I used to use a heated light bulb to quickly iron ribbons. However, now that almost all of our bulbs are either LED or CFL, they don't generate enough heat to iron anything.
Enter my hair flat iron. My flat iron heats up in seconds and doesn't require an ironing board. I slip the ribbon between the paddles and pull it through a half dozen times. Hair flat irons always seem to have a sweet spot where the paddles make better contact than the rest. That's where I pull the ribbons through.
These satin ribbons were used to tie up some small gifts for my step-mom for Mother's Day. I save and reuse nice ribbons. Sometimes they become a tad rumpled when piled haphazardly in a box. A quick pressing makes them look good as new. Big but -- do not try this with plastic ribbons!!! Eek! I can just imagine the smell!Anyway, if you were a previous light bulb-ribbon ironer, just a quick tip for if and when you need to iron satin or grosgrain ribbons in the future (and also happen to have curly hair (like me) that you straighten with a styling flat iron). :)
Just curious, do you have plans for Mother's Day? I'm still not sure exactly what we'll do. But I'm hoping to have my son and daughter-in-law join us. Keeping my fingers crossed for no rain, as we'll be outdoors once again.
Did you pick any flowers for May Day?
Here's my May Day posy. I went out into the yard to look for flowers to pick. In early May, there's not a lot to choose from in my yard. But I did find a lot of violets. I cut a handful and tucked them into this tiny vase.
On another note, the adorable little bunny has become a hungry, adorable bunny. He/she got into our strawberry beds and ate most of the leaves. The blossoms are still developing, so fortunately, they're safe from our hungry friend. One afternoon last week, we had to quickly devise some fencing for those beds. I wanted to show you one small critter fence that my daughters helped me make that day.
(My husband used the last of the chicken wire on the bed just behind this one.) I worked with what I had on hand. I didn't have a lot of time to think something up, so I went with rustic.
We collected a bunch of sticks from our woodlot and stuck them into the ground just inside the perimeter of the bed. Afterward, I used wire along the top third of the fence to anchor key sticks together, making it a little more difficult for either a squirrel or bunny to push the sticks over to get in.
I had read that a rabbit fence needs to have slats no more than 2 inches apart. I'm assuming some of our squirrels could squeeze in through even tinier openings. So, we went with 1 1/2 inches apart. Anyway, so far, so good. It's been a little over a week, and the fence hasn't been breached. I like the look of this fence. If it works this strawberry season, this is what I'll use for future years. If not, it's back to the drawing board.
Next up, devise a fence that will keep raccoons out of the corn. Any (cheap) suggestions for keeping hungry raccoons out of a small corn patch?
