It's me again with craft ideas

Hello .....I am ready to start talking crafts, here are some of the things I have on my plate to talk about
on this blog....Flip flops with ribbon attached to them for that expense look,(cheap flips) waste baskets that match your fabric in the bathroom/bedroom or office etc.  Painted patio furniture....SO BOOKMARK me and come back often.  I have a ESTY web site called Sherlcrtfs4u.esty.com.  I have lots of items that are easy to stuff into a mailing bag or small box to mail to anyone that buys my tee shirts, sunglasses cases, button dolls, curly ribbon hair clips or the ever popular holiday sweatshirts and aprons.

I have made a list of items that are either to big to ship or simply have gotten boring to me since I been making them for years.  Today I am telling you how to make your own curly ribbon items.  As you can see I have only one pic of myself and it is the back of my head.  What a nutty thing to do, but I had a picture of me, but it got deleted, hence the stupid picture.  I am going to have my husband take a pic of me, but I need to have him stand on the "X" so I can focus the camera and stand there,... oh,.. by the way he says he can't be responsible for the picture of me, since the camera only takes pictures of what it sees, so what if I am out of focus.  It may be a awhile till I get a good picture.  Moving on to the curl- lies.


These ribbons are easy to make and I make lots of them since I find the ribbons on sale at Michael's or Jo Ann's for either 3 for $ or on a really good day I found them at Michael's 4 for a dollar.  These are the cheapies that sell for 50 cents a rolls (they come prepackaged as real skinny ribbon, ribbon with ruffly sides... its your choice)  All this ribbon will make lots of hair barrettes for your Grandchildren in my case or great birthday, giveaways or whatever you can think of.


What I am saying you first need to build up a selection of ribbon to bake in the oven.  YES, bake in the OVEN!!! and you are say, your out of your mind!!!! it is hot outside right now.  OK , you need to think New Years eve, Christmas or other December activities, Thanksgiving or don't forget Halloween.
When buying ribbons think about price ....I find that Michael's or Jo Ann's have a lot of ribbons but the one you need to look at are the cheap ones!!!   Think Color.....think ahead, a good crafter always is a month ahead in planning ..It's all about getting things early and at a good price.  Please check to make sure the ribbon is make of polyester, since you are going to bake these ribbons changing the structure of the polyester in the ribbon.  Here is a hint... if the color you want is not there then think out of the box
and get white, off white or beige or black.  You can always make it all one color and add a small amount of colors to get it just right.

Here is the recipe for baking ribbons

1.  Metal rods (small in the size you want your curls) or metal knitting needles.
     Tin foil  cut in small stripes
      Ribbon small gauge
      Craft wire
      Barrettes, jaw clips or small pin curl hair curlers
      one cookie sheet or more

Wrap the entire roll of ribbon on to a metal rod...Keep in mind you can have several different sizes
of metal rods.  I use lots of my old knitting needles some I have used to knit baby items with.
I wrap the tin foil strip on the end of the ribbon when I am done with that knitting needle.  I have found that you can wrap the entire spool and the heat still curls the ribbon

Do lots of knitting needles since the oven is on and it costs the same to do one as to do all the spools you brought at the store.

Put all the knitting needles in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.  let cool right there on the rack in oven, I will do them just before going to bed turn off the oven and there they are the next day, just don't forget them.

Note ..if you don't have knitting needles, you can find metal rods at Home Depot in the Hardware section of the store.  Pick out some 3/16" or small and mix your choices up.  Get some long rods and have your father, husband or brother cut them for you.  You want them the size of your cookie sheet, cut  with a hack saw or bolt cutter.  My husband says if it is a bolt cuts check the ends to see if they are sharp, use a file to fix the end so they are not sharp.  You will need to look on the hook or display next to this stuff, and find picture hanging stuff.....grab some 28 gauge wire, buy the large size with a cutter, I checked this morning and at my store it was $4.98.  (save some money it is the same wire as the craft stores but cheaper..the only problem I have is I forget where I put it in my house right there in my craft room).  They also have some clear picture hanging stuff there but that is not a good buy.  Fishing line works great for some of our other projects we will be making.

Ok now go and get your ribbons, if you get JoAnn's fliers you can get some fancy ribbons by the yard with using their coupons for a cut fabric item.  So use those coupons and get some lace and ribbons now for future projects.  I like the grosgain ribbons with the polka  dots on them.  Thats my small guilty spend.   Cook those ribbons and put them in a gallon size baggie and then we will make our cute ribbons.