Crafty: Picture Frame Hair Bow Holder

Over the holidays, my sister gave Greenleigh a ton of hair bows.  After all, Greenleigh loves to accessorize.  But other than throwing them in one of her drawers, I had no place to keep them.  I then went on the search to purchase a hair bow holder, only to find out that they can be ridiculously expensive.  Seriously, who pays $37.50 for a hair bow holder?  Oh, and said hair bow holder (as cute as it may be) only holds 10 hair bows max.  Not for me.  No thanks.  But taking such a firm stand and drawing my line in the sand, only left me without a place to leave Greenleigh’s hair bows.

I then started to stalk Pinterest.  The best one that I could find, used a picture frame and several spare sheets of sheet metal.  Um, I don’t have any spare sheet metal in my house, but I started to think that they were on to something with the picture frame idea.  I continued to research, finding ones that I liked and ones that I didn’t, trying to figure out how to make mine.  With no instructions, I pretty much winged it on this one and ended up with this:PictureFrameBowHolder

Yep, that’s 12 hair bows on there, and room for several more.  I rarely love how my projects come out, but this is an exception.  Such an easy project and it cost virtually nothing.  I used left over ribbon from my Valentine’s Ribbon Wreath, purchased a frame with a 50% off coupon, selected fabric that was on clearance, and found some quilt batting for $1.97!  Whole project might have cost $9?  Maybe not even that.  And with the supplies I purchased, I could probably make 5 more of these (well, I’d have to purchase more frames, but you get the idea).

You will need:

8×10 picture frame

Fabric

Quilt batting

Ribbon

Hot glue & Glue gun

SharpieStep 1 – Take the picture frame apart.  My frame came with a piece of cardboard in it, but if yours doesn’t, use the sharpie and trace the glass on your own piece of cardboard and cut it out.  Place the glass to the side, you won’t be needing it anymore.  The attorney in me wants to remind you to be careful of the sharp edges when disposing of the glass.

Step 2 – Open your quilt batting and unroll it.  Place your rectangular piece of cardboard on top of the batting and trace the rectangle in two separate places.  Cut the first rectangle out of the quilt batting, using the sharpie lines as your guide, cutting exactly on the lines.  For the second rectangle, leave an inch or two extra between your cut and the sharpie outline.  In other words, you want this rectangle to be a little bigger than your first one.

Step 3 – Take the first rectangle that you cut (the one that should be the exact same size as your cardboard) and attach it to the cardboard using 4 dabs of hot glue in the four corners of the cardboard.

Step 4 – Roughly, cut a piece a fabric in the shape of a rectangle.  You want this piece of fabric to be slightly bigger than your largest piece of quilt batting.  This cut does not need to be pretty or perfect, only bigger than the cardboard and the batting.  I promise, no one is going to see it.

Then, place the fabric you just cut, face down on your surface.  Place your large piece of quilt batting on top of it.  And on top, place your cardboard with the smaller piece of quilt batting attached, with the cardboard side up (your two pieces of quilt batting should be touching each other).

Step 5 – Take your hot glue gun, and run a line of glue down one of the long edges of your cardboard.  Quickly fold over the fabric over, on top of the glue, so the fabric is attached to the cardboard.Then do the same with the other long end, but pull tight this time, because you don’t want to have excess fabric hanging on the front.Step 6 – The corners had me stumped, but I figured the best way was to wrap them similar to a present, so that was what I did.  Don’t be afraid of the hot glue here.  You need it to stay secure and as flat as possible so it will fit back in your frame.  Hot glue away…
Then do the same to the other end, again pulling firmly so as not to have any extra fabric hanging on the front.Step 7 – Get a visual of how it will look in the frame and decide how many bows you want your frame to hold.  More bows = more vertical ribbons. I decided to use 4 pieces of ribbon to hold the maximum amount of bows.  The long ends of your frame are the top – run your ribbons from top to bottom and space them out the way you want them.  You are going to clip your hair bows on to these ribbons, so leave room between them.  I didn’t measure mine to have them perfectly equidistant, but I kinda wish my mom had been around…she’s great at that stuff.  Mine were roughly measured, and it worked out fine.

Once you find the perfect spacing, flip your fabric covered cardboard over and glue the ribbon ends to the back:Don’t pull to tight on this one, you want it to have a little give so you can clip your hair bows on.

Step 8 – Press your fabric covered cardboard piece through the frame opening, and put the picture frame backing (the one that came with the frame you purchased) back on to the frame. Mine was a snug fit, but it closed.Voila!  Hair Bow Holder!Don’t think it looks like a hair bow holder?  How about now?This might be my new favorite gift for everyone who has a little girl!

 

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21 Responses to Crafty: Picture Frame Hair Bow Holder

  1. Shelley says:

    Found your blog from Mingle Monday and I love it! This bow holder is awesome. I have an old barette holder from when I was a kid that we use for my daughter’s hair things but I may try this too. She loves bows and hair accessories so we could use more room!

  2. Sara says:

    Oh wow, I love this bow holder! I have been trying to stay away from Pinterest because I’m pretty sure once I start I will not be able to stop…LOL! I have three girls myself and that’s means LOTS of bows. Thanks for the great idea!

  3. jennifer t says:

    I’m soooooo making this! And one with smaller ribbons for her barrettes!

  4. Cheryl says:

    This came at a perfect time. Just braided some ribbon together and attached it to my daughters dresser drawer. This is way cuter! I know what I’m doing this weekend. Thanks for sharing. Found you on Get Connected Tuesday.
    http://cnavphoto.blogspot.com/2012/03/zen-time-for-me.html

  5. claire says:

    Great idea ,I find my daughters all over 🙂 Thanks for joining us at Creative Mondays 🙂

  6. close tohome says:

    very clever, thanks for stopping by tiptoe tuesday http://www.stayingclosetohome.com. hope to see you next week

  7. Eveli says:

    Love it! Great idea to keep them all in place and displayed! Very pretty! I’m a new follower from the hop! Hope to see you at my blog soon! http://acostaeveli.blogspot.com/ 🙂

  8. Danielle says:

    What a great idea! I’m definitely going to have to try this! Just found your blog and I’m excited to keep reading!

  9. Mikki says:

    Thanks for joining Flock Together this week! I am now also following you on Pinterest.

  10. Savannah says:

    What a CUTE idea!

  11. Kadie says:

    These would make a great gift!! I think both of my girls need one.:) I would love it if you would be willing to share with us at our party going on now-Monday. Thanks

    http://www.kadie-sevenalive.blogspot.com/2012/03/link-it-up-thursday-12.html

  12. Terry says:

    Such pretty fabric. Fresh and spring-like. Thanks so much for sharing at our party this week.

  13. What a really great idea! thank you for sharing 🙂

  14. WOW, awesome creativity!!! I would never think in a million years to do something like that.

    Mary
    Thanks for stopping by the Monday Madness Blog Hop!
    =)

  15. amy says:

    Cute idea! Great flower fabric too. Thanks for sharing at Shine on Fridays!

  16. six sisters says:

    Cute idea! Thanks for linking up to our “Strut Your Stuff Saturday.” We love having you and hope you’ll be back next week! -The Sisters

  17. Pingback: Tackled: DIY Hair bow holder | One Take On Life

  18. yasmin says:

    Wow I love this great Idea , Have 4 yrs old daugther and she have too many bows and now and pregnant again with other girl this means gonna be more hair bows , gonna do it Thanks

    • admin says:

      Hi Yasmin! It’s so easy to make, you won’t regret it! And making this is so much easier than actually getting my daughter to keep the bows in her hair…that’s difficult. 🙂

  19. shellypierce says:

    I have 2 granddaughters that love hair bows. This will be a great idea, but any ideas on how to hang headbands? They use a large amount of them as well. Thank you shelly.

    • admin says:

      Hi Shelly! Hmmm…headbands are tough. I tend to loop them through the far right ribbon. It’s not pretty, but it works.

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