Flower Bows 101

I get asked a lot where I get the bows for my girls hair... 90% of them are ones that I have made for them! They are super easy and so much cheaper to make them yourself. Here's the scoop on how to make them if you haven't tried!

*Buy Alligator clips (seen above right) or snap clips at Sally Beauty or Walmart. DON'T buy them at the ribbon store- you will get ripped off. ;-) You can usually get a pacakge of 12 for around $2.
*Buy flowers you want for clips at Michaels, Joanns, Scrapbook stores, or even Walmart! I'm pretty picky- they have to be a good quality flower that is not already fraying at the edges. If you want to use rhinestones find flowers with small centers. Typically the flower needs to lay pretty flat.
* Buy rhinestones if you want to bling out your bows! (I think they a bigger trend here in AZ) I get them at Art Gems that is a local wholesale jewlery store and they come in packs of 24 for under $2, but you can also buy them at Michaels or Jo-Anns. Try to buy them on sale there otherwise they add up fast. And make sure to get the Swarovski crystals because they are the BEST. The other ones just look oh so fake. (Sorry- I really am picky! It has to be the real deal!)
*Buy E-6000 glue or Flip Flop glue if using rhinestones.
*Buy picco ribbon (with looped edges) or velvet or whatever ribbon you want to line the clip- that matches the flowers you have picked out.

Then get to work!

*Cut ribbon so it goes around the entire top part of the clip and glue with your glue gun.
*Cut flower stem in back as short as you can. Glue together layers of flower if you need to and then put dap of glue on back of flower and stick to barrett!

It's that easy.

If you are doing rhinestones you can glue them on with the E-6000 (bigger rhinestones) or with Flip Flop Glue. For the rhinestones on the flower petals I put a dot of Flip Flop glue, pick up the rhinestone with a crayon tip, and stick to the glue dot.

If you are making headbands, make them versatile by making them interchangeable with a velvet strap. This way any clips you have can be clipped to the top- how great is that!?!
*Cut the elastic headband material in the length needed (measure babies head and then cut elastic to that. When you glue you will lose 1/2 inch but that will keep it tight to their heads!)
*Then cut velvet to go all the way around the elastic headband- overlapping slightly.
*Glue headband ends together- overlapping 1/4-1/2 inch.
*Glue velvet to one side of headband, then loop it around the top and glue end of velvet to other end WITHOUT GLUING THE VELVET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HEADBAND. Do it in a way so you can't see the glue or seam- it takes a little practice. There's all my secrets. ;-) Hope I explained them ok. Super easy and fun. If you are in the market to buy, here are the websites I like that are cute but well priced:
http://cutiebowtootie.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5497895
(Etsy actually has a lot of sellers that have some great bows- I sometimes go on to just browse for ideas!)

And if you want to make your own bows, here is a great site with instructions:
http://bowdesigns.50webs.com/perky_loops.html