Upcycled denim hair bow

Who doesn’t love to recycle and this upcycled denim hair bow is just the thing for causal summer days. Got an old pair of jeans lying around? Don’t toss them, ribbon-ize them. (Lighter weight denim works best) Cut 1 ½” wide ribbon strips from an old pair of jeans. Wind the strips around a piece of cardboard tube. (Aluminum foil tubes work better than paper towel ones since they are sturdier) Use the denim ribbon to make an adorable boutique double loop hair bow in the Mini Bowdabra bow maker with hair bow tool.

Supplies:

• Old pair of lightweight denim jeans
• Scissors
• Ruler or yardstick
• Inside roll from aluminum foil or paper towel
• Bowdabra Mini bow maker with hair bow tool
• Bowdabra bow wire
• Two white beads
• Pencil
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• Alligator clip for each bow

Instructions:

1. Cut the legs off the jeans and lay them flat. Trim the hem off the jeans and cut them in half lengthwise and open flat. Measure and cut 1 ½” wide strips all the way down. Wind around the paper towel roll to store.

2. Gather your supplies.

3. Cut an 18” piece of Bowdabra bow wire and fold in half and insert into the bow maker. You will have a loop on one end and two pieces of wire on the other.  Tuck the ends under to stay out of the way while you are making your bow.

4. Using an 18” piece of recycled 1 ½” denim ribbon, fold in half to find the center point and insert wrong side up into the bow maker.

5. Loop the ribbon on the right side around and under and insert the end into the bow maker.

6. Take the ribbon on the left side, bring it over the other loop and then under and insert into the bow maker. You will have what looks like an X.

7. Push the bottom loop into the bow maker and then do the same with the top one. You will have two loops on each side.

8. Scrunch down with the Bowdabra wand.

9. Insert the two loose wires through the loop and pull tight while the bow is still in the bow maker. Turn to the back and tie a knot. Bring the wires around to the front and thread on two white beads. Pull tight and bring the wires to the back and tie another knot. At this point you can either cut the wires short or use a pencil to curl the wires to make a spiral.

10. Cut a ¼” x 3” piece of denim and use the hot glue gun to attach to the alligator clip. Add some more hot glue and attach to the back of the bow. Repeat 2-10 for a second hair bow if desired.

Visit Bowdabra designer Crystal at Make it easy crafts for more craft tutorials and recipes!