Craft Project - Bow Bouquet

Here is a cute idea, whether you are looking for a crafty way to display some bows of your own or whether you are looking for a unique gift to give...A bouquet of bows!

Step one - gather your supplies: basket/bucket/container, plant foam, straws, and your bows I got this bucket in the $1 section at Target because they have Easter baskets out now. I got the plant foam at Hobby Lobby, but they have it at Walmart too. I used green straws, but you could use any color.

Step two - insert the straws into the plant foam and trim them to various sizes (I recommend putting the taller ones in the back). Then insert the plant foam into the container

Step three - add your bows!

Bottlecap Alphabet Images

I just found out about a free software download called GIMP that is similar to photoshop. It has a TON of features and I have just barely skimmed the surface, but the reason I downloaded it was so I could put "sparkles" onto my bottlecap images. I'm pretty pleased :o)

Review of Ribbon Suppliers

So far, I have purchased ribbon from 4 online suppliers. I can't speak to their customer service because I just placed some of my orders yesterday and today, but I wanted to review some of the basics.

Each one of the websites offers a wide variety of ribbon and other supplies, so for comparison, I am going to compare the cost of 5 yards of 1.5" white grosgrain ribbon and 5 yards of 1.5" cupcake-themed grosgrain ribbon

The Ribbon Retreat
5 yards of 1.5" white Schiff ribbon: $2.15
5 yards of 1.5" cupcake grosgrain ribbon: $4.75
5 yards of 1.5" zebra grosgrain ribbon: $4.75
Shipping is calculated by Product Weight and the Shipping Address.Shipping will vary from $1.25 up to $20.00 for First Class/Priority Packages
Great website - easy to find items; wide variety of solids, stripes, dots, and patterns as well as other specialty items. Offers convenience packs which put coordinating ribbon together for you

Tea Party Ribbons
5 yards of 1.5" white Schiff ribbon: $2.00
5 yards of 1.5" cupcake grosgrain ribbon: $3.60
5 yards of 1.5" zebra grosgrain ribbon: $3.60
Shipping price varies with the dollar amount of the order. A $25 order would be $9.75
Wide variety of solids, stripes, dots and patterns; originally purchased a variety pack from them through Amazon.com
Orders can be placed in 1 yard increments - if you need continuous yardage, you must specify at the time of purchase

Ribbons and Bows, Oh My!
5 yards of 1.5" white ribbon: $2.15 (not same brand)
5 yards of 1.5" cupcake grosgrain ribbon: $3.65
5 yards of 1.5" zebra grosgrain ribbon: $3.65
Shipping price varies with the dollar amount of the order. A $25 order would be $7.75
Wide variety of unique ribbons - can buy larger quantities; Website is very user-friendly and easy to navigate

Hip Girl Boutique
5 yards of 1.5" white ribbon: $1.90, but was sold out
5 yards of 1.5" cupcake grosgrain ribbon: did not have any in 1.5"
5 yards of 1.5" zebra grosgrain ribbon: $3.59
Shipping price varies with the dollar amount of the order. A $25 order would be $7.75
Good website, especially for tips and instructions, but the layout for finding items is a bit tricky

All-in-all, each site has its benefits and offers different items. My favorite place for ribbon is Hobby Lobby because it is *usually* 50% off (I subscribe to their weekly email sale alerts) and I get the instant gratification of leaving with my new ribbon but there are times when I need to order online and I will most likely be using one of these 4 stores. I hope that helps!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog - a site dedicated to sharing the joys of bow making with those that wish to learn (plus a few fun non-bow related projects thrown in for good measure). To start, I've begun compiling a list of helpful web resources (tutorials and suppliers). As the blog evolves, I'll try to post some of my own tutorials too. Best of luck!

For those of you who don't know, I've also started a facebook page (Love that Bow) to share some of my tips and photos as well as an Etsy page (Love that Bow) where I will be selling *some* of my bows (I seem to have a hard time parting with them)