The real beginning of Hamburke's Bows...

So, I have 2 girls ages 7 and 5. They are darling (see the purty picture from a couple days back?) and they have my very straight, silky hair. This is pertinent to my story because if you have straight, silky hair, you'll know that clips don't stay in very well. So I went about looking for a clip that would stay in their hair. I tried plastic barrettes, snap clips, my favorite metal Goody barrettes (the kind w/ 2 lines that we used to braid ribbon into as kids - I started early decorating barrettes with my best childhood friend Jennifer Mabe - haven't seen her in forever so I hope she finds me here), Stay-put barrettes, french clips in various sizes, beaded bobby pins and finally alligator clips. Some worked, some didn't so I started searching for a way to make the barrettes that I had stay in better (bows can be expensive). That's when I found a free craft forum on bowmaking and ribbon sculpture. Most of the ladies on there made their own bows as a business and they often discussed products and methods of making bows stay. So I found something that worked and hung around the forum to learn how to make these bows. My girls saw the pictures and begged for some princess bows. My plan was to simply make bows (pinwheel, boutique, loopy and other just plain bows) to match their outfits but they liked the sculpture stuff - well, okay, I'll try. I found a free instruction and bought all the right color ribbon. It was so much fun and from there, I was hooked...

So as a tribute to what lead me to make bows, here's some just plain bows:

Stacked Bows:
Different Sizes:

I honestly prefer making sculpture barrettes now. If I'm not too wiped out tomorrow, I'll make some bugs for you guys to enjoy!