for you using your sewing machine...practice makes perfect. :) This is a great idea and also makes it easier to see what you have to use. Again, cute!

    Hugs to you,
    ~Victoria~

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  6. Simple, cute, and functional! Great job!

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  7. What a fabulous idea! I don't have girls, just a rough-n-tumble little boy, but I will definitely pass this on to my brother and his wife, who are proud parents of 3 very girly girls. Thanks for sharing! Have a great SITS day!

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  8. very cute! I could have definitely used one of those when my daughter was little.

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  9. Oh, so cute. I remember those days. Great project!

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  10. So cute! My daughter always wore a hair bow when she was little and just used to have them crammed in a box - this would have been so much better!

    Manuela

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  11. That is so cute! We have the same issues with hairbows. And I have made bow holders, only to find out AFTER I'm finished that not even half of them fit. It's a cryin shame how many we have. And to top it all off...only one of the 2 girls will actually wear a bow! How's that for wasteful?

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  12. What a cute idea! I wish I would have had that when my daughter was all ribbons and curls!!

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  13. Great idea and just perfect for all of those girly bows.

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  14. Wow, that was such a great idea! That is definitely an something to try! :)

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  15. Hello Amanda,

    What a cute hair ribbon/bow holder! Very creative. Thank you for sharing!

    Blessings,
    Marie
    http://emmacallsmemama.com

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  16. So cute. Love all the bows. Brings back memories of what I used to make for my girls when they were little.

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