Super Simple Curly Ribbon Clippies

Super Simple Curly Ribbon Clippies

***Pinterest Tip!***

You CAN use tinfoil in place of dryer sheets!  I ran out of dryer sheets over two weeks ago, and since I'd just read that random idea on Pinterest, I tried it.  And I haven't bought dryer sheets yet!  If you haven't seen and pinned this incredible pin, you at least have to try it!  It DOESN'T soak your laundry in luscious scent (which is fantastic if you have allergies), but it totally takes care of the static!

So back to our topic at hand...  If you have little girls, you are familiar with the sometimes obscene prices of such necessary evils .  Those prices are especially unfriendly when you have to buy two of everything.  I've been buying spools of ribbon for years and just tying them in my little Fluffies' hair.  But clippies are SOOOO much easier, and after browsing around the internet for a while, I determined that I needed to make some myself.  And several months later, I actually got around to it!

Here's what you need:

1/4" wooden dowels

Ribbon (Grosgrain or regular)

Plastic hair clips (I found mine at Michael's, but I think Joann's carries them, too)

Hot glue gun

Straight pins (or bobby pins or clothes pins)

Lighter or lit candle

Fabric Stiffener thinned 50% with water (Optional, but feels necessary for maintaining the curl with regular ribbon)

Cookie sheet lined with tinfoil

Note: If you have to pick up any of these items, keep the outfits or general scheme of your daughter's wardrobe in mind.  I didn't and had to just grab from my ribbon box... in which I have a lot of great colors that don't really match the majority of the Fluffies' current wardrobe.  Hence my rather boringly colored curly ribbons!  Also, buy more than one dowel!  I only bought one so I had to put several "batches" in the oven and it took forever to bake enough curly ribbon!

So the first thing you want to do is cut your dowels into 12" pieces.  If your husband has a saw in the garage, that is helpful, but mine has all his tools at his shop now so I used a serrated knife and a cutting board.  Then secure one end of your chosen ribbon to the dowel (here is where wooden clothes pins would be SUPER helpful -  questioning my validity as a crafter since I don't actually OWN any wooden clothes pins!) and wrap it around the dowel until you reach the other end. 

Note:  If you're using regular ribbon, I'd recommend painting it with fabric stiffener at this point to give it a  little extra support.

I used parchment paper as "supports" to keep the dowels off of the cookie sheet, which would totally be unnecessary if you have clothes pins!

When you have all your dowels wrapped in ribbon, pop them in the oven for 20 minutes at 250 degrees!  After you take them out, let them cool, then carefully remove your ribbons.  You'll have these really cute ribbon ringlets.

I cut my ringlets into thirds.

If you haven't melted ribbon ends before, it might be easier to use a stationary lit candle to melt your ribbon ends.  This is necessary to keep them from fraying out.  Hold the cut end of your ribbon close to the flame, but DON'T BRING IT INTO THE FLAME or you'll light it on fire or brown your ribbon.  Do this carefully and slowly and you'll see the cut edge of your ribbon melt.  You don't need to melt it a lot.  Melt all of those ends!  

Next, grab one of your plastic clippies and put a little glue on it.

And apply a ribbon strip!  Put another small amount of glue in the middle of that ribbon and apply your next ribbon.  I did mine in a fan pattern so all the ribbons would stick out in different directions.

I used nine ribbon ringlets for each of my clippies.  You can use more if you want them fluffier!  My girls are pretty tiny and have fine hair, though, so I didn't want to overwhelm their little heads.

Believe it or not, the glue holds REALLY well to those plastic clippies.  (And I would know because I messed up one of the first ones and had to pull it off.  NOT an easy task!)

And here's Fluffy 2 modeling her new curly ribbon clippy!

These really ARE easy to make and definitely more budget friendly than buying them in a store!  Also kind of fun to make if you enjoy this sort of thing!

As a little aside, Fuzzy is still LOVING his monster patched pants.  Fabric paint is holding up as well as can be expected with being scraped around on the floor pretty much all day!