I have two sweet little girls, ages 6 and almost 2 years old. I love to put little pony tails in their hair with pretty bows, barrettes and ribbons and things. Here’s a few cute things to make for your child’s hair.

Supplies:

30-50 2.5″ lengths of korker ribbon (see directions below)
12″ string of thin elastic
Ruler
Scissors
Glue Gun
Barrette, french clip, alligator clip, or headband
Fray check or clear nail polish

How to make it:

1. Cut korker ribbon into 2.5″ lengths (Lengths up to you if you like them shorter or longer), just make sure they are all the same length. Apply fray check of nail polish to all end and let dry thoroughly.

2. For single color or random mixed bow, lay the pile of cuts over the center on the string, easiest on flat surface. Bring end of sting up and over pile, tying knot over the ribbon lengths make sure you pull tight and make a double knot.

3. If some of the ribbon sticks out more than others, find the opposite end of the ribbon and gently pull until the length matches the rest of the ribbons.

4. Now you have your bow and it’s time to attach it to the clip or band of your choice. If using a metal clip, use a flat piece of matching ribbon to cover the metal. Hot glue the ribbon to the top. Then simply glue the bow to the top of your clip. If using a cloth headband you can either hot glue it to the bow or sew it on. Sewing is recommended so young kids don’t pull it off the headband.’

5. To attach your bow to a pony tail holder, put the string elastic through the pony tail before laying it flat to stack the korkers on top.

Korker Ribbon Instructions:

1/4″ or 5/16″ wooden dowels
wooden clothespins
Any 100% polyester fabric ribbon (satin, grosgrain, woven, jacquard, organza, etc)

Wrap ribbon along the dowel without overlapping and secure each end with a clothespin or other oven friendly clip. The tighter you roll the ribbon on the dowel, the tighter your curl will be. Experiment with the tension you want to us, but make sure you use even tension throughout the entire batch to ensure a uniform look.

Some people find that putting the dowel in a drill bit is a faster, easier way to make korker ribbon. Hold ribbon at an angle, push the trigger on your drill and guide the ribbon onto the dowel.

In a clean oven, put the oven rack in center position, covered in aluminum foil. Remove all other racks to allow space for dowels.

Heat oven to 275 degrees, bake for 15-25 minutes. This is an average approximation for temperature and time. Experimenting and practice will help you with the perfect ration for desired outcome. Gently slide one ribbon off dowel. If the curls are tight and even, you’re done. If they’re too loose, put back in over for another 5 minutes.

Though wetting your ribbon before putting into oven does not prove to make a difference many people say that spraying the ribbon with fabric stiffener seems to help.

Mini Korkers:

To make bows with teeny tiny korker ribbons, use the thinnest dowel you can find along with the narrowest ribbon. There are on hard set rules, so make them up as you go.

Krinkle Ribbons:

Some people like the look of krinkle ribbon in their bows along with korkers. I suggest cutting your lengths of krinkle ribbon the same as the korker lengths you are using and staggering them into your little stack of lengths before tying it off into a bow. The ratio of 1 krinkle to 5 or 6 korkers makes for a pretty cute bow.

Take a length of ribbon, thread a needle with a similar colored thread and weave the threaded needle in and out of middle down the center lengthwise from end to end. Hold the end and gently slide the ribbon toward knotted end , much like when you are pushing a curtain onto a rod. Tie a knot at end to prevent unraveling.