Back to School Bows

Sorry for the long absence!
My daughter went back to school last week, and I was busy preparing for that...
Then I was trying to figure out how to pace my day around drop-off and pick-up...it's always so hard to change your schedule, isn't it?

Every year before school begins I spend a day or two making hair bows.
And every year, but the time Summer rolls around, she's lost them all.
She loves to look pretty, but she loves to PLAY even more, and when she's running and rolling and hiding and seeking on the playground at recess she tends to lose bows. Since I'd rather she play than worry about her hair, I try not to get too irritated by it. And since I sort of like making bows, I keep replacing them.

This year I went overboard. My ribbon collection needed to be cleaned out anyway, and I just kept making them. She ended up with WAY too many to fit in her current bow holder (a rubbermaid 3 drawer storage cube.)

So I decided to make something cute to hold them all, instead :)

I started with a chunky wooden frame (16x20) and a craft kit I found on clearance at JoAnn's.
I forgot to take "before" pictures, so picture the frame an ugly wood tone and the butterfly pieces unpainted.

Once they were painted I attached the butterfly pieces to the frame - making it the center of the bug.

I purchased some rabbit wire at a local farmer supply store. Cut it to size with my wire cutter and attached it to the frame with hot glue.

A note about the rabbit wire - originally I wanted chicken wire (with the people at the farm supply store called Poultry Wire) but it was sold only in large rolls. The rabbit wire was sold by the foot, however, and they had two different sizes on sale for just 0.99 a foot. I bought 3 feet so I'd have some left over in case I decide to make another :)

Here's the result - before she was filled up with bows. I hung it on the wall in my daughters bedroom.

The majority of the bows I've made have the barrette style hair clip on them, as they stay in her hair about a million times better. A few have the alligator, pinch open/close style clip on them. Both stay on the holder very well! The alligator kind just pinches on, and the barrette style just kind of sits on the wire. It stays on perfectly.

I'm sure you noticed the excess of navy blue...my daughter wears a uniform to school, so almost all of her bows have navy and/or white in them to match :)

I really like the way it turned out - it's sweet and girly and functional, too!