• Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Collaborate
  • Blog
  • Parties
    • Children’s Parties Ideas
    • Holiday Parties
    • Adult Party Ideas
  • Holiday Ideas
    • Christmas
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
    • Spring
    • Thanksgiving
    • Valentine’s Day
  • Seasons
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Desserts
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soups
  • Project Gallery
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY
    • Good Ideas
    • Tutorials
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

  • Book
  • Speaking
  • Meet Vanessa
    • Featured

February 20, 2012

Old Shutter turned “Bow”tique!

 

Ahhh….bows and little girls. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Peas and carrots.

Chocolate and strawberries. Me and chocolate and strawberries. Me and chocolate and strawberries and ice cream.
Me and chocolate and….Ahem…I digress.

repurposed hair bow shutter from at the picket fence

I vividly remember my heart beating faster when I put a bow on my daughter’s head for the first time. Granted they were the headband bows but still…every ounce of femininity in me was thrilled that I had this precious creature to dress up to my heart’s content.

Can’t you just tell how thrilled she was about it?

I loved finding just the right bows for each occasion and when she finally had enough hair to graduate from headband bows to the real deal, the doors of possibilities flung wide open!

And then, there came the day when there was even more hair! Which of course meant, curly bows entered the picture. Oh, the sweetness! My heart hurts looking at these pictures!

Her fine, wispy hair has been a challenge at times but at every turn, those bows have come to the rescue!

But, those bows had started taking over! And I was spending WAY too much time every morning digging through them to find just the right one for that day.

So, a couple of weeks ago I asked for some Bow Storage Ideas on Facebook and there were some really creative responses! It got my mind racing with possibilities and also helped jog my memory, which frankly needs quite a bit of jogging to get going…like jogging around the block a few times.

I had completely forgotten about some old shutters I had stashed away and after digging one out and giving it a good cleaning, I got to work!

In my mind this falls into the way too easy and simple and kinda embarrassed to even be blogging about it” category!

So, all I did was scrounge up some ribbon (it needs to be a thick ribbon like this grosgrain) and weave it in and out of the slats of the shutter.


I hot glued each end onto the shutter to hold them in place…

…hung it on the wall…

…and clipped the bows onto the ribbon!


I was able to sort them by color which will definitely help our morning routine. As my her collection grows I can always add more rows of ribbon or another shutter for that matter!


I decided to hang it behind the door in the kids’ bathroom so that it was easy to access after combing my daughter’s crazy bed head hair.


It doesn’t get much more simple than that folks! And the best part? Why that it was FREE of course!

Thanks so much for joining me at the Fence today

24 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas

Subscribe

Get the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Previous Post: « Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 52!
Next Post: Work Lights Turned Gallery Lighting »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Debbiedoo's says

    February 20, 2012 at 2:27 PM

    Adorable! What a neat idea.

    Reply
  2. Kelly says

    February 20, 2012 at 2:44 PM

    What a great idea! I’m sure that really helps keep them from getting smashed and wrinkled too (if they were put in a drawer). I can’t use this idea, since I have boys though. Ha!

    Reply
  3. Debra @ Common Ground says

    February 20, 2012 at 3:03 PM

    This is such a super cute idea! and your daughter is adorable!

    Reply
  4. Deserae says

    February 20, 2012 at 3:59 PM

    What a cute idea…and very clever! Your daughter is so adorable :o)
    ~Des

    Reply
  5. Catie @ Catie's Corner says

    February 20, 2012 at 5:06 PM

    Cute, cute Vanessa! I love it. I’ll definitely keep that in mind. And I guess I need to buy my daughter more bows. She only has a few, maybe ten. She wears a plaid uniform to school that I keep telling myself I’m going to make bows to match. I think now I HAVE to. haha Thanks for the great idea and the motivation.

    ~ Catie

    Reply
  6. michelle says

    February 20, 2012 at 6:09 PM

    SO cute my friend! My daughter’s hair was the same, so fine and wispy, now it is fine but so THICK nothing stays in. Ok, she is almost 14 so she doesn’t let me put bows in anymore. 🙂
    Have a wonderful week!!
    xoxo

    Reply
  7. Lakeshore Cottage Living says

    February 20, 2012 at 7:08 PM

    Great idea! Only I have a bow addiction and would probably need like 10 shutters…it’s bad. I do have some shutters in the garage though 😉

    Reply
  8. Suzanne says

    February 20, 2012 at 7:17 PM

    My girly girl is approaching her sweet sixteenth, so we are past the bow stage, but I’m trying to figure out how to adapt this great shutter idea to jewelry… will work on that.

    In the meantime, here’s a source for some of the most amazing bows I’ve seen — I think you and your fans will love Doodlebug Boutique! https://doodlebug-boutique.com/

    Reply
  9. Stacy Curran says

    February 20, 2012 at 10:03 PM

    Wow, the is ingenious and adorable and would work sooo much better than the bottomless box I have in my daughters closet!
    Stacy

    Reply
  10. Judy says

    February 20, 2012 at 10:42 PM

    That’s sooooo cute. I remember when my daughter wore bows each and every day. She would call them c…lllll..iiiips. She had a slight stutter when she was very little. She stopped wearing them a few years ago. 🙁 Love your idea for storing them.

    Reply
  11. pbrenner says

    February 20, 2012 at 4:07 PM

    Totally ingenious, and cute to boot! Wish I had a girl to play dress up, but all I have is a smelly 19 year old boy, lol. Love him to pieces though and wouldn’t change a thing 🙂

    Patty

    Reply
  12. Kristin says

    February 21, 2012 at 12:36 AM

    Love the shutter idea! My daughter doesn’t have quite as extensive collection, but we are well on our way! She takes hers out all the time though and they get lost, so I hate spending too much money on them. Do you have that problem?

    Reply
  13. Joan@chocolateandmore says

    February 20, 2012 at 4:51 PM

    Where were you and this idea about 10 years ago when my daughters would let me dress them up all cute and girly. Love this idea!

    Reply
  14. Courtney ~ French Country Cottage says

    February 20, 2012 at 5:25 PM

    Very cute Vanessa! 🙂

    Reply
  15. Jane@Cottage at the Crossroads says

    February 21, 2012 at 1:27 AM

    This is such a simple but cute way to organize bows! How clever!

    Reply
  16. Good Time Charlie says

    February 21, 2012 at 1:45 AM

    Such a great idea. Sigh, my girls are years past the bows stage. We had a major collection going when they would wear them. Home made ones, Gymboree ribbons, I loved them all! Really cute display idea. How fun!

    Reply
  17. Linda@Coastal Charm says

    February 21, 2012 at 2:50 AM

    Vanessa,
    She is a real cutie pie and your shutter holder is just so darn cute. We had so many bows when my girls were little, I always had a bow in their hair. My hubs had a nickname for Haley…BOW HEAD…he thought that was really funny…now don’t let your hubs hear that name:) Thank you for coming to Nifty Thrifty Tuesday…it’s always nice to have you here.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    Reply
  18. Mindie Hilton says

    February 21, 2012 at 3:25 AM

    Such a great way to organize your bows. I would love for you to share at Bacon Time’s Friday-Monday linky.

    Reply
  19. Libby at PSA Stamp Camp says

    February 20, 2012 at 7:28 PM

    This is such a great idea! I love it and can’t wait to try it myself.

    Reply
  20. ℳartina @ Northern Nesting says

    February 21, 2012 at 4:26 AM

    I LOVE this idea Vanessa and such sweet photos of your little sweetie!

    Reply
  21. classic • casual • home says

    February 21, 2012 at 6:06 AM

    When our son was little, he always had crushes on the little girls with big bows in their hair 🙂 Nice work.

    Reply
  22. Mr. Smith@TheSmithGarage says

    February 20, 2012 at 11:00 PM

    what a great idea. My daughter has a “drawer-full” – it might be nice to actually see them so she can choose.

    Reply
  23. Shabby chic Sandy says

    February 26, 2012 at 11:35 PM

    That is adorable!

    Reply
  24. Justine says

    February 27, 2012 at 7:37 PM

    Stopping by from the Girl Creative Blog Hop! https://queenofsavings.com

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Deserae Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Search This Blog

Get the book!

Invite Vanessa to speak at your event!

Stay updated!

Must Reads

Recent Posts

  • Why We’ve Chosen Vacations Over Projects April 26, 2022
  • A New Look for the Family Room March 1, 2022
  • Christmas Kitchen and Family Room December 19, 2021
  • Christmas Home Tour Part One December 10, 2021
  • Easy Hot Cocoa Station November 21, 2021

Footer

Stay Connected!

Instagram

Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to sha Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to share all of the details of our family room shelving makeover but I’m super impatient and just had to give you all a sneak peek!! We are SO happy with how they turned out and it finally looks like I’ve always envisioned. Our quick fix years ago (scroll to see the before photo) never felt quite right but now? Soooo much better!! 🙌🏻 Big shoutout to our amazingly talented friend Matt @redemptive_woodworx for bringing our vision to life and doing such impeccable work.

I hope you all have a great start to the 4th of July weekend and make sure to check my stories later for Friday Funnies!
The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of rain lately (which is saying something when you live in Oregon) and I’ll admit that it’s affecting my moods a bit. I feel like I’m dragging and struggling to find the energy to get stuff done. So don’t mind me if I’m over here looking at photos of my garden in the summertime and finding that it keeps me hopeful about those days to come. They will come, right?! 🤪. 

What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
We’re going to be giving our laundry room a make We’re going to be giving our laundry room a makeover soon. It’s LONG overdue! In fact, the folks from the counter company were just here taking measurements. While we have made some simple, inexpensive updates over the years, it still has many of the original elements from when the house was built in 1992.

Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
Load More... Follow
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2022 At The Picket Fence