DIY Hair Bow

Today, I will be showing you how to make a hair bow. It is fancier than your classic tying of a bow, because it has many different color ribbons, and a smaller bow in the front. It is pretty easy, so let's get started!

Before you begin, you will need  two different colors of 1.5 inch width ribbon ( I chose two different shades of purple), a 5/8 inch width ribbon (for the bow in the front), and a little thing of rickrack to connect the two different color ribbon (I got gold rickrack that is 1/2 inch width). In addition to the ribbons, you'll need a hot glue gun, fabric scissors, a sewing machine with matching thread, and a needle and thread.

To start, cut the two 1.5 inch ribbon as long as you need it to make the right size bow. I probably cut about 1 foot or each ribbon, because you can always trim it shorter. Remember to cut the ribbon on a First, take the two thickest ribbons (the ones that will be in place of my purple ribbons) and using your sewing machine, sew them together (slightly overlapping, on a zigzag stitch), so that it is almost double the width. Don't forget to backstitch to lock the seams. 

Now to hide the seams, plug in your hot glue gun and glue the rickrack right ontop of the seam. Let it dry. Once it it dry, which will be pretty quick, you can start folding it to the size you want it to be. Lay it out, face down, horizontally, then fold one side over, then the other. Turn it back around to the front, and squeeze it in the middle to get an approximation of the size. When you find the size you would like it to be, grab your needle, thread it, making sure one end of the thread is knotted, then take your needle in and out of the center, and pull tight to scrunch up the middle. After that, wrap the thread around the middle a few times, then pull the thread through the hole to secure it. 

Once that is done, cut a small piece of the 5/8 ribbon for the little bow in front, and do the same method we did before where we laid it out and folded each side over. Once you like the size, use the same needle and thread to sew it to the bigger bow. Now to make the tie that goes around the center, cut a small piece of any ribbon you would like (you may need to fold it in half or so if it is too large) and wrap it around the center. To hold it in place, either hot glue it down to the back of the larger bow, or hand sew it in place. 

Now to attach it to your head, you can purchase a hair clip or headband and glue it on. That is all to it. It's a lot easier than it sounds, and comes out way cooler than just a regular bow. Have a good week! (I get out of school on Thursday!!!)

Paper Fish - Kids Craft

Today, I will show you how to make a very simple, but fun fish made out of a paper plate! I know my nephew loves Nemo, so this would be a great one for a toddler's Finding Dory party, as well. 

The materials you will need is a paper plate, which you can find just about anywhere, some medium such as markers, or crayons for kids, but I used acrylic paint, scissors, glue, a pencil, and any accessories you'd like to add, such as glitter, etc. 

To start, draw out your design on the paper plate. First draw a triangle where the mouth will be, so when you cut it out, it will be an open mouth. Also, you will use that cut out piece and glue it to the back of the fish as its caudal fin, or the tail. Where the edges come up around the plate, that will be where your dorsal fin (the one on top), the pelvic fin and the anal fin (the two fins on the underside of the fish) are, so trace that part around that area (but still connected to the body). Once you like the shape, cut it out, and glue the triangle piece to the tail. Also, cut out a fin out of the scraps of paper plate, to glue to the side, as the pectoral fin. If you want to do it scientifically, it needs all five fins, but feel free to ditch the ones you don't find necessary. This was for another science project, but I doubt your baby will want to glue the organs to the other side ;)

Now once you have your fish all cut out, color or paint it in whatever way you want. Don't forget to color the fins that are not attached yet as well. Once you have fully decorated it, now glue the extra fins on. For the tail, put a tiny bit of glue at the end that comes to a point and stick it to the back of the fish. For the side fin, only glue a line at one end and stick it on, so that you can lift it, and it has extra realization.  

Now when everything's connected and colored, now it the time to decorate! I decided to make my fish a princess fish, so I glued glitter to the dorsal fin (the one on top) so it looks like a crown, then I decorated the other fins, the eye, and mouth with silver glittery washi tape (which is just decorative scotch tape that you can find in a variety of colors at Target). 

That is all! It is as easy as that, perfect for your little tyke, or even your child at heart! Who knew that this would be a craft we still do in middle school! To see the other craft I made for my science class, click below

http://theiincreativity.blogspot.com/2016/04/stuffed-animal-part-1.html

http://theiincreativity.blogspot.com/2016/04/stuffed-animal-part-2.html

4 Towel Animals Tutorial

Today, as summer is approaching, we decided to show you how to make towel animals for all the fun vacations/staycations coming your way. The four towel animals I've decided to teach today is the classic swan, peacock, elephant, and a stingray.

To make a SWAN towel animal, you will need one hand towel (although I assume you can do it with a regular towel), and lay it horizontally. Then find the middle, and roll both sides in towards eachother. After that, flip it over, so the rolled together parts are on the bottom, and fold up the neck and fold down the head at the top. It won't stay very easily, so I held it down and pressed hard for a few seconds and that seemed to work. If you are having trouble with it staying, an alternative would be to put hair elastics around the folds to keep it folded. 

To make a PEACOCK towel animal, follow the same steps as the swan, except you'll need an additional towel the same size. Fold the second towel in half vertically, (aka hotdog style, aka the long way) and begin folding the shorter side over under over under, like making a fan. Once that if folded all the way down, wrap a hair elastic around the bottom to hold the folds in place, then gently rest it on the swan's back. 

To make an ELEPHANT towel animal, again make a swan (but this time it has to be out of a hand towel sized towel), but don't fold the swan just yet. First, take your larger, regular sized towel, and fold it in half horizontally (the hamburger way) then roll the folded side and the ends side toward eachother (sort of like a scroll). Now take it and sort of just lift it onto both ends to stand up like a rainbow. It stays pretty well. Now take your unfinished swan, and flip it to the side with the rolls on the bottom, then where the towel comes to a point, bend it back, sort of in a circle like how an elephants trunk is and hold it there with pressure. Then on the opposite ends, just sort of flop the ends out, making the ears more visible and placing it on top of the rainbow thing we just made.

Lastly, to make a STINGRAY towel animal, take your larger towel and fold it in half the horizontal way, (the way that makes all sides more even then the other way), then fold one corner of the sort of square towel down to the corner across to make a triangle. From here, lift up the center and push it together, then roll up a smaller towel and put it underneath to complete the tail. 

That is all! I hope you enjoyed my towel animals, and maybe even make your own!

Cornrows (For Beginners)

Hey yall! Today's blog post, I am going to show you how to braid cornrows. This tutorial is only for beginners, because I'm no expert in this field, as you can see from my loose messy job. 

Anyway, to begin, divide your hair into as many sections as possible. The smaller sections though, the harder it is. Today, I did only three sections, because it is quicker, but the most I've done in the past is seven. The way to part hair is by using a rat-tail comb, a sharpened pencil, but I just use my finger. Start at the hairline, and "draw" your way straight to the neck in the way you want. After you divide each section, I recommend holding each one in an elastic, so they don't get messed up. Also, while braiding, clip the sections around the one you're working with, pulling the roots the opposite way, to get all of your space, make sure it's tight enough, and be able to center the braid in the section.

The next step, is just Dutch Braiding all the way down. I did a blog post a few weeks ago further into the technique that you can find here. In general speaking, divide the hair into three pieces, and take the middle piece over the left, then take the NEW middle piece over the right, and add in hair from each side every time.
When you pick up all of the remaining hair, continue braiding down and secure with an elastic.

It's harder to braid with smaller pieces, which is why I do it with bigger sections, and I like to practice on people with really thick hair to get the hang of it. If you want to be more familiar with this, first get really good at a regular Dutch braid, then move to two Dutch braids, and further more. This is a fun one, and can save you a lot of money on a tropical vacation!

Fishtail Braid

This hairstyle is another classic braid, but I couldn't do it for a long time, so I thought I'd share. 

This hairstyle looks really cool, but it takes so long to do, odds are, you'll quit half way through your first try. That's probably why I couldn't do it until like 3 years ago. Anyway, persevere!  

To do the basic version of the braid, divide your hair into two sections. Start by picking up a piece of hair on the outside edge of whatever section you choose to begin with, and cross it over, and combine it with the opposite section. Then, pick up a piece of hair on the other section (the one that just received the last piece of hair) and cross it over into the other division of hair. Continue these steps, and if you keep going, it will look better than when you started.

To make it a French braid, do the same steps, except when you pick up a piece from one section, add a piece that is not in the braid into the piece that you are crossing over.

It is a lot easier than it seems, but it does take a while, so plan accordingly. Have a nice day!

Rope Twist Braid

Today I am going to show you how to do a rope twist/braid. It is a very easy hairstyle, but I know many people who don't know how to do it, so I thought I'd put it out there. Also, please excuse the pictures, I was using self timer :)

To start, divide your section of hair that you'd like to braid into 2 pieces. Twist both pieces (separately) one direction, then twist them around eachother the opposite way. For example, if you twist each one to the left, you'd twist them around eachother to the right. If you twist them separately to the right, twist them together to the left. 

That's really all it is, but some people think you just twist them together, without twisting them by themselves the other way. If you do it that way, it will just unwrap. 

Other ways to wear this hairstyle is in a french rope braid, which is the same thing, just adding in hair to both sides, braiding the two front sections of hair and tying them together in the back, braiding your ponytail, etc. I love doing a lace rope braid (which is where you only add in hair on one side) in the front of my head, because it's cute and gets my hair out of my face!

Flag Banner

Hello! Today I am going to show you how to make a flag banner. I make these quite often, and there are multiple ways of doing it, so I'll show you two!

The easiest version is to go to your craft store or even Target, and in either their party or scrapbooking section, you can buy a flag banner just plain, but comes with the flags and a string to hang it on. Then go and get lettered stickers and just stick them on the paper flags. When buying stickers though, make sure that the pack has the certain amount of letters you need, because some only come with one of each letter. 

To spice that way up a little bit, you can buy scrapbooking paper and cut out paper flags (so you can choose the pattern). You can also cut out your own letters and glue them on.

The last way (and most challenging/time consuming), is making a fabric flag banner. We just bought a package of burlap flags from my craft store, but I assume you can cut some from scratch. You will also need fabric paint, copy paper, scissors, and tape (or letter stencils), and a stencil paint brush. And yes, you HAVE to use that certain type of brush. I also reccomend paper towels to go under, since burlap has holes in it. Now I don't have stencils, but if I did that'd be a whole lot easier, but all I did was draw a block letter on copy paper, cut it out, use the the piece of paper with the cut out in it and tape it to the burlap, then paint it. I squirted out fabric paint onto a paper plate, then dipped my brush into it, then tapped it around a little so the paint isn't all clumpy. Now I just dabbed the paint onto the burlap, using the stencil so I keep the shape. Then remove the stencil, and let the flags dry. 

That is all! This project is not very hard, and perfect for special occasions such as, parties, etc.