Fecund Friday: Barrette Holder

I've wanted to make a ribbon barrette holder for Ellie's room for ages, but I kept forgetting to pick up the supplies.  (I'd walk into JoAnn, buy a bagful of stuff, get home and then realize I didn't pick up a single thing I went in for.  I did this for months.)  I finally remembered this week when Mike came downstairs with a handful of barrettes and asked where they go.

I wanted to get a prepainted wood piece or a plaque from which I would hang ribbon.  None of the prepainted items were big enough or appropriate for Ellie's room (sailboats and frogs...not so much).  The plaques just didn't feel right, either, because I didn't want to spend much time on the painting, and they all had a lot of width for their height.  I did come up with many cute ideas for the plaques, though, like attaching one of the precut words, such as "dream," or one of the prepainted butterflies.  I also thought of putting her name or a wooden "E," but I'd like to use this holder for girls we may have in the future.

As I was exploring the possibilities of the plaque, I stumbled across the idea of using a large wooden "E" instead of the plaque, but the dimensions just weren't right; it could only hold three ribbons.  Plus, I'd only be able to use it for Ellie.  Then I saw the letter "I."  Only this was a sans serif "I," so it was just a bar with beveled edges.  Perfect!

I picked up some pink paint for $1 (Valentine's Day sale!), some half-inch white ribbon on clearance for $0.50, and - score! - two pretty pink butterflies I found for $0.50 each while looking for the ribbon.  Counting the paintbrush and tacky glue I had to buy because I didn't have any, I spent $6.  If I'd had my regular craft stash, I'd have only spent $3.  I did look for rhinestones or buttons to put on the bar, but nothing stuck out.  It probably would've been too much.  I'll take it as a compliment that my husband thought the finished product was a decoration I made for her room.

Don't want to put a nail in the wall?  Use a 3M Command hook like I did!

Supplies:
6" (Wide) Wood plaque, bar or figure
Tacky glue or whatever you have on hand that can hold some weight when dry
Acrylic paint
Paintbrush or sponge
Half-inch ribbon
Lighter, depending on your ribbon
Lightweight ornaments or clips for decoration, if desired

1. Paint the wood piece as necessary, allow to dry completely
2. Cut two (2) 8-inch pieces of ribbon and five (5) 16-inch pieces of ribbon
3. Use the lighter to lightly melt all the ends of the ribbon, as necessary, to prevent fraying
4. Knot the 8-inch pieces together at one end
5. Spread the unknotted ends and glue to either end of the back side of the wood piece, allow to dry completely
6. Using a ruler or gridded cutting mat, lay out your 16-inch pieces of ribbon, figuring out the appropriate spacing
7. Carefully glue one end of each piece of ribbon to the wood piece, allow to dry completely
8. Attach your decorative items and you're done!  Ready for barrettes!

(I sewed the butterflies onto the ribbons.)