It’s not all bad watching my little girls grow up! Lately they have taken to crafts… and specifically digging up old tutorials on my blog like THIS ONE and making my heart just explode.  There was a time I crafted all the things, so it’s been a fun little aspect to bond over. I knew they were getting pretty advanced, and could probably handle a hot glue gun.  I used to always make the girls bows, but I guess over the years they’ve become more available and cheaper to buy.  But Stella especially wanted to craft up some bows, so I told her I’d teach her.  This was the perfect craft project for my little eight-year-old!

We made Stella and her bestie, Zoe, a couple of matching bows one quiet afternoon while the baby napped.

Here’s how:

Step 1. We cut a rectangle of felt out with crisp, straight lines.  We used another bow as a size reference (pictured).  Cut out another strip that will be your center piece.

2. Next you’re going to accordion-style fold the center, making your bow.

3. Carefully add a dab of hot glue between the folds, pinch tight. (Stella(8) assisted me with this, but use common sense when assessing skill level, and help where needed! We wouldn’t want burned little fingers.)

Now you should have two little bows taking shape.!  You just need to add the centers and attach a clip….

4. With a dab of hot glue, place your center piece to create the front of the bow.

This is where we’ll grab our hair clips.  I have always used these boxes of clips from sally’s or amazon.

5. Take the center piece you glued, and wrap one side tightly around to the back, secure with hot glue.
Then, add a pretty liberal strip of glue to the bent-end of the clip, and place it on the back side of the bow.  (over the piece you just glued down)
Trim any excess of the center piece.
Finally, I simply open the silver clip, add a dab of hob glue, and wrap the other side of that center piece, trimming any access.  This is a little trick, because the felt is through the clip and keeps the bow from slipping!

And I’ll be, in just a 20 minute time frame, me and Stella whipped up she and Zoe some best friend bows!

And you better believe that she made a bow for everyone she knew for the rest of the week, yes she did.  Her dollies included!  Good thing felt is cheap! 

Do you have a craft-a-holic child like I do?  Want to see more tutorials like this?  Let me know in the comments! (Stella is hoping to get her own segment here! 😉 )