Sunday, August 28, 2011

Secrets to Bow Making Success: Review and Giveaway



I have been really excited about bringing this product to my readers attention. Secrets to Bow Making Success is just one of several instructional DVDs brought you by Next Chapter Learning and Jenn Spencer. Many of you are young moms or grandmas with little girls in your life. If you have a crafty side and an hour or two to spare you can use this instructional DVD and manual to learn how to make bows that would make great accessories for the young ladies in your life. This course will teach you all the basics to making bows.

This instructional DVD has more than just hair bows. Right now, we just have little Logan, and while he hopes for a sister one day, needless to say he doesn't wear hair bows. However, the bonus section in this course does show how to make a great pacifier clip for him. There is also a big section on how to make gift bows for presents and more. I have always wanted to have more beautifully wrapped presents under the tree but buying those big poofy bows is out of the question. Some of those bows can be ten dollars or more. Ribbon however can be very inexpensive, even wire ribbon if you shop bargain bins and buy in the off season (i.e. not major holidays). I usually make it a practice to buy new decorations post holidays anyway, you save so much money that way!

I was excited about the possibility of adding bows to my Etsy shop, Two Little Sea Stars, a baby boutique and more. I am a complete novice at bowmaking and I was hoping this video would make it super easy to turn me into an expert on bow making overnight. Not quite. The video is great, but I still have a lot to learn. You can tell the instructor, Emily, is not a beginner so I'm glad to be learning from someone who is great at making bows. I probably watched each section ten times as I made my bows to pick up on all the great tips and tricks to make my loops even, my ribbons straight, etc. When I couldn't quite tell what the instructor was doing on the video I turned to my manual which is 106 pages of color pictures and step by step instructions.


Here is what I made:
A corker bow: This was a lot of fun; who knew you could use your oven to make hair bows? These bows are really cute and look like little pom-poms. I learned how to line a french barrette with ribbon and how to create corked ribbon and bring it all together. You can actually leave it looking like a pom-pom but since I didn't buy quite enough ribbon I used an extra piece to make mine look like a bow tie to cover up the area where I tied my poms. You probably wouldn't have even noticed but I thought this was a fun variation and it shows that with a little imagination you can do way more than just the base bow design.

Alligator clips with flowers:  Learning how to line the clip was super easy but I can see how if I had attempted to do this myself with no instruction I probably would have done too much covering of the clip. There is actually a secret to getting these lined but still making them able to grip hair. I won't give that one away, you'll have to watch the video. There is also a great bonus section on adding all sorts of embellishments which gave me the idea to add these flowers. All the material for these clips I just pulled from my scrapbooking supplies.

Loopy layered bow:  This one was my favorite. I wanted to see what I could do with materials other than ribbon. I lined a french barrette and then layered felt, organza, and a button over a thin loopy bow. The loopy bow took a lot of practice and this is where I was glad I had my manual to look at detailed pictures. It looked so simple when the instructor made it, but even going slow I still didn't quite get my loops even, so I'll have to keep practicing. In my opinion, this bow still looks awesome though!

Win It! LearnHowToMakeBows.com  and Next Chapter Learning are giving away Secrets to Bow Making Success to one of my readers, a $27 value! Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Also be sure to check out these other great courses offered by Next Chapter Learning:







31 comments:

  1. I would LOVE to learn how to make bows for all my nieces!!!!!

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  2. I really want to win this one because I would LOVE to start making bows so I could make a little money extra on the side. Also, my daughter would LOVE these!!! amymccarty@hotmail.com

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  3. Would love to learn to make bows for my daughters!

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  4. I am terrible at making bows and I am sure this would help to teach me. Thanks.

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  5. I love raping gifts and wold love to make my own bows. helenkeeler@comcast.net

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  6. I want to win this to help with holiday gifts and to make bows for my niece.

    pansyadams@gmail.com

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  7. I have twin girls with lots of hair, so I need to learn this!!
    donnazittel@gmail.com

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  8. I have two little girls and I would love to make bows for them. It would probably save me some money.
    shuttermom77 (at) gmail (dot)com

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  9. I love hair bows for my granddaughters but I don't really know how to make them so this would be great for me to learn.

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  10. I would love to win this for my sister in law. she just had her first baby, a little girl, and has been going about making bows on her own a little bit. i think she could really use this though.

    lauren51990 at aol dot com

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  11. I want to win because I have no idea how to do bows for my daughter but would love to learn!

    bearrabbitbear@hotmail.com

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  12. I would love to win this so I can make bows for my girls and all my nieces.

    carlafrancesca2 at hotmail dot com

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  13. I seriously need help with bow making!

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  14. I want to win b/c my baby girl is due Oct 19th, and I would love to learn how to make her the cute hairbows!! Thanks for the giveaway.

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  15. I have always wanted to learn the tricks of bow making


    freebiegoddess03@aol.com

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  16. I always love to try to make things (although I'm not too talented lol), and I'd love to be able to make some adorable hairbows for my soon-to-be niece!

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  17. I would love to win this because I have a daughter who loves bows plus I love to dress up presents.

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  18. Ive always want to make the right bow

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  19. I would love to learn how to make bows for my daughters' hair, thanks

    Hotsnotty2@hotmail.com

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  20. I would like to win because I would like to learn to make bows from ribbon that is not wired...
    april@pinebelt.net

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  21. My daughter would absolutely love this! (olomon@hotmail.com)

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  22. I would love to win because I love to make bows, but am NO where near as good as this but, I can be with this!
    chacoyaguayo(at)yahoo(dot)com
    Thank you for the opportunity:)

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  23. I need to make bows for something at our church.
    vmkids3 at msn dot com

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  24. I have always wanted to learn how to make beautiful bows. My gift wrapping always looks nice but my bows need help!

    Desiree Dunbar
    desireedunbar@hotmail.com

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  25. I have always wanted to make these for my little girls and neices, this would be fun!
    shawnac68@hotmail.com

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  26. Would love to win to make bows for my 4 year old and for her friends. Maybe I really can be crafty!
    b dot ringer at hotmail dot com

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  27. I would love to win this to make hairbows for my daughter and my cousins daughter! I have tried to make them by reading stuff online and they didn't turn out well. :( This would definitely help me! :)
    mommy2one126@yahoo.com

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  28. I would love to win this because I think it would be a fun things to do with my daughters
    ericka082 at gmail dot com

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  29. I have some ribbon and a glue gun at the ready. I just need some inspiration. That's why I'd like to win!
    dearandrea
    at sbcglobal.net

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  30. I've always wanted to try making corker bows.....I am craft-addicted! I need this book!!!!!
    cleaningrhouse at yahoo dot com

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  31. Like to make BEAUTIFUL BOWS.

    jimpat34@broadstripe.net

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