Valentine’s Corker Bows

A.K.A…The One Where I Teach You How To Cook Hair Bows

I don’t know about anyone else, but it seems like right now there is just so much heavy going on in the world right now – not just in my own little corner but nearly everywhere else.

And while my prayers are intense for all the many requests surrounding me and I have so many serious thoughts swirling that I could formulate into any number of blog posts, I think I’m going to take a moment this Monday morning to lighten things up a little, at least here on the blog. Sometimes we all need a little levity, you know?

So, long ago, on Valentine’s Day, {or as I now am calling it The Day Before The Germs Brought Their R.V And Camped Out In Our House Cousin Eddie Style, TDBTGBTRVACOIOHCES for short} I had promised a little tutorial about how I made Lily’s Valentine’s hair bows.

Remember that?

It’s ok. I barely remember it myself.

But I figured, since I had already taken all the pictures, I might as well give you the tutorial anyway, even if it is over a month after I promised it.

And just so you know, doing tutorials totally isn’t my “thang” so if this just confuses you…I apologize

Anyway. Here we go.

Corker Hair Bow Tutorial

I’ve always admired those adorable corker bows you see at Gymboree or those “boutiquey” shops but assumed they must be complicated to make…because why else would they charge so much money for them?

But then a friend told me how easy they are to make at home. At first I didn’t believe her, mostly because she told me that you bake them in the oven and I don’t know about you but to me it seems like

HAIR BOWS + OVEN = FIRE

…but it doesn’t. At least, not if you do it right. Which, amazingly, I did.

SUPPLIES

--100% polyester ribbon (it’s important to get the right kind! Grosgrain is the best)

--Wooden clothespins (NOT plastic! Also important!)

--Wooden dowel rods (again, no plastic)

--Aluminum Foil

--Scissors

--Thread

--Hot glue gun

--Hair clip (I used alligator clips but you can use whatever kind you want)

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Get your ribbon and your dowel rods…*HINT* Target often has little spools of fun ribbon in the Dollar Spot…I think maybe for scrapbooking? You don’t get a ton, but definitely enough to make a few bows, and it’s cheap!

These are the dowel rods I used. Get whatever size you want – the smaller the rod, the tighter the curl.

Step 2

Wind the ribbon tightly around the rod and secure each end with a clothespin like so:

Make sure not to overlap the ribbon:

Step 3

Put some aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and lay out your dowel rods across it:

Step 4

Put the cookie sheet in the oven and let ‘em bake for 15-20 minutes. I hovered near my oven like a Nervous Nellie the whole time because I was sure they were going to catch on fire.

They didn’t.

But it still might not be a bad idea to monitor the situation just in case, know what I’m sayin’?

Step 5

Take the ribbon out of the oven and remove the clothespins. You should have a nice curly ribbon, like this:

Step 6

Drape the ribbon over your dish towel and take some pictures.

Ok. That step is optional

Step 7

Cut the ribbons to the length you need (I think mine were 2.5 – 3 inches) and scrunch them together in the middle:

Then tie the thread around it nice and tight (no picture of that)

The more ribbons you use, the more poofy the hair bow will be.

Step 8

Glue the back of the bow to your clip.

You can leave it as is but I added some fluff to the middle.

Voila! You’re done!

Now go make some of your own for the little girl in your life!