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Friday, September 21, 2012

It's a girl thing -- ribbon-covered headbands

Here's something you can make for the girl in your life, in under 20 minutes. I did these for my two daughters a while back. I used them as Easter basket stuffers one year. And they were very quick and easy to make.



for 1 headband:

I used 1 1/2 yards of 5/8-inch grosgrain ribbon, a plastic headband (I bought a set of 8 for $1 at Dollar Tree), a hot glue gun and a small amount of crafting cement (any rubber cement type product designed for crafts will work--the key is that it has the texture of rubber cement -- a bit flexible when dry). Depending on how wide your ribbon and headband, you may need a bit more ribbon, as much as 1 2/3 yards should be enough.



Before gluing the ribbon to the headband, wrap the ribbon around the headband the entire length, to get an idea of how much overlap you will need for complete coverage. Unwrap.  Now begin to hot glue the ribbon to headband.

Put a little hot glue on the last inch of the headband, both sides. Start the ribbon wrapping by folding the end of the ribbon over the end of the headband, then winding/wrapping the length of the ribbon over this starter edge.

You will work diagonally on the headband. Working about 2 inches at a time, coat both sides of the headband (2 inches worth) with hot glue. Wrap the ribbon around and around. Continue with this glue, then wrap process, until the headband is completely covered. Finish the final end by folding under the edge and hot gluing in place on the inside. Trim any excess ribbon close to head band. 

You should have about 1 1/2 feet of ribbon left. Cut off 2 inches, save for securing the bow,  Make a loop with 16 inches of ribbon, overlapping the ends of loop by about 2 inches.  Flatten this loop.  Scrunch together the center of the loop. Use a piece of thread to wind around this scrunched section several times, securing with a knot. Take the 2-inch portion of remaining ribbon and wrap around the scrunched section, gluing with the craft cement. Now using the craft cement, glue the bow to the headband. And you're done.

These are simple grosgrain ribbon headbands. The headbands can also be covered with satin finished ribbons, then adorned with silk flowers or lace bows. I've seen some nice braid at the fabric store that would also work. Or, you could even make your own bias tape with fabric scraps you have at home. Then use that to wrap around the plastic head band.

I can picture cute fairy headbands, covered in fabric daisies for Hallowe'en, headbands made of the same fabric as a new dress (use the scraps to make bias tape for wrapping around the band) for a matching look, or, satin and silk flower headbands for the romantic type.


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15 comments:

  1. These are lovely. It's hard for me to keep up with girl things having two older boys. Do your daughters wear these headbands? Around here, I think I've seen younger kids in them, but I don't know about older girls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      My daughters do still wear headbands, but more often it's just ribbon covered ones, no bow. It all depends, I have one daughter who wears very young and funky clothing, so for her, yes one of these still fits her style. The other is a romantic, and more inclined to wear silk flowers, satin ribbons and hats.

      My oldest child is male, so for the first 7 years all I knew was trucks, dirt and dinosaurs!

      Delete
  2. These are so cute, I will have to make a couple for Christmas presents. My oldest grand daughter had a store bought one, but it didn't hold up very well and definitely wasn't this cute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lois,
      Thanks! I originally made these as gifts for Easter baskets. I was looking for inexpensive things that I could make, and these were some of what I came up with. I'd seen some in stores for about $5-6 each, and I think I made these for about $1.50 a piece. They'd be wonderful as Christmas gifts for young girls.

      Delete
  3. These are really cute, while I am not girly, well I am not crafty for that matter! But both my girls would LOVE these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Carrie,
      thanks! I guess some of us like the crafty stuff more than others. I've always loved making things. Of course, when I was small, my mom would say what I loved making most were messes!

      Delete
    2. haha thats my crafty daughter, leaving messes in her wake!

      I like crafty stuff, just not very good at it or seem to ever have the time!

      Delete
  4. Very cute! Even though my daughter wouldn't wear them, I think my two youngest nieces might.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shara,
      Thanks! I can see how a lot of teens wouldn't want to wear headbands, but younger girls probably would.

      Delete
  5. This is adorable! My sister-in-law just gave me a big box of her daughter's outgrown clothes, and in the box was a velvet Christmas dress, just perfect for my girl this year. I'm going to see if I can't match the velvet with some velvet ribbon to make a headband for my daughter. Do you think this would work with velvet ribbon, ie, no bleed-through of the glue? Can I use wide ribbon, or should it be narrow?
    Thanks in advance!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sandy,
      Thank you! This would be my advice for a satin ribbon as well as velvet. Test the ribbon in a small spot near an end, by putting a large dot of hot glue on the back and squishing it onto a piece of plastic wrap. See if the glue leaves a bleed-thru "stain" on the front. If it does leave bleed-thru make the headband by just putting the hot glue on the underside of the plastic band, and not the top wide which would show. Does that make sense?

      For width of ribbon, I've found it easier to wind round and round if the ribbon is on the narrow side, 1/2 to 5/8 inch wide. But this may be a YMMV sort of thing. You could bring the plastic headband to the fabric store and just test out some of the ribbons on it to see which width would work best for you. Good luck with this, and let me know if I didn't make any of my instructions clear enough.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for answering so quickly. I'm going shopping later today. I have a coupon for the fabric store that I want to use today, as it expires this weekend. You when you said, "make the headband . . .and not the top wide which would show", I'm guessing you meant "not the top side which would show". Again, many thanks for all your ideas.

      Delete
    3. Yes, "top side" -- thank you for catching that. Typos, typos, typos! My fingers don't always type what my brain tells them to.

      Good luck with your headband and please let me know how it turns out.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Hi Belinda,
      Thank you! I like crafty stuff. How about you? Do you have any crafty stuff you particularly like?

      Delete

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