Easy Peasy Hair Clips

This was my first guest post that was featured over at RoCa and Company over the summer.  Thought it would be nice to share it here too!

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I have an easy peasy tutorial for you today on making hair clips for all the little girls in your life.  (These make great gifts if you don't have girls of your own!) I get a lot of inspiration from from lovely bloggers in blogland (like Carmen!) so you'll probably see some ideas that you've elsewhere spotted before.

Let's get started making some Easy Peasy Hair Clips!

Here are the supplies you'll need:

- alligator clips (mine are single prong and 1-3/4" long  *I bought a pack of 50 on eBay.)

- glue gun

- ribbon (grosgrain or something woven so it stays in the child's hair)

- candle

First we will cover the metal clip with ribbon.  If you are using alligator clips like mine, cut your ribbon a smidgen over 7 inches long.  You'll see why in a second.  If you have a different size clip, wrap some ribbon around the clip starting on the inside to see how much you need.  I have ribbon 1 cm wide and some 3/4 inch wide.  Both will work for this.

Next you need to do something to the ends so the ribbon doesn't fray (that would be a bummer after you spent all that time making adorable clips.)  You could use Fray Check or something similar or burn the edges like I did.  Since I'm making a bunch of clips, I'll burn the edges all at once to save some time.  If you've never done this before it's SOOO easy!  Hold the ribbon 2-3 inches above the flame until the edges seal.  This is why it's nice to have the ribbon a smidgen longer in case you burn a tad too much.

The ribbon on the left has not been burned and the one on the right has been burned.

Now let's get that glue gun out!  

* I think the key to getting the ribbon as even as possible is to glue a little at a time.  It might seem tedious but it's worth it to make the clip look really good and even.

We will start on the inside off the bottom tong.  Put glue on part of the ribbon and insert inside the clip. Put the burned edge up against the spring part.  Put a tad more glue on the outside of the clip you just put ribbon on and fold the ribbon over.  Squeeze the ribbon together to even out the glue and make sure the edges line up.

Now we will glue the bottom part where you squeeze.  Just a little dab of glue. Make sure it's where you want it.

Now for the inside of the squeeze part (yup I'm pretty sure that's the real name).  Glue the inside of the bottom part, press the ribbon in with your finger, then do the inside of the top part.  Don't put glue on the spring part!!  You want it to open easily :)

Now for the top. A little glue on the squeeze part  and even out the ribbon with your fingers.  Then put glue down the rest of the ribbon and fold over the top tong.

Use your fingers to even anything out and pull off any glue strings and you're done!!

Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast and you can glue up a bunch in no time!

Now let me show you what it looks like with the ribbon that's wider than the clip.

Make sure to press the ribbon together around the clip at each step. You want the edges glued together so it's really secure.

It's definitely a lot more glue than they small ribbon, but be careful you don't put too much so it's all oozing out the sides. *If it does start to ooze, don't worry.  Just pinch it off before it hardens too much.  Of course wait a second so you don't burn your fingers on hot glue.  Ouch!

You could stop here and you're done!!  

If you have fun ribbon, you might not want anymore embellishments!  

I kind of like the wide ribbon ones as they are.

For the plainer ribbon, I like to add things....bows, flowers, etc.  You can really get imaginative here!

Here's some easy embellishments you can try:

Simple little bow.

Deconstruct some silk flowers then glue them back together.

Use up some scraps and make a fabric flower! 

(For this one I did dig out a needle and thread to keep it together.)

With so many fabric flower tutes out there in blogland, you can really go crazy!

Here are a few other's I've made for various occasions.  For some of these, I used up scraps to match clothes I had already made for my daughter.

Now if you're making clips as a present, here are some ideas for presenting them to make them a little extra special. 

All you need is some card stock and fun scissors.

You could do something this...

Or this....

Or this...

If you leave a little space you can write a message to the recipient!

So what do you think? Easy peasy right?!?!

"Hemming" Toddler Pants

My little 21 month old girl is on the short side (takes after her mama) and pants that fit over her cloth diapers are sometimes too long.  I LOVE these leopard/cheetah? pants but they always drag on the floor and rolling up the bottoms doesn't last long.  So I whipped out my elastic thread and "hemmed" them.

This is the stand-there-and-smile-while-I-take-your-picture pose. She's so patient with me!

After removing the pants from the child (important step) I marked 3 inches up from the hem with a pin on all 4 seams.  No real reason for that measurement other than it looked like the right amount.

With elastic thread in the bobbin (go here for tips on using elastic thread) and tan thread on top, I started shirring rows parallel to the seams.  I tried to stitch in the ditch but realized it wasn't really worth it because the fabric was too think

It's hard to see in my iPhone photos but that's 2 rows on either side of the seam.  I just turned the pants around so I could zig zag back and forth without cutting the thread for every tiny room.  Make sure you go forward and back at the beginning of each new row so it doesn't unravel at some point.

Here is looking at the leg after I only did the left side of the pant leg.  I guess if you want it "hemmed" more, sew higher up the leg.

* I just knew I was going to make this mistake and indeed I did.  Sewed right through to the other side of the pants.  Yup.  All the while telling myself to make sure I wrote about how you should be careful not to do this.  And after I took this picture of my mistake, I did it again. Mommy should not sew after teaching ALL day long. Seriously!

Moving on...

I didn't like how the front and back of the pant leg hung down from the sides so I did two rows of shirring on the front and back (in a U shape). Much better!

This is just a comparison shot of the shirred and un-shirred legs.

Hit it with some steam to shirk the elastic thread so it's more gathered.

Here's a blurring shot of the inside.  My elastic thread in navy blue.  See the U shape there on the left side? That's the middle of the front/back of the leg.

Re-dress your child.

Really? I have to stand here again after you made me sit pant-less while you sewed and wouldn't let me step on the pedal? 

That's my girl!

Gift Idea: Embroidered Love Note

Inspiration: Our 4th wedding anniversary.

We don't usually do much for presents on our anniversary but since it's in the summer and I had lots of time to do projects, I tried my hand at embroidering a love note to my husband.

 Decide on the text (in this case lyrics from a Dave Matthews/Santana song - my husband is HUGE DMB fan!) and figure out how you want it to look. 

(Like my music scrap paper?)

I liked this best...

I went over it in sharpie so I could see it through the fabric.

I traced the lettering onto the fabric with pencil (forgot a picture of this step), and embroidered it all in the embroidery hoop - maybe not necessary but it sure helped.

The color change was initiated by the fact that I didn't have as much blue thread as I thought, but I think I subconsciously had this planned all along... 

The frame was one of those unfinished wood frames from Ikea that got some Mod Podge and some of my beloved red fabric.

I 'purposefully' left some wrinkles so it looks like love note on paper that's been carried around for a long time.

Go 'write' a love note!

Gift Idea: Embroidered Map

Inspiration #1:

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Inspiration #2:  My brother-in-law and his new fiancee recently moved cross country from Boston, MA to Portland, OR.  

They met and fell in love in Boston and were both pretty sad to leave.  But when you win a job with the Oregon Symphony (Go Matt!) you do what you have to do!  

Inspired by their new found love of the North West, I made this Pinterest inspired house-warming gift:

1.  Buy cheap frames from Good Will - yup, that's $.75 each.  

(Insert your own sarcastic comment about the current "art" in the frames.)

I originally thought I might use both and hinge them together but changed my mind...

us crafters do that a lot don't we?

2. Raid our map box and go to AAA for some free maps.

3. Find the cities and decide which ones to use.

4. Iron out those creases.

5. Draw the heart they left in Boston....awww

6. Find some red embroidery thread and embroidery needle.

7.  Tape the tail to the back of the map (I'm sure you could imagine this without a picture but here's to being thorough.)

8. Use a running stitch around the heart.

Awww

9. Repeat with Portland

10. Figure out the placement...

I liked them staggered...

11.  Tape together them trace to fit the frame.

12.  Connect their old love with their new love.  (Are you gagging from the 'lovey-dovey-ness' yet?)

13.  Bind those two coasts a little more tightly...

14.  Drink in the sappiness of what you just made...

15.  Paint the frame and send!

Embroidering paper was a lot more fun than I imagined, but there's definitely no room for mistakes! (I honestly was dreading having to go back to AAA for another map because I put my needle through the paper in the wrong place.)

Go embroider some paper!