Baked Ribbon? Keep that Curl!

I have been promising a tutorial for how to create the ribbon on this page since I first posted it, so here it is!

I always wanted to know how the ribbon that was used to make those pretty little girl's hairbows kept it shape. I was sure it involved some kind of chemical or it was manufactured that way. Well, I did a little research and was SHOCKED to find out how truly simple it is. Wind it around a dowel, or in my case a bamboo skewer from the kitchen, and bake it!

In this tutorial I use a variety of ribbons, and I use both dowels and bamboo skewers. It is your choice and depends on what your final result to look like. I have not yet found a ribbon that does not work, but if you come across one, please let me know!

Preheat oven to 275.

Begin by clipping the end of your ribbon to the end of a dowel with a wooden clothespin. If you do not have any clothespins, use a straight pin. The first time I made these I used straight pins and it was a bit trickier, but definitely possible.

Next you wind the ribbon tightly around the dowel from end to end.

Cut the ribbon off when you get to the end of the dowel and secure it with another clothes pin or straight pin.

Make as many ribbons as you would like. I used 4 on this layout. Place them on a baking sheet. Bake on 275 for about a half hour.

Remove them from the oven and LET THEM COOL! As always this is a hard step for me! But, I learned the hard way that if you unwind them before they are cooled, the curls will loosen or come out altogether. (I do move them to a towel to get them away from the heat of the pan so they cool faster!)

Once they have cooled completely, slide them off of their dowels. There are times when they get caught on a sliver of wood...DO NOT PANIC, simply unwind the ribbon from that area and slide it off the opposite end as the grain of the wood sometimes catches the ribbon.

Use these great little ribbons on you next scrapbook page, make a fun hair bow, use it for gift wrap, add it to a home decor project. The sky is the limit! Post a pic of your project so we can see!

FUN STUFF!!! What will you create with yours? Please share your ideas!