Guest Post: DIY Glitter Star Hair Ribbon by Feathering My Nest

Good day Chic On A Shoestring Decorating readers!... I'm stoked to be the guest blogger here today to bring you a sweet little tutorial!... I'm visiting with you from Feathering My Nest where I relove furniture, repurpose items to create handmade home decor... and well share tutorials for adventurous crafters who want to get creative and DIY!... We're in the depths a cold and dreary winter here in Alberta... thankfully the dark days are a little bit lighter now with every day that passes... and it's not really THAT dreary... but still... shortened daylight hours wears on a person!... I thought this little bit of sparkle would be a nice little day brightener... not just today but any day that you wear this sweet little hair ribbon!... Every time I wear mine out I get lots of compliments and questions... if you'd rather just own one of these beauties I'll have them up in the shop for sale shortly!... So gather up a bin and load it up with your project supplies!
Here is what you'll need:

• Roll of Kraft paper
• Cardstock - 1 sheet
• Pencil
• Rular
• Cutting mat
• Cutting knife
• Clear Permanent Glue
• Small paintbrush for applying glue
• Baking sheet lined with parchment paper
• Pure Silver German Glass Glitter
• Container with a lid (that you can dedicate to glass glitter)
• Ribbon, any type you like to match your haircolour
• Crazy glue
• An oven (optional - if you lack patience like me you'll use the oven)

Start by covering your work surface in paper... It makes for an easy cleanup and saves your work surface... Grab up your ribbon... get pull it around your head leaving two longish tails... and cut off... you want excess here so that you have room to tie a bow AND for offsetting the stars!... unless you want them centered - it is a customizable as you like!... if you want the stars off centre hold the ribbon around your head wtih the two tails even at the back... set your ribbon aside for later... Grab up your cardstock and draw on some stars!... vary the sized or make them all the same size... make them perfectly even stars... or make them more wonky and folk art styled... it is entirely up to you... how many do you want on your hair ribbon?... also up to you - just a couple? all the way around?... Once you have them all drawn up use your knife and rular to cut them out... Get your glitter and glue out and ready!... Now on a scrap piece of paper lay down your first star... squeeze out a blob of your clear glue... Now take your brush and brush the glue evenly over the star... do not be afraid to get the edges... you need to get glue over the edges!... Carefully pickup your star... I find getting under it with the knife is the easiest way to pick it up without disturbing the glue... lay the star in the dedicated Glitter container and sprinkle with your German glass glitter... ...repeat with all of your little paper stars... Now pick out the stars carefully letting the excess glitter fall away... Place the stars glitter side down and apply glue to the second side... then place into container and sprinkle glitter all over... once they've all be glittered pick them out letting the excess glitter fall into the container... After you've glittered the second side of all stars shake off the excess glitter and place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment... Preheat your oven to it's lowest possible temperature... and get them stars in the oven!... See... I am quite impatient and didn't want to wait for the glue to dry... now I can tell you this baking to dry technique works with the Martha Stewart glue that I've used in this tutorial... You may want to do a test star if you are using a different glue. I put the stars in for 10 minutes... then take them out and flip them over... you may see some moisture on the parchment so shuffle the stars around so that they dry out nicely... put them back in for another 10... do this as until the stars have stiffened them take them out of the oven and let them cool... Now its time for round two with the glitter!... I find these look best when they're totally encrusted in the little diamonds of German Glass Glitter... Glue and glitter one side of all... and then the other side of all...
 Then back into the over for 10 minutes per side until the glue is dry and they've stiffened up!... Now let them cool until you can handle them... Take out the ribbon that you measured and cut previously... luckily you've covered your working surface in case you get a little messy with the crazy glue... I don't recommend getting messy with crazy glue or you may have German glass glitter stars glued to you and not your ribbon!... I've marked the middle as I plan to offset the stars... Lay the stars out in various combinations... see what you like... I like them a little closer together than farther away from each other... Get your crazy glue flowing... use just a dot on the ribbon and press your star on... if the stars are large you don't have to have the ribbon attached fully across them... just a nice solid dot of glue in the middle... this will ensure that the ribbon is comfortable around your head... Check that the glue didn't soak through the ribbon and has stuck to the paper or your table... that would not be fun... if the star does not stick the first time let the crazy glue dry on the ribbon and apply another dot of glue over the dried area of glue and press your star back on... carefully flip over the ribbon with the star on your work surface and your ribbon on top of the star to ensure that the ribbon does not stick to your work surface!... Keep gluing until all of your stars are attached... now crazy glue dries fast but here is the time to be patient... Wait until the glue is fully dried before trying on your ribbon headband!... you also do not want to glue this thing to your head!... depending on the type of ribbon you use you will see the glue soak into the ribbon... I feel like gluing this thing to your head would not be a pleasant experience at all!... LOL!
 And BAM!... You're done!... well try it on and tie a little bow in the back... you may want to trim the ribbon tails that are left... or not... entirely up to you and the look that you are going for! :)
 Now admire your sweet new hair ribbon and get out and show it off to the world!... and be sure to take a picture of that baby in action!... THEN come and share it with the other nesters over at the Feathering My Nest Facebook Page!...
I can't wait to see your handy work!... xo!