Slight Obsession

  When I was younger it was my dream to be a stay at home mother. I loved doing crafty things and baking.  I even wanted 10 kids at one point, so including my husband and I, we would have a birthday party every month (that's right it's Duggar, not Davis).  Anyway, I grew up and got way too much education and in doing so changed my sights to be a career woman.  When we found out we were pregnant it was exciting and fun but I was a little worried about filling my time while at home on maternity leave.  While the first month was spent strictly adjusting to life as a new mother as time went on I found myself with more time and a huge interest in Do it yourself (DIY) projects.  Now that Elle is 3 months old and finds talking to her hands more interesting than talking to me, I have some time to try out some of the things I have been reading about on other blogs and watching on decorating shows.  

  While we are currently under going a bedroom reno (which will give me lots of projects to blog about) my most recent DIY or DIM (do it myself as I like to call it) came from one of my biggest obsessions...HAIR BOWS for babies.  Nothing bothers me more than when someone asks me how old by son is.  (Note to all mothers, always include a hair bow with a blue and white outfit for a girl). I have found it very difficult to find bows here in Canada which has lead me to many hours and many dollars shopping online for the cutest bows in town.  My in-laws have also helped me with this hunt and provided us with all kinds of bows for everyday use. Since that fait-ful day Elle has not left the house without a bow.  All this to say I decided, when I added up all the money spent on bows, that I could totally do it myself for much less than I had be spending.  In doing this I could customize them for Elle's most special outfits and make matching ones for her and her cousin.  Since my niece does not have the collection that Elle does I caught her up quickly with a couple of the below images.  I watched a few tutorials on youtube and headed to work.  It was way easier than I thought and ridiculous how inexpensive it can be when you do it yourself.  I did it myself!

Here's what you need:  Glue gun, lighter, ribbon (Michaels has amazing choices and a sale bin which is super cheap), a clip (I used roller clips they were 8 for $1.29, you can also get these at Michaels but they are a little more there) string, elastic (again bought at a fabric store, you can use stretchy lace ect)  and anything else you would like to use to decorate.  I used buttons, beads and sequence, but for the most part used old things I had around the house.

Here are a few of the finished bows:

The headband on the left was inspired by a blog I follow by a super creative mother of 3.  She does a ton of crafty things that add personality and warmth to her beautiful home.  She wrote a tutorial on how to make flowers she used for a wreath on her door which you can find here.  I thought the flowers were beautiful and LOVE how they turned out on the headband...I love multipurpose.

I also love this one below.  It was inspired by a hairband I bought from Aldo for $12.00 for myself.  All I did for this one was make a band out of elastic bought at a fabric store.  Stitched the ends together then cut out a flower shape in chiffon bought in the ends section (so cheap) at a fabric store.  I staggered the flowers on top of one another, put a stitch in them and then hand stritched some sequence in the middle to add some flare.  This probably cost me $2 max to create this adorable piece.

I finished my nieces collection with some traditional bows.  I watched a few tutorials and learned a nifty trick to make your bows look perfect.  The key is to put them on clips that way they can be interchangeable on other hairbands or even beanies like the Kushi one shown below allowing you to match the bow to any outfit you would like and making different combinations look like new.  I made a hairband to clip the bows I have on however,  you can by those very cheaply online so I ordered a few generic bands to clip my personalized creations to.  The other fun thing is these bows will grow with your child.  You can order larger headbands as their head grows and then clip them onto their ponytails as there hair is long enough!  So fun!  Here's my suggestion...shop the expensive boutiques for inspiration then go to town yourself.  Not only will you be super proud of your creation, your hubby will appreciate the money saved...at least my did!