A trip to the fabric store.

A couple days ago, Brianna and I got out to JoAnn's for an hour. It was amazing to be out in the world of real people again. I get a little cabin fevered when I'm home too long, and since I haven't wanted to take pox-boy out, the only time I've left the house is to drive the kids to and from school and such. It was good to get away for a little while and finger endless crafty possibilities.



Brianna got a gift card for her birthday, and she's been aching to get in and buy yarn. She's my little knitter/crafter. I don't knit, so this has been a little weird for me to see her soar in an area that I have no experience with. I'm very proud of her. Her knitting teacher says she has natural talent, and until her brothers started teasing her about it (grrr!) she usually had knitting with her wherever she went.

This picture of her knitting at the park was taken a year ago.

It's so neat to see her skills improve. She reads patterns and makes intricate designs in her work now. When we went shopping, she purchased her first wool yarn to make a felted bag for Annaliese. She also got a new kind of "yarn" which is actually not very yarn like, but a wide weavy stuff called Sashay. http://www.redheart.com/yarn/boutique-sashay She's started a project already, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

And me? What did I get? Well, it's pretty rare that I manage to go into a fabric store and not buy any fabric. But since I haven't sewn in a month, and I have an entire room of fabric already, I worked on building up my ribbon collection. (because, you know, a basket full isn't enough...) I've been making bows for Hannah's hair lately, and I needed some specific colors to match dresses/outfits she has.

Insanely pleased with matching the color for this dress--without having the dress with me.

Hannah's getting a matching doll/dress for her birthday. So of course she needs matching hair clips, right? I think I might even tie ribbons in the dolls hair to match, too.

I found some St. Patrick's Day Hello Kitty ribbon and made Hannah hair clips and Brianna a bottlecap necklace.

I made the Easter egg ones a couple weeks ago. Not sure if they'll match anything she owns or not, but the ribbon was too cute not to use.

For those who've asked, here's a little look at how I make hair clips:

I use double prong clips (I got a box on Amazon that will last me until Hannah decides she's not going to let me mess with her hair any more.) and Scotch adhesive. I originally bought the glue to fix a pair of shoes, and this is great stuff. I like it better than hot glue, but hot glue works, too. I use a 4.25" piece of ribbon, and I glue starting with the inside of the upper part of the clip and working my way all the way around to the bottom, but leaving the bottom prongs free. I have some store bought clips with the prongs covered, and I much prefer having them free because they go into her hair easier.

Aqua clips are right side up, ivory clips are upside down. Go have some potstickers, let the glue dry. (The potstickers are optional.) Then come back and glue on your embellishments, or leave plain if you prefer.

I thought about putting some red star buttons on the clips on the left, but I decided I like them just the way they are. Simple.

Another day, I'll have to show my bow method (like the Easter egg and HK ones), but I don't have pictures of that right now.