Make Ribbon Embellished Hair Elastic Bows
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My daughter and I were walking through Target the other day when she noticed some sparkly princess-y hair ties in a bin. She wanted one — okay, several — but before I tossed them in the cart, I took a closer look. These adorable pony tail bows, covered with ribbons and sequins, were basically just large, no-damage hair elastics with ribbons tied onto it. Hmmm... that would be easy to make in any color I wanted... sounds like a project!
With the Fourth of July coming soon, I decided to go with a red, white, and blue color theme. I headed to the craft store to choose ribbons, making sure to select narrow ribbons that weren't too thick and (most importantly) weren't wired.
Selecting the ribbons was actually the hard part, and making the bow was easy! All I did was pick the order of the ribbons I wanted and follow it repeatedly. I did the patterned ribbon first, followed by the red, white, then blue. I tied each one on in a simple knot and pushed the knots together along the elastic.
I continued knotting the ribbons in the same sequence all the way around the elastic. For the final touch, I glued red stars to both sides of the white ribbon.
The possibilities are endless for the embellishments if you want to add them. Check the scrapbook aisle, jewelry-making section, and the notions section of the fabric department for small embellishments to complement your color scheme. Be sure that the embellishments aren't too big or hard, because we don't want any head injuries!
This would be a great project for a slumber party, Girl Scout troop, or school team (make the bows in the school colors). It's an easy project for a wide range of ages, too. If you can tie a knot, you can do this!
28 comments so far:
Very cool easy idea! I like the idea of making my own so that I can make the lengths of ribbon shorter, since my daughter's hair isn't very long.
You can use strips of tulle, too. Quick and easy to tie on.
Wire can be removed from wired ribbon very easily with pliers. My daughter has a beautiful personalized canvas tote (a gift) which was decorated with wired ribbon. When the wire broke and started poking through the ribbon, I used pliers to pull out all the pieces of wire. The bag is usable again!
How long are you cutting the ribbons? I love the ones in the pictures above, but think I'd like a little longer. What length do most of you use? I've read on some sites they do 10-15 inches long. What do most of you do?
Melissa, I usually cut them between 4-6 inches long depending on the ribbon type. I suggest cutting and tying a few much longer and then trimming to your taste.
I saw the ribbon ponytail holders at a craft show for $8.00 each!!!! needless to say I bought the elastic fabric holders and ribbon and made several for a lot less in a few minutes
Way to go, Suzanne!
Very cute and easy..just what I was looking for! My daughter just started soccer and I wanted to do something like this. I found another site that gave instructions to a similar ribbon elastic and it required sewing and glue. I'm so glad I found your instructions..I just made a cute one for her first game! Thanks.
Margi, glad you found us! This is one of my favorite projects to do because it is so easy and my daughter loves the results.
I love these but are they just supposed to go over a ponytail that you already have in? I put them in my daughters hair like a regular ponytail holder and the ribbons get all scrunched up and messy. Any suggestions?
I use them as a regular ponytail holder. I usually put it in and then pull some of the ends of the ribbons out. Send me a picture of what you are getting and I might be able to help you more. Perhaps it was the type of ribbon you used?
Hi ladies, I was wondering, is there a certain kind of ribbon to be used? I've done this sort of thing in the past, but my ribbon frayed. Thanks
Julie, you can use any kind of ribbon. If you are having problems with fraying, you can quickly burn the tips to melt it or use clear nail polish on the cut ends to seal them. Hope that helps!
Hi! About how many yards of ribbon do you think you need to make one? I am thinking of making them for my daughters gymnastics team and will need to make a lot of them so need an idea of how much ribbon i need. Really cute ..thanks!
Carolyn, it's been so long since I have done this project, I am not sure! I know it did take quite a bit of ribbon though. My advice is to use any scrap ribbon you might have on hand to make one of the hair ties and measure to see how much you used. Just make sure you measure the piece before tying it onto the hair tie.
That looks so pretty and so unique and their so colorful.
I wanted to make these for girl scouts and Im glad I found this! So much easy than the other sites I looked at! Im excited! Thank you!
So fun! Are you slip tying the ribbon on the elastic or an over hand knot (like tying a shoe lace) or even a square knot so it doesn't come off? Thanks for the cute idea!!
Kaipo, we just use a simple knot and tie it twice for security, but any of the methods you suggested should work fine.
Can't wait to make these for the soccer girls first game tomorrow!
This is the coolest idea and much easier than any other site. I'm gonna need to make 10 of them for my grandbaby's softball team in neon green. Thanks for the great idea.
Awesome. Gonna make some for our volley ball team. Your instructions are the simplest I have found. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing! I had contemplating ordering some through local shops I know but they were wanting roughly $5-$6 a piece.......I need enough for an entire team :) My only question is approximately how much ribbon should I buy when doing 10 of these.....copying your measurements of 4-6 in per ribbon?
Glad you like this project idea, Lisa! It's very hard to tell you how much ribbon you'll need, because it will depend on the width of your ribbon and how full you want the bow to be. I looked back at the picture of Jo's finished bow and tried to count, and it looks like she used maybe 25-30 pieces of ribbon. Your best bet might be to buy extra and then return whatever you don't use. Hope that helps!
I need to make some for my daughters softball team . How long did you cut each ribbon.
Laure, you can cut the ribbons to whatever length you like, but 4-6" is a good starting point.
When you put them on your daughter's pony tail, do you double the elastic or no? I tried making one and when I double the elastic the different strands get caught inside the pony tail and it is very frustrating! Any suggestions on elastics, etc?
Taylor, I do double and I just pull some of the strands out of her ponytail.