gifts for guys guest tutorial- no sew bow tie by olivia renn

I know Friday is usually a Fun Find kind of day around here, and we will have another Guy-Themed Linky next Friday for you to link to all of the things you’ve made for the men (and boys!) in your life, but for today’s fun find, we have a Gifts for Guys tutorial for you! Oh, and be sure to check back tomorrow for some of the features from last week’s Guy-ish Fun Finds!


To mix things up even more, Macey from Olivia Renn, is here today to share a tutorial for making bow ties for the Little Guys in your life! Macey has two sons, so she’s pretty much an expert in crafting for boys (though, she makes all sorts of girly prettiness as well- check out her felt hair accessories). She even made her little guys a sandbox at her husband’s request! And she’s here to share her boy-crafting expertise with us today.

Easy Peasy NO SEW Bow Tie

Here are the supplies you’ll need:

Old Tie

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Velcro

Elastic

Cotton

 Take your tie and lay it out flat. Find a 8 inch and a 4 inch section that is about the same width. 

Please note: I used 8 inches for this one and it was perfect for my 10 month old, you might have to go a bit longer for an older child.

 Next take the seam out of the longer piece, so it will open up.

 I wanted the bow tie to be a little fuller, so I stuffed it with some cotton, leaving a space in the middle and the edges.

Then glue it shut, just like it was before the seam was removed.

 Next take each end and glue it to the middle (this will be the back of the bow tie).

 Now take the smaller piece that was cut earlier and glue it right on top of those end pieces on the back.

 Then cut the elastic to fit around the child’s neck (not too tight though!). Glue one side of the elastic on top of the last piece you just glued.

 Wrap that little piece of fabric around the bow tie and glue it on the back. I tried to make mine pretty tight and I had a little extra fabric so I folded the end under so it looked a little cleaner. After that put some velcro on the back of bow tie and the elastic piece. 

It should look something like this when you’re done. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a pretty easy and inexpensive project, because most people have an old tie to use, or you could always find one at a thrift store. 

You could play around with it a little too have have different variations.

I tried to take a few pics of my son wearing it, but he just kept trying to pull it off (I like the idea of the velcro for safety, but that means they can take it off too). I know my 2 year old would have worn it, but I took these during nap time.

Thanks so much, and don’t forget to come visit me over at Olivia Renn!

Don’t forget to check out Macey’s blog for all sorts of boy crafting goodness.