I've Gone Fabric & Ribbon Crazy!

All these crafts I'm attempting lately, you'd think I was nesting, waiting for the arrival of another baby!  (Just in case you're hoping this is true...NOPE!).  I don't know what it is...having so much quiet free time this summer, longing for products from home and getting overly excited when I find SOME here, or just being a total homemaker (wow, never used that word to describe myself), but I've gone fabric and ribbon nuts!

It all started about two weeks ago when I picked up a roll of paper towels and thought, hmmmm, this would be the perfect size to hold all my girls headbands!  Sure enough, I started placing their headbands on the nice cushy paper towel roll, and they fit perfectly.  All I needed was some fabric to make it pretty!  

From there, I went to a friend who makes beautiful hair bows, and I finally learned how to make them myself!  That day, we made 12 hair bows for my girls...at a fraction of the cost in the stores.  

Some of the bows I made...fun!

 Well, I was now hooked on ribbon and fabric!  What else could I make???  I started thinking cheap wall art to coordinate with the kids rooms.  And there it was...I would make a memo board, using coordinating fabric to the room, and the memo board would turn into their dream board. 

My son's memo/dream board

 Next, I needed a nice place to hang all those bows I'd made, and all the ones we've collected over the years.  So...I made bow holders for each room.  

Ellison's bow holder made on canvas with different types of ribbon.

 Lastly...I had all this left over ribbon of different sizes, textures, and lengths...what would I do with it?  Throw it away?  NOOOOO!  Using a wire hanger, I made one more piece of coordinating wall art...ribbon monograms!  I now had beautiful pieces of "wall art" for each of the girls' rooms, all made with very simple supplies.

The "E" made from a wire hanger and scraps of ribbon

 I thought about doing the step-by-step directions for each item, but then I thought I'd just send you on your way to check out the tutorials on other sites explained much better than I would!  Of all the ones I searched, I found these to be the most informative and cute!  So, take a look at how to make these adorable ideas for your little girl's (or boy's) room the next time you're feeling crafty!

Hair Bow Holder using Canvas

*I did not paint mine as I didn't want to room too busy.

Headband Holder

*I used a roll of paper towels as I liked the softness of it.

Wire & Ribbon Monogram

Memo Board

*I used a blank canvas and did not use batting.

Twisted Boutique Hair Bow

*If you want the real templates for his, buy from Nobownogo.com

Why Hold On To The Pen & Paper?

Eden proudly showing off a letter she received in the mail!

Lately I've been wondering how many people out in the world actually write pen and paper letters anymore.  Since living overseas, I'll admit, communicating has been quick and easy with relatives and friends back home using text and email and Skype, but we still find ourselves sending a post card here and there for fun.  A postcard you can keep, you can stick it on your fridge for a bit to remember the sentiment, you can stick it in a box of keepsakes, you can hold it, touch it, and actually use that tin box in your front yard for something.  My fridge, way over here in the Middle East, is plastered with birth announcements, photos, drawings and cards from friends and family back home.  I love it...it's personal.  They took the time to write us...with a pen.

In speaking with some people, they feel that e-mail just says I don't care enough about you to sit down and write from the heart.  Instead, its about writing from the head, in the moment, and off to the next task.  Having been guilty, like many people, we send off e-mails in the heat of the moment that we wish we could recall later.  A letter, you write, you address it, and then still have time to reconsider before mailing it.  We now live in a world with an I-want-it-now-and-I-want-it-instantly mentality.

I'm reminded of the movie My Best Friend's Wedding, the scene where Julia Roberts types an email in haste, saves it to mull over, but it's sent out anyway...eventually ruining her friend's career.  Email is just so easy to push "send".  Texts are even faster and with fewer words!  But, let's face it, most of the world is emailing and texting, and it's the quickest way to chat back and forth.  To me, that's all the more reason to hold on to the pen & paper.  And no, it doesn't count to type the letter in your Word program, print & send.  Write it with a pen..haven't you ever loved someone's style of writing?  The curves or the block writing, or the little hearts or swirls they added?  I love to look at people's writing.  It's so personalized, unique, artistic.

More cards sent overseas...hand written!

What are the downsides of email, text messaging and instant messaging? People who are good writers with great use of grammar, etc, can turn into some of the laziest people when they sit down at a computer or send a text message. Grammar goes out the window along with spelling, punctuation, and correct capitalization. Now, I know I make mistakes when I am writing my blog posts, but at least I am writing, taking time, thinking it through, reviewing it before sending.  I want to communicate with you.

What about the generation of kids who might never write a letter to someone, licking the stamp, and putting it in the mailbox?  How sad that makes me.  My kids love writing letters.  Granted, they are quite small, so it usually consists of a few words and a big picture, but they love knowing they are making it for someone and sending it in the mail.  I'm trying to keep that alive in them. I try to have them send something home every so often, or in a package.

I'm not perfect by any means.  I'm a texter, emailer, Skyper, and dare I say it, addicted Facebooker.  However, I do still write notes, cards, postcards and other greetings.  I like it.  I even journal.  I guess I'm just hoping that the pen & paper will not die out.  That there's enough of us out there who still enjoy letter writing.  That we can somehow keep it alive.  If not for your generation, for the ones following you.  I know I need to get better at it...for my kids sake.