BML Guest Post - Kristen from Life with the Ellwoods #2

Hello again! I’m Kristen from Life with the Ellwoods and I’m back again to share my bow holder tutorial.

One of the sweetest girls I know is having her first baby this April. Before I hit the stores trying to get things off of her registries I tried to think of what I could make that would add some personal touches to baby girl Berkley’s room. After a few chats with mama Sarah we decided that I would make a bow holder and some poms for the nursery.

Sarah and her husband chose this adorable bedding for Berkley’s room and are focusing on the green and pink with pops of other colors. I already knew what I wanted the bow holder to look like (I’ve been saving baby projects for over a year now), so I just needed to see what scrapbook paper was available. Since the bedding is so vibrant and pretty I didn’t want to add more design, just a subtle compliment, which is why I chose a simple pink and green striped paper.

Items needed:
-Wood plaque, there are lots of shapes and sizes so choose the style you like best
-Scrapbook paper, 1-2 sheets
-Pencil
-Scissors
-Mod Podge
-Brayer
-Ribbon, at least 2 yards and 1 inch in width
-E-6000 glue
-Permanent marker, stencil, or vinyl
-Clothespins
-Distress ink or stain, if desired

The first thing I did was distress the edges of the wood plaque. Then I turned it upside down, traced it on the back of the scrapbook paper, and cut it out.

I put Mod Podge on the back of the scrapbook paper and placed it on the plaque. I rolled the brayer across it several times to keep the paper from bubbling.

While that was drying I cut 6 feet of the ribbon and crossed the top to make a loop to hang it from. I used the E-6000 to secure the ribbon to the back and made sure to spread the ribbon hanging from the bottom to allow for more bows, and then I cut the ends all nice and pretty.
Warning: Don’t hang it up to take pictures without making sure the glue is dried first, I know this from experience. 🙂

Once the Mod Podge and E-6000 dried I distressed the edges of the paper to help blend it in with the rest of the plaque. Since I didn’t have a stencil I liked (or a machine to cut vinyl) and I didn’t want to paint it on I decided to use a marker and write Berkley’s name freehand.

After getting a few items for Miss Berkley (and the bow holder) I decided Sarah and her husband needed to be able to hang headbands on there as well, so I picked up a pack of clothespins on my way home and got to work. I was going to only decorate one side but then I thought it’d be cute to do a different pattern on the back to give some variety.

I traced the clothespins on the back of the scrapbook paper, cut the strips out, and then used Mod Podge to glue them on. It was a very simple task to make such a cute statement!