Got Bows?

Just a little sneak peak into my new obsession hobby.

Ever since my little one was born with a head full of hair 2 and 1/2 years ago I’ve been sticking bows on her. Bows to make her look like a girl, bows to match her outfit, bows to get her hair out of her eyes. Bows, Bows, Bows!

Those of you that do not have girls or nieces or grand-daughters have no stinkin’ clue as to how much bows cost. It is absolutely the craziest thing. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve spent on bows. (Nor will I ever tell Gracie’s Daddy.) But they are kind of like socks, we seem to lose them all the time. Well, the time had come for me to learn how to do it myself. They looked easy enough (ha, ha!). I even bought myself a DVD “How to Make Bows”, or something like that. It’s made by a mom and she does a great job modeling how to make a variety of bows. The DVD is like 2 hours long. I bought it back in December and finally watched it one night while Kelly’s parents were here in March. I even took notes and made a list of things. A week or so later I bought all kinds of ribbons, alligator clips, clippies- you name it. I then proceeded to try and make the bows from memory of watching the DVD just one time. Not a good idea. After much screaming and a few tears I finally made my very first bow. (Don’t laugh) Kelly said maybe we should frame it because of how hard I worked on it.

I think it actually looks better in the picture than it does in real life :) I won’t even tell you how long it took me to make this 1, tiny, bad-looking bow. Kelly was so proud of me for not giving up. I kept trying again. Night after night I’d stay up bent over, back killing me, making these freaking bows. Then, I watched the DVD again and realized I was doing them all wrong. I watched a few more times and started learning some tricks. My bows are SLOWLY starting to get better! Then I tried to make my first korker bow. (The curly-q bow) Here was my first attempt:

 

It’s really bad. Like I wont’ even let Gracie wear it around the house. But I did learn what NOT to do!

Slowly, slowly I started getting better:

Little Korker Bow

 

Some that need clips on the back

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so  I have gotten better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made the black/white check to match her Easter Dress.

I’ve even made a few fun clippies too:

You all have NO idea how many hours it has taken me to do these! I sometimes have made a few decent looking bows but then I change my mind and undo them and start all over. I’ve been going to bed with blisters and hot glue still stuck to my hands. I feel like my eyes are going bad and my fingers ache from all the tying and twisting and scrunching. I could go on and on. You want to know why I keep going?

I have having SO much fun!

Even though it’s had me in tears I love it and now I’ve become addicted. Kelly comes home and says “Umm, whatcha’ cooking?”  I reply “bows!” I’m not kidding, to make the korker bows you bake the ribbon first.  I have ribbon and scissors and scraps and buttons and glue sticks everywhere. I’ll start one night and tell myself I’m only going to do it for an hour. I look up at the clock and 2 hours have gone by. Yes, I’m that CRAZY!

That’s my story. That’s my excuse for a messy house, no dinner on the table, and everything in between.  So, if you need a cute little bow let me know!!