Making It! - Hair Clippie Holder Edition

I've been busy lately. Busy creating and planning other things to create. I haven't shared many of them because they weren't crochet and "What's in my Crochet Bag" should at least occasionally be crochet. I've been pretty excited about some of them, though and so I've decided to introduce a new feature - "Making It!" Each Monday (or today, whatever, don't judge me) I'll tell you about a new project that I've made. It might be cooking or crafting or sewing or crocheting or writing. It'll be whatever I've been working on and want to share that I, myself, have made.

Today, as our inaugural Making It! post, I'm sharing my fabulous hair clip holders!

A couple of months ago, I was browsing at Between Friends, a local consignment/fun stuff shop, and I found these cute hairbow holders that looked like ballerinas. I loved them, but they didn't really fit my girls' rooms. We're very themey around these parts and we weren't about to just plunk a ballerina in a fairy room. Lots of putting it off and material gathering later and I finally got it all together.

Here are my basic steps (of which there are no photos, sorry.)

Trust me, it's a fairy. The wings are just blending
into the bush. It's lovely in the Nature Fairy room, though.

1. Find carboard - I just used an old box top, but if you wanted people to be able to look at the back, might I suggest foam core. In any case, you need something with stiffness, so at the very least corrugated.

2. Doodle - A Sharpie and 20 minutes later, I had the basic outline. What I wanted was something more realistic looking, but the thing is that without a head, realistic looking is blobby. I had to make it exaggerated just to have it look like anything. After finally getting a form I was happy with, I cut it out. I used scissors on the first one, but it was a nightmare and used an exacto on the second one and it went much better, so I'd recommend that.

2. Cover with fabric - I purchased fat quarters, because they are fun. I cut them in half, knowing that I wouldn't need the whole thing. Then, a little glue gun, a little stretching and trimming to make the curves smoother and I had a "bodice."

3. Make a skirt - Since the ballerina ones I had seen all used tulle for the skirt, I decided that was the easiest option for the fairy. I had a small spool of tulle that I use for gift wrapping. I cut uniform length (ish) pieces and tied 3 together in the middle. Then, folding in half, I glued the knot to the area I wanted the top of the skirt. This made the skirt fall nicely from about five points in the center and meant that I didn't have to worry about making the top look straight. The cowgirl's skirt was cut from a dress Maren had outgrown. The ribbon trim and belt loops were there to begin with, although I can't imagine it without them.

4. Add ribbons - The "lacing" ribbons across the middle were fairly easy, but for the skirt ribbons, I would recommend grosgrain ribbon only. I used satin on the cowgirl and the clippies keep slipping off. It's kind of a nightmare. Basically, I just hot glued them to the back.

5. Add decoration - The fairy obviously needed wings. I purchased these at a craft store for a buck, but you could easily make some with a coat hanger and colored hose if you were more patient than I. I've tried it and it just doesn't work for me. The fairy wings were actually a butterfly and Brynna wanted to put her body on the front of the skirt, so I added it to the skirt. It seems morbid to me, but Brynna thinks it's pretty. I'm still looking for a nice big horse button or pin or something to add to the cowgirl. She needs something.

6. Add clippies - There are many, many more than in the photos, but unless you're really clippy happy, you can't run out of room, there's a never ending supply of places to stick things.

Cowgirl clippy holder. 

Good Things about this Project - Easy and Quick - I did both in one afternoon and they turned out so nice. Kid Friendly - I kept mine away from the glue gun, but they directed what they wanted where and which ribbon, etc. Personalizable - So easy to make it fit a room or a personality or both. Really does a good job - The girls love having them on their wall and they are wonderful corals for what's normally in giant piles at our house.

Bad Things about this Project - Hanging is a Pain - I went through three or four different hanging methods before I came up with something that would work for us. Ponytail holders - We still don't have a good spot for ponytail holders. The best I could come up with was using a butterfly clip to hold them on, but that's not going to work for long. Addictive - I'm kinda disappointed I only have the two girls. This was a ton of fun!