Pretty Ribbons

Have you long admired the pretty bows you see on my cards and other projects? Have you ever wished you could tie perfect bows every time? (Do you hate that I sound like a bad TV ad?)

Well, I will tell you my secret...I cannot tie a nice bow at all. Not without some helping hands!

It is almost impossible for me to tie a stacked bow such as this red and yellow beauty without the help of my (not so) secret weapon!

(I have not been paid for this post, nor did I receive the Bow-it-All for free in exchange for this post. This is just an informative post about how I create pretty bows.) 

My (not so) secret weapon for bow tying is...the Bow-it-All. I have been using the original Bow-it-All for many years, but a few weeks ago some very dear friends blessed me with the BRAND NEW Bow-it-All Version 3.0! What a lovely surprise! There is nothing earth shattering about the new board, except that the placement of the holes for the pegs is more versatile. If you have the original system or the V2.0 system, you can make most of the bows I show on my projects. If you have a different peg board system, you can also make most of the bows I share.

(To purchase the Bow-it-All, you can go to Really Reasonable Ribbon and find it HERE. Or, you can do an online search to see if you can find it locally, or look for it on Amazon.)

I am NOT going to start sharing bow tying videos with you, as there are TONS of them on YouTube. {smile} Bonnie from RRR has a whole channel devoted to this system. See those videos HERE.

I use the BIA for EVERY bow I make. It is so easy to whip out bows of all sizes and styles with it. I used to struggle with trying to tie bows by hand, and they were always droopy or lopsided. I invested in the original BIA and never looked back! I am excited about the upgrade to the V3.0 because there are other bow styles I can try now that I could not make with the V1.0! YAY!

Some of you may belong to the RRR Ribbon Club. (If you don't, check HERE for that.) I have been on Bonnie's ribbon team since...2011 or so. Which means I have TONS of ribbon! (To see my ribbon storage, check HERE.) The ribbon club assortments come in these pretty packages! The ribbon is all folded nicely, and arranged so stunningly! It is so pretty that "some" people tend to HOARD it! And what happens when ribbon stays all folded up for a long period of time? It creases! Right?!

Please, STOP hoarding it! {I know, physician, heal thyself!} Get that ribbon out and USE IT UP. Because, well, then  you can buy MORE RIBBON! The bow above is a stacked bow of blue satin, dotted grosgrain, and white twine. The BIA can tie all kinds of ribbon and twine into pretty bows! And, people, the hot glue gun is your FRIEND! All my bows are assembled by using hot glue. 

So, what happens when you get out your hoarded ribbon and it is all creased or wrinkled? How do you feel when you are in mid-project and...rats, the ribbon is all wrinkled!!? Personally, I feel like a tantrum when that happens! 

I have purchased several mini craft irons, to help me with this issue, but they never get hot enough, or they have other issues. I always have to set up the big iron and fool around with that in order to iron two feet of ribbon! Well, not any more! I have found the PERFECT tool for doing a quick iron of my ribbons!

I found this gizmo on Amazon! It is a travel-size hair straightener! (Find it HERE. Once, again, I get NOTHING from telling you about this tool.) 

This little dude is only about 6" long and 1/2" wide. It weighs almost nothing. (Honestly, I have no clue how it would be effective for hair!) It has a no-tangle cord, an on/off switch, and heats up to VERY HOT (365 degrees F) in seconds! Plus, you can use it one handed!

You just place the ribbon into the tongs, press the tongs closed, and pull the ribbon through. It works like a charm! The ribbon in the above photo is sparkle satin, which is thick and tends to crease badly. This little iron, made it smooth in seconds! I was impressed! It is easy to get the iron out, heat it up, and zip zang zoom, you have your ribbon back to pristine condition! 

As always, my advice is only as good as my experience. Be sure to test a small section of ribbon first! I would not want you to set yourself on fire on my advice! But, so far, I am ironing my ribbons in seconds and back on my way to making cards! {grin}

I hope you enjoyed my ribbon public service announcement today! Happy crafting!