Hello all of our crafty, summer, buddies! We gotta throw out a huge thank you for everyone who has been into the shop lately–we have seen so many new faces and we love it. Lots of you were around during Riverfest, and we expect to see even more of you during Anoka’s first ever Food Truck Festival that is going on here, in town, this weekend. (More info here.) Today’s blog is gonna be another crafty one–so, brace yourself! Our last blog topic was a cute one–redoing light switch covers with candy wrappers. (Find it here.) Today, we’re gonna make candy wrapper, hair bows. You can use almost any candy wrapper you like, so these can be easily customized in any color and/or size. Plus, they don’t take too long to make, so you could make them as a birthday party craft, as a summer camp project, to sell at your lemonade stand, or with the kids for a fun, and simple enough, project.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
Candy Wrapper(s) (We’re using Tootsie Pop wrappers. You can use the same, or, go bigger. Don’t be afraid to play around with different wrapper textures to see which ones work best!)
Twist Ties (Grab ’em off an old bag of bread! Or, if you don’t have these, you could tie ribbon, use twine, or pretty much anything else that will hold your bag in ‘bow’ position–and, won’t melt with hot glue on it.)
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun (If you’re a kid doing this…make sure you have your parents permission, or their help. These things get super hot and the burn really hurts! Yes. We’re speaking from experience. Adult experience.)
Small Jewels/Sequins/Buttons/Etc. (Just something to glue in the middle of the bow–something big enough to cover the twist tie, basically.)
Bobby Pin (Or, any other barrette that will fit behind the candy wrapper. If you use a bigger candy wrapper, a bigger barrette is a better idea.)
And, Here’s What to Do:
-Plug in your glue gun to let it warm up as you work.
-Fold the wrapper in half, and trim off the ends with all of the little writing on it. You can trim them straight across, or curve them a little.
-Now, pretend you’re making a paper fan, and accordion fold the wrapper. Do this the long way.
-Next, pinch the middle flat, and wrap your twist tie around it. (This is kinda weird. You need the twist tie to be as flat as can be–despite the folds not being flat. We tried to show you in the pic. This is a hard one to explain so just do your best and know that you can always do this part a few times until you get it just right.)
-Once you nail the whole twist tie thing, or at least do it the best you can, ‘fluff’ the bow back out a bit and make it look a little more ‘bow-like’. (We usually have to refold it a bit, and sometimes even trim off a little excess.)
-Now, pick out the button, jewel, sequin, or, whatever you want to glue in the middle, and do it; glue it!
-When the glue is dry, flip your bow over and tuck your barrette under the twist tie. We didn’t glue it into place and it stayed pretty okay–as long as we were careful. If you feel better adding a little dot of glue to it, just to make sure it doesn’t get lost, feel free! (Just don’t put it in your hair until you’re SURE that glue is dry. This just seems like a mistake we would make…so, we’re just reminding you. :) )
And…you’re done! You can make one, or a few. You can make ’em big, or small. You can make ’em for you, for a friend, for a sibling, or to sell at a lemonade stand. Have fun–and, don’t worry about perfection. They’re gonna look cute, no matter what!
