Thanksgiving is a mere 4 days away. Less than that, if you count the fact that it is almost Monday anyway. And what do most people put on their Thanksgiving tables? Yes, a lovely turkey. Well, that and pumpkin pie, dressing, gravey, yams, and a host of other items. It’s making my hungry just to think about it.

You still have plenty of time to make these cute Thanksgiving Turkey Hair Clippies. The step by step instructions were donated by Michelle Cooper and can be found on the Girly Things website.

I wanted to give a quick mention about my e-mail group for hair bow makers. We have over 1000 members, many of who are active. Since the focus is the free exchange of information for crafting and, in particular, making hair bows we keep spammy auction listings off the group postings and make a point of just talking about ideas and techniques. If you have any question at all about making hair bows, you will absolutely find your answer from another member on the list.

Check us out: Girly Things Group

The motto of my Girly Things free hair bow instructions site is “why pay for what should be free”?

Why indeed?

I had my daughter back in 2003 and having longed for a baby girl all my life, I immediately jumped right into the world of boutique clothing, beaded bracelets, Battenberg lace, and adorable hair bows. The thing was, I was a little unsure as to how to do things like curl korker ribbon and tie a hair bow “just so”.

My initial reaction was the same as most people in my situation: hit the search engines and see what kind of instructions I could find. Sure there would be just tons of free information out there, right? I mean, look at the knitting sites and sewing sites and even sites on wood turning. Most of the information on those kids of hobbies is usually shared freely.

Not so with Hair bows. A small cottage industry had popped up on the internet. People had written out step-by-step instructions for making hair bows and paired them up with great photos. The thing is, most of these in formation packets which are typically sold as PDF files were REALLY expensive — some of them prohibitively so.

So, in 2005 I started stringing together all of the knowledge I had in my head about bow making. I put up my Girly Things website and hopes people would find me. That proved easier said than done. Several of the instruction sellers were tops in the craft of SEO as well! I had a hard time not being buried in the search engines. Eventually, though, people started finding my site and even contributing instructions!

And, oh how the site has grown! Check it out yourself. There are countless step-by-step instructions for bos and other girly accessories. And, in the spirit of Christmas, I am featuring the Christmas Tree Clippie instructions right now.

When I was growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC my family did a lot of camping, fishing, hiking and general outdoorsy stuff. The Northern Virginia area on down into the Blue Ridge Parkway region is absolutely lovely any time of year and you’d be a fool not to take advantage of the activities afforded to you.

We did a lot of shopping at one particular chain of outdoor gear stores. The chain is facing a lot of trouble, as I hear it, and closing locations in the DC area. I’m in Florida now anyway, and the specialty stores in the area cater more to the outdoor activities one would engage in here…, so not much in the way of super warm jackets or sleeping bags.

My dad has a place he built on the banks of the Shenandoah River and my best bet when I am buying him gifts is still to buy outdoor gear. Thankfully, I can order things like North Face jackets and gloves online at retailers such as Rocky Mountain Trail. They carry absolutely everything someone who enjoys the outdoors would needs, and the best part is that since they are located in Colorado they understand the gear you need in cold weather.

I love taking pictures. For the most part, I take digital pictures and I have become quit good at sprucing them up in Photoshop. There are a lot of nifty things you can do with a digital picture. Sometimes, instead of just using standard photo editing software I will find a tool that makes certain effects simpler.

One of my favorite tools is the Morpheus Photo-Morpher. I have used it countless times to morph one photo into another, sometimes a series of several photos. My favorite thing to do with the software is take pictures of Gigi over time and show how much she has changed. Or, in some cases how much she really hasn’t changed at all over time.

Here is one of my favorite morphs. I took a picture of Gigi from her first birthday and one from her third birthday and I morphed one to the next. Although she appeared to change SO much over those two years, the animated gif here shows you how she’s really just the same kid

I morphed a picture of me into a picture I took of this week’s jack-o-lantern, but it was honestly horrifying, so I will spare you the shock. E-mail me if you really want to see it.

Oh, and you can get your own copy of the software at Zoombli.com

Article sponsored by Zoombli

It’s Halloween. All you mom’s with girly girls at home, have you taken the opportunity to check out the pumpkin clippies on the main Girly Things website? If you missed out for Halloween, this delightful little clippie is still a great craft to do before Thanksgiving. It’s perfect for the entire autumn season, in fact.

This clipping is an absolute cinch to make and looks great, too. There are lots and lots of free hair bow instructions on my Girly Things website.

Jenn posted a comment on my last post requesting that I put of a picture of the print I bought for Harvey. Here it is. If you click on the small image, you will see a larger version.

I went, like a fool, to my local Michael’s Craft store to see about just buying a standard size frame and having them cut the matting down to fit. The artist matted the print using a larger than needed piece of matting board, so you could indeed cut it to fit various sizes. Turns out Michael’s has a policy against cutting things. Period. The chick behind the framing counter was rude and condescending on the issue.

My theory is that Michael’s wants to force you into buying their way overprices custom framing services. You know that frame shop I mentioned I liked? I found it because I walked into a Michael’s in south county and the gal there told me they were too expensive and I should go see her friend who used to work there with her, but who had opened up her own little framing shop. Kudos to truthful employees.

Anyway, here’s that print:

The Girly Things free hair bows site is getting bigger and bigger. I have been able to make updates almost weekly of late. This past weekend, I uploaded free instructions for Loopy Surround-a-Bows, How to Line a French Barrette, and How to Fluff a Bow. These are fantastic step-by-step tutorials, complete with fantastic color photos. It’s never been so easy to make cute hair accessories.

We’ve got instructions coming down the pike for wipe case covers, braided headbands, and a couple of other exciting designs. Stay Tuned.

Yes, there are now even more free hair bow instructions on the Girly Things free hairbow instructions site. We’ve added instructions for Quad Color Bows and Tails Down Bows. Ann Whisler provided amazing step-by-step photographs and easy to follow written instructions. I think you will be thrilled.

Please check out Girly Things.

Upcoming additions will include:
Braided Headbands
and more…

I like to dedicate a post on this blog from time to time to the free hair bow instructions I offer on my site Girly Things. Of course, now things begin to be confusing, because I also have a blog called Girly Things. In this case I am not talking about my new blog, but rather my website that focuses 100% of hair bows and other accessories.

You can tie a knot a zillion ways, and likewise a bow. I can hardly believe that the last bow to actually make it onto my site is the most popular style out there right now: the Basic Boutique Bow. Right now this is the bow style you seen sold most on eBay and in specialty boutique clothing stores. It is the most requested style when people order M2M (made to match) bows to go with special outfits or to perfectly match the colors in one of the new Gymboree or Baby Lulu lines.

By the way, thanks to Devon Fuentes of Sew Cute Bag for both the bow photo and the original boutique bow instructions.

Well, it’s not exactly philanthropy. When my daughter was born, I went all hog wild for girly dresses and cute things to put in her hair. I found out almost immediately that hair bows are way too expensive and that surely people can make them on their own.

The thing was, I had little idea as to how to begin. So, I looked online. Surely I would find some instructions. I mean, when I need a knitting pattern or instructions on how to decorate a cake, there are hundreds of sites just begging to help me out for free.

But on the hair bow front, nothing. Well, not Nothing. There were at least a dozen people online who had packets of instructions they would sell me form anywhere between $15 and way over $50. Huh? You want me to pay for craft instructions?

So, I figured out a few sets of instructions on my own, consulted friends and dug around online. Eventually I had enough material to put up a site called Girly Things (not to be confused with my blog of the same name). As time has passed, I get more and more traffic and my site ranks well in the search engines for keywords like free hair bow instructions, or just plain hair bow instructions. People have donated additional designs – instructions they have figured out on their own and taken the time to photograph step-by-step.

Overall, it has become THE place to come if you want to start making hair bows. I get e-mail all of the time from women who are just thrilled to have found the instructions, or women who have used my website as a springboard to successful businesses that are now allowing them to stay home with their kids rather than working outside the home.

It’s been a sweet venture for me. I can’t live off of it, but it fills me with goodwill and happiness daily to hear from people who appreciate my efforts.

I have a bunch of cool sites I want to link to in my blog, so I thought I would dole them out here and there using brief posts to tell you a little more about them.

Girly Things is a site that offers free hair bow instructions. You can find anything from korker bows to loopy bows and everything in between. There are also free directions for making a tutu and a couple of different styles of bow holders.

There are sellers who would have you pay anywhere between $15 and $70 for sets of hair bow instructions. It makes sense to just use the Girly Things website, since they have most of the same bows and don’t charge a penny for the service

By the way, the angel in the picture is my daughter wearing one of the bows I made several years ago.