Hairtastic Accessories

Okay, so I've been inspired lately to accessorize my daughter. That's right! Abundant bows...can't you just imagine all the lovely outfits with their lovely matching accessories?! I know you are excited, too! ;) Those of you who grew up with me know that I was totally NOT into bows and hearts and pink and purple and any type of frills. I'm still not really, although I have entered pink into my wardrobe along with more feminine lines/touches and do try to wear some jewelry and hair accessories when I feel like it. Having a daughter has totally opened this whole "accessorization" thing up. I mean the possibilities, people!

It all began with the desire to make her a baby headband. You see, I don't frequent baby boutiques except once in a blue moon. For one, they are expensive...I don't mind paying a little extra every now and then for something ultra-cute, but when you want a variety of something...yeah, expensive. For another, I am basically a one-stop shopper. I have three kids now and unless I have another adult with me, I can't keep track of all the grabby hands, so you see my dilemma. I also don't want to be in and out of the car all day so unless the shop is right by walmart, target or a craft store, I'm probably gonna pass it up. Yep. So began my quest.

Because my husband has drawn my attention to the phenomena of squeezed baby heads that result from crazy, too-tight head embellishments, I really wanted to be sure that whatever I made was comfy for my Ailey Gracie girl. I attempted to crochet one myself, but lets just say that it wasn't what I had hoped for, so I kept looking in the baby section of my one-stop shopping locations and finally found a two-pack of pink and yellow baby headbands on sale! You know I love it when something I'm searching for is on sale....oh, yeah! I also looked in the girl section where the hair accessories are and found some stretchy headbands there in many colors. I also got some girly ribbon, which just so happens to be a first for me. Pink ribbon...wow, how times have changed me!;p I also have a huge bag of buttons courtesy of my mom many, many, many years ago. Another thing I wanted was to be able to change out the bows/embellishments between the headbands, so I decided I would attach snaps to each of the headbands and embellishments. Yep, now we are talking full-scale crafting project. I'm giddy just thinking about it. (Just so you know, I'm being silly but its true I do enjoy a good, involved craft project.)

I have already put all the snaps on the headbands and have made several bows, but I started running into a bit of a technique problem. I know we've all seen the boutique hairbows and I just wasn't getting how to make the silly things. So, what do you do when you need visual instruction? That's right, go to your very own adult home/craft school via YouTube! I just have to say that I love me some YouTube and am very grateful to those crafty people who take the time to put up instructional video tutorials. (Learning to knit is still waiting in the wings....) In my search process, I found a lady who shows how to make a boutique bow from start to finish. She also shows how to make woven ribbon headbands. The videos are below if you've wondered how to make bows, but didn't have time to look up how to do it. Also, she sells a little kit to make them super fast and easy and looks really great for kiddos. Plus, she sells the materials to make what she shows you, so here is the link to her website: www.hair-hardware.com . And also her Simple Bow Magic video -

I also found some suppliers for those stretchy crocheted headbands on ebay, so guess what I'm waiting for in the mail?! OH, the fun!!!!! Gotta go make me some bows. I'll have to showcase them when I'm done. I know you are just dizzy with anticipation.....

These are the Headband Videos: