Free DIY Hair Bow Holder

An alternate title for this post would be, "OMG, I finally made something!"

See, I'm pretty crafty, or at least I try to be.  I like making stuff, and I get excited when I want something, but can make it cheaper.  And to my exact colors/specifications.

When you have a baby that doesn't nap, however, it's kind of hard to get anything done.  Which is why her two quilts remain unfinished on the dining room table.  And let's not even talk about the one I started for Mr. G two Aprils ago...

Anyway, I'm slowly but surely finishing up the nursery, and part of that included hanging a shelf above the changing table.  I needed stuff to go ON that shelf, and one of the things I had in mind was a cute holder for all of her hair clippies.  So I made one.  With stuff I already had around my house, so it cost me $0.00.

Want to make one, too?  I wrote up a little tutorial for you all!  But don't get too excited, this is really common sense...

*Gather your supplies.  An old picture frame (mine was 11x14, which I think was the perfect size), a piece of fabric bigger than your frame (mine was cut from an old sheet), ribbon or ric rac or both, something to "pad" your frame with (I used a scrap of terry cloth - a scrap of batting would be great, too), and if you want to paint your frame, you'll need sandpaper, paint, and a brush.

*Pop the glass out of your frame.  Either set this aside, or recycle it if you know you'll never use it again.

*If you're going to paint your frame, sand it down lightly to remove the glossy finish.  I often skip this step when I paint stuff, but I'm glad I did it.  There was a marked difference in the sanded/non-sanded areas as I was going along.  Use a fine grit sandpaper (I think mine was 150).

*Use a rag to wipe off the dust after you sand.  You don't want dust gumming up your paint!  I just used an old dishtowel, but if you have tacky cloth at your house, that stuff is awesome.

*Paint your frame.  If you're really smart, you'll use spray paint.  I didn't have any in the color that I wanted, but I did have acrylic craft paint.  So that's what I used.  Remember, I was going for free.  Make sure you paint the insides, too, you'll still see that part.

Like my painting mat?  I just dig in the recycling when I need cardboard to protect a surface.

*Let your paint dry fully.  I let mine dry overnight.  You could still see the woodgrain through the paint, because I only did one coat.  I decided I liked it that way.  If you want your paint opaque, do more coats (duh).

*Grab your fabric and padding.  Center the mat or cardboard from your frame over the padding and wrap it around to the back.

*I used a little bit of tape to secure the fabric back there so it wouldn't wiggle around for the next part.

*Decide how you want your ribbon to go.  I decided I wanted mine all going vertically, but I also considered criss-crossing them like a memo board.

*Flip the whole thing over and secure the ribbons to the back (again, so they don't wiggle around until you get it in your frame).  If you're really crazy, you can get out a ruler and make sure they are equally spaced apart.

*Once all of the ribbon is secure, pop that bad boy back into the frame and secure all the tabs down.  If you saved your glass, you could put it back in the back there where no one will ever see it.

*Voila!  You are done!  Go load it up with all the girly-cuteness that hair clippies are.  And do a little happy dance because I know how to spell "voila".  It really makes me stabby when I see "whalla!" and other horrible butchery of the word.