A Blast From The Past

If I had a dime for every recipe and craft project I clip from magazines...well, let's just say I wouldn't have to shop the clearance racks anymore! Although I probably still would because the bargain hunter in me can't be tamed. I save my craft/art projects in a binder much like my recipe binders I have mentioned before. They are organized by holiday, seasons (outdoor vs. rainy day) and then miscellaneous. I know you probably think I am over-the-top about order and organization, but I rarely have a moment where I can't find something...unless one of the other 4 members of my family moves it out of its designated place. No one ever bothers with my binders though. They know better or perhaps they are just clueless. Something tells me that if Jenna knew about my project binder, she'd be in there daily, poring over the pages, salivating over the endless opportunities to craft.
So I saved this little project from the February 2010 issue of Family Fun magazine. I love this magazine. I've been getting it for about 5 years or more and the content never repeats or gets stale. It's an especially great magazine to refer to with a family such as mine. It's totally geared towards activities and projects that are my kids' age. I swear, this is not a paid advertisement for the magazine. I just really like it and find my subscription to be well worth the money.
Any woman who was a child or adolescent of the 80's will definitely remember these ribbon barrettes. I remember having some, but strangely, I cannot picture myself with them in my hair. Maybe someone gave me some and I never wore them. I wasn't much of a girly-girl back then and the idea of hair decorations wasn't that appealing to me. My daughter, Jenna, however, is much more into accessories than I ever was at her age. I just knew she would love to have a set of barrettes like this and she gets the biggest kick out of me making things for her. It's how I continue to fuel her "super hero" idea she has about me. I decided to get the ribbon in our school colors (red and black) for the first set of barrettes thinking she could wear them on spirit day at school or to ball games. These barrettes are relatively simple to make. It was a little tricky at first, but once I got the hang of it, there were no problems. The possibilities are endless. Scarlet and Gray for the Buckeyes, colors to coordinate an outfit, matching sets for BFF's...

Here's what you need:one yard each of two colors of 1/8 inch satin ribbon   
double bar barrettes

Here's what you do:

1. Stack your two strands of ribbon on top of each other. As you work with the ribbon, you will treat these two strands as one. This is the part that caused me some issues at the beginning as they kept wanting to separate and act as two strands.
2. Now, slide your strand of ribbon into the bend end of the barrette, not the clasp end. Center the barrette in the middle of the ribbon.
3. Bring one end of the ribbon over one bar of the barrette and under the second bar.
4. Do the same thing with the other end of the ribbon.

5. Keeping going back and forth switching off between the two groups of ribbon until the whole barrette is covered with ribbon. You might need to push the ribbon up as you go along so none of the metal barrette is showing. 
6. Once your barrette is completely covered, thread one end of the ribbon tightly through the barrette so that all of the ribbon is hanging down on the same edge.
7. Knot the ribbon and leave the excess to hang.
8. At this point, you could go a step further and string a few beads on the end and tie that off (a la Bo Derek, although she's from the 70's). I preferred to leave it alone.