Tuesday 28 April 2009

HURRY UP TO CHECK THE..


in my Etsy Shop :

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5814372

All the Hair Flowers / Fascinators previously in the Wedding / Hair Accessories section have been moved to the Half Price Sale sections with their prices cut off in half . I need storage for new stock so all must go! So make sure you check my shop for this fantastic offer - these sale items is being sold locally, too, so grab them when they're still there!

Tuesday 21 April 2009

Swinging Safari with the Bowchicks!

The Bowchicks are having a Safari Launch on Ebay. Please search 'Bowchicks' for awesome Hair Accessories for your children!

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=bowchicks&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Here is my 'Jungle Princess' Headband. I will add some more today. Is this cute?



Monday 20 April 2009

MY FAVOURITE PASTA SALAD!

OK, not as usual, this post is devoted to food :-) This is my favourite pasta salad. Quick and easy to make, fresh and yummy. And I am glad my family loves it too I always make it when I am filling bows orders and don't have much time to cook.

So here is my recipe : ( for 4 adults)
You'll need:
* Salt
*Sugar
*5-6 table spoons cold pressed olive oil
*White pepper


*200gr Penne
*A bunch of fresh Basil
* 5-6 table spoons Balsamico/ Red wine vinegar

250 gr fresh Mozarella
*6 Tomatos
*150gr cooked ham (slices)







1/ Cook the pasta in slightly salted boiling water following package instructions. Drain and cool.
2/Drain the mozarella and cut into slices (as pictured)
3/ Cut cooked ham slices into strips
4/Wash the tomatos, quarter and remove the seeds and cut into strips

5/To make the dressing, mix balsamico with a litle bit of salt, pepper and a bit of sugar, then add the olive oil. Mix carefully.
6/Wash the basil leaves, leave aside some for the garnish, and chop the rest finely and add to the dressing.
7/Marinade the pasta, tomatos, ham and mozarella with the dressing for about 30 minute, mixed well in a salad bowl , covered.
8/Taste it again if you need to add some more salt or sugar.
9/ Add the garnish.
VOILA`! Your salad is ready!

Sunday 19 April 2009

April giveaway - green orchid hair clip

Thank you all so much for participating in my March giveaway. I've just posted the winner here:
http://hairbowswonderworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/march-giveaway-and-winner-is.html
I am giving this prize for April - a green organza orchid hair clip with fresh water pearls and peridot cabouchon rhinestones



So here is the rules, again :-)

Every month the 18th I'll post the winner and a new giveaway for the next month.

What you need to do is just visiting my blog and give a comment (1 entry). You can comment on any post, not only this one, during the time frame to get one entry but you need to let me know you want to enter the draw in your comment.


If you want more chance of winning you can however do the following:

*follow my blog (2 entries) then come back and comment to let me know you want to enter the draw
*visit my blog, then click on the link to visit my etsy, pick your favourite then come back and leave a comment to let me know (2 entries)
*Put a link of my blog on your website/blog/myspace/twitter and come back here leave a comment to let me know (3 entries)
*Write a short paragraph to tell about my monthly giveaway on your blog/myspace/website and come back here, leave a comment to let me know (3 entries)

THERE IS NO LIMIT FOR THE NUMBER OF YOUR ENTRIES!

I'll let my seven months old choose the winner from all entries and post the pic of the process here

Please leave your email adress so I can contact you if you win. Or you can convo me on Etsy to let me know your email address.

Hope you will have fun and good luck!

MARCH GIVEAWAY ~ and the Winner is ....

It was a beautiful sunny day today, I decided we'll do it in the park.
http://hairbowswonderworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-time-for-blog-giveaway.html

So I quickly prepared all the "ballots" and put them in a box - my old empty jewel box with a mirror which my (now 7 months old) son likes very much. We headed to the park and we did this when my girls played soccer with their daddy.

I shaked the box vigorously :-) then put it on the blanket. He turned himself over right away when he saw his favourite




Then I opened the box for him
He started to play with those tiny pieces of paper

He took two fists full of those tiny pieces of paper. Those in his fists made to the second round LOL. I removed the box, and took the ones in his hands and put them again on the blanket for him to play. This time he picked only one.



And the winner is :




Greenhouse Butterflies


CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you very much to all of you who participated. Please come back and check out my April giveaway. I'll post it soon tonight - more cute prizes to come every month @ http://hairbowswonderworld.blogspot.com/

Friday 10 April 2009

How to make spikes for the STACKED BOUTIQUE BOW

Okay here is how I lay my layered boutique bow's spikes.

For a 5" bow (which I make the most) I will cut out 6" ribbon spikes. They can be 7/8", 1.5" or a mix of them two or a mix with 5/8" too. The following is the type I do most often.
I use all 7/8" except one 1.5" for the middle spike and it is topped with 7/8" printed ribbon. You will need on single spike for the middle, and for the rest you'll need them in pairs - see picture Now start with the middle spike. Again it can be just a simple piece of 1.5" ribbon but here I put a piece of printed 7/8" ribbon on top of a solid 1.5", right in the middle of it.
Fold them exactly in half (see picture)
Now thread your needle and make a knot at the end of the thread. Sew through the fold you just made exactly in the middle of it (see picture)

The back of your middle spike will look like this
Now continue with your next pair of spike, again fold the (pair of) spikes in half and sew through the middle of the fold (see picture)


Continue to do it with the other pairs of spikes until you stack all of them in a pile - note that when you sew keep the wrong side of the ribbon facing upwards. Here is how it looks in the end.

And here is the other side of it - with the middle spike on top.
Still use your needle sew again a very very very tiny stitch through all the ribbon layers. Now put them on a flat surface and rotate the spikes around that stitch until it has the look you want and perfectly symmetrical. For some reasons, I found the following look of the spikes arrangement works best for me. You may either spread it out more or do the opposite way, it depends on how many spikes do you want to use and what size they are.

Now you can sew a line across the middle of your spikes to secure the arrangement. If you can hold them in place tight enough, you can skip the sewing. Fold the whole layer in half lengthwise and hold it tightly

Then fold back the two sides of the center, use your thread or elastic thread to wrap around it very tightly and secure. now pull out the spikes and make the layer lay flat
Make the V-cut and heat seal it with a lighter.
I don't recommend to make too many creases at the center or sew through the middle of the center and gather the line as if your sewing is not very even it will harm the symmetry of the whole spike layer.
Hope you find it somewhat useful :-)
Happy Easter everyone!

Wednesday 8 April 2009

EASTER SPECIAL - When it's gone it's gone!!!!

I am giving this fantastic offer just for Easter in my etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/search_results_shop.php?search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5814372&search_query=easter+special

This is my first ribbon flowers tutorials collection including step-by-step 'how to's for FOLDED RIBBON ROSE, FOLDED RIBBON LOTUS, WATER LILY, HIBISCUS, DAFFODIL, ORCHID, POINSETTIA - all of the ribbon flowers you see in the pictures here.

I am offering a package price for this collection with which you will save $23 - about 48%. But this is a limited edition. I am giving out only 25 sets at this price . Offer ends midnight of Easter Monday or when 25 sets are gone, whichever comes sooner (At the moment while I am create this post, there are only 19 sets left).








You'll receive (in PDF file) 134 pages in total with more than three hundreds photos (I stopped counting them :-) ) which will show you how to make all those types of flowers.
The amazing appendix will show you how to make several types of leaves, several alternatives for some parts of the flowers, and especially how to make the beautiful Lotus hair barrette and my best selling Parisien Rose Hair Barette. I also included in the appendix many pictures of my rose hair bows and short description for ideas.

These instructions do not require you to have a woodburning tool. You will just need a normal lighter :-)

First come, first served! Be sure to grab it when it's still there. Good luck!

Thursday 2 April 2009

SUMMER SPELL

It's been sunny here for about a week and I started to feel the urge to make something colourful and fresh, some summery flowers. And here they are, all made out of ribbon except the greenery and the tiny sweet meadow. My brain is still bursting with ideas and I wish I can find extra time to bring them to life. Why on earth there are only 24 hours a day?