Colorful Felt Headband

Hair bows are my obsession right now!  My husband hates that I am always on the lookout for hair bows and frilly little ribbons...but why else have little girls?  With girls comes the wonderful laces, ribbons, tutu's, and all things glitter!

I usually always put headbands on my girls when we go out in public.  My husband however hates them and before I can get out the door decides to take them off of their heads. GRRRR!  Over the past few months, I have gotten him to loosen up and somewhat be ok with me putting big flowers in their hair!

Buying hair bows are not cheap!  Most all of the ones I want are 3.99 and up.  Some I have found are even close to 10!  I have two girls so I am not spending $20 on 2 hairbows!  I quickly learned that I need to start making my own for all of the hair bows I want to own.

For my daughters first circus, I made her a clown tulle tutu and just had to have a headband that matched!  With the tutu being so bright and colorful the headband had to be bright and colorful as well.

This felt headband I made took all of maybe 10 minutes.  And was super cheap!  The felt was on 25 cents!  The elastic band was $1 and the pom poms I already had for the tutu.

You can make the headband by sewing elastic and then sewing felt over the elastic band, but I cheated this time and bought the already made band part.

All you need is:
elastic felt headband
one sheet felt
1 pom pom
scissors
pen
hot glue gun

Since the tutu I was making was white with bright colored pom pom's, this piece of felt was perfect for a matching headband!

Turn the piece of felt over to the side you do not want shown.  Practice drawing out the shape you want your hair bow to be.  When you have the perfect shape, cut it out.

For mine, I want a flower.  As you can see this flower was not so pretty so I just kept practicing until it looked ok.  I cut three different size flowers out because I wanted my hair bow layered.

I glued my 3 layers on top of each other from biggest to smallest and then added a pom pom in the center.

Then glue the entire shape onto your head band.

TADA!  We have a very cute bow for very cheap!




Use your imagination and go crazy!  Felt is very cheap and you can make all sorts of things!  You can make animal shapes, 3D shapes, anything you wish!

Clown Tulle TuTu

Having girls, I LOVE to make girly things.  I go a little over board on the tutu making.  I make one for each special event I do believe!  This tutu was used for my little girl to wear to the circus!  I wanted her to look somewhat like a girly clown!

Tutu's are so much fun to make.  You can use your creativity and do any color combination you wish!  You can add ribbons, bows, sequins, and in this case...pom poms!

I have tried making tutu's several ways, trying to come up with cheaper, faster, more creative ways to make them.  This method seems to be my favorite.  It took all of 20 minutes to make (exception of the pom pom additions).  Another thing I like about this method is that it has lasted a pretty good while.  Other methods I have tried have only held up for the event and then kept falling off of her tiny little waist.  This tutu, my daughter has been playing dress up in for days now and it is still holding up pretty well!

All you need is:
scissors
elastic
thread
tulle
pom poms (optional)
hot glue gun (if you're adding pom poms)



First you will need to measure the waist the tutu will be going on.  Cut your elastic an inch or so smaller than that so it will fit really well. After you tie your tulle on, the elastic will have stretched.

Sew the elastic ends together.  Even if you know nothing about sewing (like me) just thread the needle through a lot so the elastic doesn't come undone.  You can see in my picture just how horrible I am at sewing!  But if I made this skirt and it stayed together...then so can you!

After you have sewn the ends together, you can slide the elastic over you thigh in order to keep it stable and in place so you do not have to keep moving it.

Next you need to cut your tulle.  Decide how long you want your tutu to be and double that before cutting the strands.  For example..if you want a 8" long tutu..then cut each strand of tulle 16". 

I actually use a long piece of cardboard from cereal boxes or a box of diapers.  I decide about how long I want my strands, go find a piece of cardboard that size, and wrap my tulle around it over and over again.  Then, I only have to cut twice..and voila!  All of my strands are the exact same size and I didn't have to cut each strand over and over again!

I wish I would have taken pictures of this step, but I forgot!  I'm horrible I know!  Don't fret though, I will have many more tutu tutorials I am sure :)

After you have cut your tulle and have your elastic all sewn together you can get to knotting!  This is very easy, but I took step by step pictures for you just in case!

 ^   Fold the tulle in half so the ends match up.

^  Place the tulle in a "U" shape under the elastic.  Make sure the ends are still even.

^  Grip the two strands and pull them through the "U" on the bottom.  This should make a pretty knot.

^ See? Pretty knot!  Now just pull the tulle strands to tighten the knot up.

Keep tying the tulle strands onto the elastic until the entire band is covered.

TADA! We have a tutu!  Now you can leave it like this, or add details!  I am about to add my pom poms!

All I did, was hot glue the pom poms onto different strands and sections of the tulle.  Be careful not to burn yourself!  The glue goes right through the tulle so be careful!  After a few seconds, the glue will cool and set and then it is safe to touch.