Beautiful, "Thrifty" Bow

Are y'all thawing out?  I'm not!  It didn't get warn enough here today.  It like I have an ice skating rink around my house and down the street...hence why I've been inside in sleep pants all day!

Before I get into the meat of this post, I gotta fuss!  Did you notice my title of this entry?  Thrifty.  Yeah.  Thrifty = Cheap.  Some people are so offended by the word cheap.  I am NOT one of those people!  As long as I am saving money, who cares?!  Stepping off my soapbox....

Okay....for the REAL reason I posted...I FINALLY took down my tree today.  We have been so busy and I have never left it up this long before BUT it was VERY pretty!  :)  Anyway, my niece was helping me and said, "Aunt Joy, I love the bow and tiara on the top of your tree."  She was amazed when I told her I made it myself....for around $1.10!  She immediately said, "You have to take a pic and put it on your blog!"  I love that girl!

Now, I am NOT a bow maker....as a matter of fact, I normally fail miserably when I try.  I went to Dollar General and bought 2 rolls of mostly pink ribbon w/ a little blue trim....sparkly, of course!  It also had flexible wire in it.  They were $1 each.  I figured if I messed the ribbon up or got mad and threw it away, I was only out a couple of bucks.  I left the store having NO CLUE how I was even going to approach this task!

To make a long story short, the only material I purchased was the ribbon to make the bow.  I used one whole roll and make several large loops....think puffy.  I then twisted the middle.  I didn't know if that was going to be strong enough to hold it so I had a moment of genius (Hahahah)...I had just bought a bag of ice from Smithfield's Chicken and BBQ (more on my ice addiction later) and I was about to throw the tie away that kept the bag close.  I used the tie to give the bow some extra insurance and wrapped about a 12 in piece of the second spool of ribbon around the middle for 2 reasons:  To hide the twisty part/bread tie and to keep the bow together.  I left the streamers longer so they could flow down my tree.  Sure beats $20 for a bow!  Grant you, it's not as big or a full or as pretty, but I LIKE it!  :)

If I can do this, anyone can!!  Tell me what you think!  Again, please excuse the cell phone pic.  I will find my digital one day!  I also included a couple of pics of my tree so you could see how it matched.  :)