Do you guys remember Get in Shape Girl? Omg, as I kid I thought the whole ribbon-on-a-stick thing was the coolest thing ever. So I thought since it’s Ribbon Week sponsored by The Ribbon Retreat, I’d whip up some ribbon wands for the littles in my life. You can see the pure joy these wands brought the girls in our Ribbon Week video.

It takes just about 15 minutes to turn this…

Into a ribbon wand they’ll go nuts for.

And BTW, who said boys can’t play with ribbon? What’s even cooler is that black ribbon has a glow-in-the-dark stripe down the center. You know you’ll be waking up to that waving in your face sooner or later.

This ribbon projects is quite simple, and the kids love ‘em. Find out how to make a pretty twirly ribbon wand…

First assemble your materials. You’ll need wood dowels. I bought a four foot dowel and had them cut it into 1 foot pieces at the hardware store. Then for each wand you’ll need an eye hook and a key ring (or if you’re feeling fancy, a swivel like on a fishing rod) and a grommet. Then a bit of sandpaper and some paint for your handle.

Lightly sand your dowel so there’s no splinters in your future and your paint will adhere better. The dowel on the bottom (left) has been sanded, the other is still rough. See, it makes a difference.

Go ahead and paint your dowels now. I used white spray paint but feel free to get fancy.

Now gather a bunch of pretty ribbon. I started with two yard lengths, but my daughter asked me to cut it shorter (to about a yard and a half) upon completion. Sew them together with a straight stitch across the top edge.

I serged the ends of the ribbon, but you can sew with a zig zag stitch.

Fold each corner down into a triangle shape and sew in place.

Now get your grommet tool out (when you buy grommets they usually come with a tool set that includes a rubber base and little anvil, you supply the hammer). Trace the hole in the grommet onto your ribbon triangle.

Insert the grommet from the right side.

Turn it over, lay the grommet on the rubber base, slip the washer on, place the anvil on top, and hammer in place. Do this on a super hard surface, like your driveway.

Slip the key ring through the grommet.

Screw the eye hook into one end of your painted dowel.

Then slip the key ring onto the eye hook.

I ran out of grommets when I went to make a ribbon toy for Niko’s little brother Lincoln, but a buttonhole worked just fine.

You can let the ends of your ribbon fray, seal them with stop fray glue, hem them, melt them, or cut them with pinking shears.

These girls. I mean really.

Posted By Jaime
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TAGS: Baby + Kid, By Craft, Crafting With Kids, Ribbon Week, Sewing & Serging, Toy
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