Ribbon Holder - The Hanger

Many people in the crafting business have ribbon- lots of ribbon. If you're like me, you have a TON of ribbon. It creeps up on you. It starts off with one or two needed for a specific project. Then 2 or 3 because you love the color or pattern. Before you know it, you have over 100 spools of ribbon sitting around your house.

This method of ribbon storage is called the hanger because it uses.. well, you guessed it, a hanger. This method was first seen on the Dollar Store Craft site, I think. Or maybe it was Someday Crafts. Either way, it was ingenious.

It's a way that can store over 70 spools of ribbon, easily and within reach, and viewable without taking up a lot of space. For this, though, you do need a very specific hanger- a 5 arm swing arm pants hanger. The photo below shows what the hanger looks like.

This hanger has 4 actual arms (the bottom rung counts as the 5th arm, but it is not a swinging arm, so for our purposes, it only holds 4 arms worth of spools), and those 4 arms are hinged one side, and fit into a slot on the other side. To open them, lift up on the slot side to free it from the slot, then swing the arm open.

Each arm will hold as many as many as 25 narrow spools, or as few as 6-10 wider spools. The size of the spool will also effect how many spools the arms can take- for instance, if the spool is long when laying on it's side, it will effect the size of spool the arm above it can hold.

If you are an avid ribbon buyer, you are probably familiar with different brands, and spool sizes. Hobby Lobby's brand of ribbon found in the fabric department for ribbons sized 1/4" up to 5/8" comes on the same size spool. Some are wider, some narrower, but all the spools will stack on each other in the same size. Those spools are optimal for this ribbon rack.

With 25 on each arm, you can easily fit 100 spools of those spools on the rack, and they will spin freely.

Most other brands of ribbon, such as Offray, will also fit 25 to an arm, but here's the kicker with Offray- the spools are taller, so while you can stack them onto the rack, they will spin more difficultly.

The hanger itself comes in handy. To hang it, pound a nail into the wall, or onto a shelf, and let it hang. Below are some photos from Heather's Frugal Bows of the hanger doing it's job- on this hanger, she shows over 70 spools of varying width ribbons.

So, what's the price to use something like this for your ribbon storage? Well, my local shops didn't have any in stock (I checked Walmart & Meijer), but I did find these hangers online ranging from $4.99 up to $10.00. Not too bad for storing so many spools!

You can find them here:

Hanger City- $5.79
Bed Bath & Beyond, 2 pack for $9.99 (Out of stock online)
Hold N' Storage- $4.99

All in all, it's something to look into! If you have a great idea for storing your ribbon, let me know and I'll write up a post about it, and include a link!

WIN Crocheted Flower Clips!!

This giveaway is courtesy of Blanketeer & More on Facebook & Etsy! 

Up for grabs are three gorgeous white flowers, each hand crocheted, and attached to alligator clips. This set includes one large clip and two smaller clips. You can read my review about the clips here.

Rules of the giveaway!

To win, please go HERE and leave a comment!!

If the link above does not work, please follow these directions:

1. Log into Facebook
2. Send a Friend request to Bowtique Critique
3. Under PHOTOS, open the Enter to WIN!! album
4. Locate the photo of the 3 white flowers and open it.
5. Leave a single comment under it for a chance to win!!

When doing that, spam crawlers that harvest emails do not recognize the line as an email address, and ignore it.

The item will be given away to a randomly drawn commenter on Tuesday, August 17th!

For a bonus entry, Tweet about this, or post it on Facebook, and post a link in a second comment below!!

Blanketeer & More Review

 
This week, I was in touch with Blanketeer & More on Facebook. She makes some pretty cool things like car seat tents, purses, key chains, and even camera straps- but she also is a wonderful crocheter!

Several months back, I won a crocheted headband and flower clip from a different person, and loved it. This week, I received 3 crocheted flowers from Blanketeer & More, and I have to say- I LOVE them. These flowers are very similar to the one I won back in February, but the quality of the yarn, and the stitching is a lot better. These flowers are nice and tight- no unraveling for them, and the yarn is soft without being fuzzy or worn as so many yards tend to do. The flower I have from February is fuzzy, loose, and worn looking.

I received 1 large flower, and 2 smaller flowers, each on their own lined alligator clip. They were all superbly made, and I would not hesitate to purchase these flowers from her in the future for my own use. These flowers can be worn alone in the hair, or even on a shirt for a bit of flair, or they can be clipped onto a headband.

End thoughts:

Shipping Time: I was approached on Monday, August 9th, about doing a review. I had the items in hand on Thursday, August 12th! The ship time was super fast!

Ease of communication: Kami, the wonderful person behind Blanketeer & More, was very pleasant to work with and communicate with. She's nice, and accommodating, and I highly recommend her for both quality, and customer service.

Material Quality- The yarn used is fantastic and soft. It shows no signs of being worn or fuzzy, and the flowers lay nice and flat on their clips. She provided a quality product that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for crocheted flowers.

Price- The large flower, also called the adult sized flower, sells for $5.00 each. The smaller pair, a children's set, sells for $5.00 for a pair. Both prices are fantastic for the work that goes into making these. Unlike regular flower clips, these are handmade start to finish.

Overall grade? A+ for customer service, product quality, and design. I love these, and can't wait to give them away to a lucky fan of Bowtique Critique!

Check back later this week for details on the giveaway!

Blanketeer & More on Facebook
Blanketeer & More on Etsy

Bowtique Critique Promotions!

With so many fantastic crafters out there, I think there should be a way to review and promote them- and thus, Bowtique Critique was born!

Bowtique Critique is a blog that will advertise, promote, review, and how giveaways for you, all in the hopes of getting you a few new views.

We promote in 3 ways.

• The first way is with a product review. For a product review, first you must be willing to send in a product or two of your own making (items bought online for resale through Facebook do not qualify for product reviews- this includes flowers, tutus, and pettiskirts! Only handmade items qualify for a product review!).
  
  Once I have received the item or items, I will review the product, shipping time, and ease of working with the boutique owner. Once I am done reviewing the item, it will be set aside as a giveaway to the fans of the page, promoting your page in the process.

•  The next way I can promote your page is through advertising. People who would like regular promoting and advertising will receive the following:
  
  * Advertising of a specific item or the shop as a whole at least twice a week. If you have a new product you want advertised, just let me know, and I'll promote that item, otherwise, I will promote your shop as a whole.
  
  * Notice of upcoming comment games on your page the day of your comment game.
  
  * Participation in a group comment game once a week- you'll have to let me know what all you want included (max of 5 items), and be willing to accept payment & ship the items sold.
  
  * Referrals to your site when you run referral contests.
  
  * Link Promotion on the Bowtique Critique Blog's Main Page for the duration of your promotion
  
  The cost for being promoted is $2.50 per week, or $12 per month. After your first full month, if you enjoy what I am able to do, the cost per month goes down to $10.00.
  
  All payments can be made via Paypal.

•  The last way I can promote your page is through hosting a giveaway. I'll post about it on both Facebook & the Bowtique Critique Blog daily from the start of the giveaway to the end. I'll draw the winners, set the parameters of the giveaway, host it, and do all the work- all you have to do is send the winner their prize! My fee for hosting a giveaway is $5.00, payable by Paypal.

If this looks like something that can get your shop a little notice, then send me a message at: herberkids3(at)yahoo.com and let's talk! Or, find me on Facebook!