PHOTO: FIREWORKS OVER CINDERELLA'S CASTLE

Firework pictures are my absolute FAVORITE.  I captured this one a few weeks back over Cinderella's Castle.

Minnie Mouse Spikey Hair Clip Tutorial

I was featured again over at The Ribbon Retreat for another fun Hair Clip Tutorial.

Check it out!!
     

Hi Ribbon Retreat readers! 

It's me again, Ashley, from Sweet Mama J's Boutique.

I am super excited to be here and to be able to share one of my favorite bows with you!

I absolutely LOVE all things Disney, and especially love Minnie & Mickey.

So when I saw the Minnie 'n' Me 3/8" ribbon mix here at The Ribbon Retreat, I knew it would be PERFECT for this tutorial!

Let's gather our supplies and get started.

The supplies I used are:

2 - 4" lengths of 3/8" Swiss Dots - Red with Black

2 - 4" lengths of 3/8" Solid Grosgrain - Black

2 - 4" lengths of 3/8" Little Minnie 

2 - 8" lengths of 1/8" Solid Grosgrain - Yellow

1 - 1.5" length of Swiss Dots - Red with Black

1 - Resin - Minnie - Red

1 - Lined Alligator Clip

Hot Glue

Fray Check

We're going to start by cutting the end of each 4" length strip into a V, or 2 mini spikes.

Remember to seal your ends, using your preferred method.

Take 2 of the 4" lengths, and make a wide X with them.  

Place a small dot of glue on the bottom ribbon and secure the top ribbon in place. 

Repeat with the other 2 colors of 4" lengths.  You will now have 3 Xs.

Set aside the X that you would like to be on top, and layer the other 2 Xs so that the top X will straddle the ends of the bottom X.

Place a small dot of glue in the center of the bottom X and secure the top in place.

Fold your 1/8" ribbon in half and make a crease.  Lay ribbon flat.

Place a small dot of glue in the crease.

Take one end of the ribbon and make a sideways loop, (the side of the ribbon  that is facing up while the ribbon is laying flat will be still facing up after secured in the middle.)

Repeat with the other end, making a figure 8.

Repeat these steps with the other 1/8" ribbon.

Lay one figure 8 on top of the other, making an X, or a butterfly shape.

Place a small dot of glue in the middle of the bottom figure 8 and secure the top one in place.

Place your butterfly shape in the middle of your 2 bottom Xs.

Place a small dot of glue in the middle of your top X and secure your butterfly shape to it.

Take your top X and place it centered on top of your butterfly shape.

Place a small dot of glue in the middle of your butterfly shape and secure your top X to it.

Place a small amount of glue on your aligator clip and secure it on the back of your bottom X.

Press firmly to secure.

Take your 1.5" piece and place a small dot of glue on the back of one end.  Open your alligator clip and secure the ribbon to the top of the clip, (not the part that opens.)

Tightly wrap the ribbon around the bow and place a small dot of glue on the back side of the other end or your 1.5" piece of ribbon. 

Secure it on top of the first end you glued down.

This is what you have so far.  This is a very versatile bow that looks great in all colors.

For extra pizazz I like to add just a little something to the middle.  

When I found these matching resins, I thought they were PERFECT!

The perfect Minnie Spikey clip, just in time for summer!!

PHOTO: GIRAFFE

I recently spent some time at Disney World.  What an AMAZING trip.  I took this photo on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride at Animal Kingdom.

I could not believe how close some of the animals were.

AMAZING!!

Korker Flower Hairbow Tutorial

Last week I had a tutorial published on The Ribbon Retreat's blog!

I was super excited to make and share this fun springtime bow with all their readers, and now on my blog too!!

Hi Ribbon Retreat Readers!! It's Ashley from Sweet Mama J's Boutique.

 Today, I have a Korker Flower Hair Bow tutorial for you, just in time for Easter!!

I absolutely LOVE The Ribbon Retreat's  beautiful selection of ribbons, especially for fun hair bows!

Here we go...

For this project I used: 

 3 - 8 inch lengths of Double Ruffle Ribbon in light pink

3 - 7 inch lengths of 5/8" Solid Grosgrain in white

Enough ribbon for Korker bow in 3/8" Delight-Sheer/Satin in white, 3/8" Solid Sheer in lime, and 3/8" Swiss Dots in pink with white.

1- Lined alligator clip in white

1 - 10 mm crystal sticker

Fray Check

Hot Glue 

  

Take 1 of your pieces of Double Ruffle and fold it in half.  Make sure you make a crease that you can see when unfolded.

Unfold it and put a small dab of hot glue on the crease.

Fold bottom end up to meet the crease making sure to secure in hot glue.  Repeat with the top end, remember to make sure to secure in the hot glue.

Repeat all three steps with the remaining 2 pieces of the 8 inch length and all 3 pieces of the 7 inch length.

You should have ended up with 6 loops.

Take the first loop with the cut ends up and put a small dab of hot glue on it.  

Put the second loop on it cut ends facing down so the 2 loops form an X.

Put a small dab of glue on top of your X and put your third loop to cross through the X, as shown.

Repeat the steps with your remaining loops to have 2 flowers, one smaller than the other.

Put a small dab of glue in the middle of the larger flower and place the small flower so the petals straddle the petals of the larger flower.

Press together firmly.

At this point you can do anything with the middle of your flower, such as, add a button, some cute rosettes, a ribbon sculpture or even just keep it the way it is.

I have chosen to add a Korker bow to the middle to make it fun and festive.

I made the Korker bow with the free instructions found on The Ribbon Retreat's site.

After making my corker ribbons, I cut them all to about 2 1/2 or 3 inches.

Make sure to seal your ends using your preferred method.

For my Korker bow I used the needle and thread method to attach them together and then secured the thread on the bottom of my Korker bow.

Put a small dab of glue on the bottom of your corker bow and attach it to the middle of your smaller flower.

 

Put a very small dab of glue on the back of your crystal and attach it to the middle of your Korker.

Gives it a little bit of bling, that all princesses have!

 

Put a small line of glue along the top of your alligator clip and attach to the back of your large flower.

 

Press firmly to secure. 

And there's a Beautiful Hair Bow.

Just in time for Easter!!

Think of all the other occasions that would go perfectly with this cute Korker Flower Hair Bow!!

Thanks to The Ribbon Retreat for allowing me to share with you guys today!!