Made It Monday - Clip-On Tie Magic

So, clip-on kid ties. What's the point, really? I mean, I get the point of clip-on ties in general. I guess. But for kids? The very kids who can't tie ties need them attached firmly to their body, not easily pulled off and left sitting in a pile underneath the drinking fountain. Yet we buy them. Usually because they come with the nice button-down shirts in pretty packages that are just perfect for Easter wear. And then, the kids come home tie-less and we wonder why we even bothered in the first place.

Well, I have discovered a solution that will make you all happy you bought those cute shirts. Converting a clip-on to a "stay-on" tie. With just a clip-on tie and some 1/2" width elastic. Easy peasy, too. Gotta love that. Here's how:

Get yourself some clip-on ties. As many as you can. Like I said, this is super easy and you may as well make a bunch in a few minutes. Seriously ... minutes.  Also, if you have one, grab one of those zipper ties. Just to use as a pattern for length of neck loop. If you don't, that's fine. Grab one of your kiddo's shirts and measure (easiest with just a piece of string) the length necessary for the loop around the neck.

Now what? Take your elastic (I used the 1/2" elastic). Measure the length of the neck loop on either the zipper-tie or around the neck of a white shirt. Add 2 or so inches more. Nothing exact. Don't stretch the elastic while you measure it.

Cut that length of elastic for as many ties as you have. If you only have limited elastic, you could actually only make one elastic and switch it onto whichever tie you use. But, I must confess, dressing my kiddo is often a chore, and having to switch out the tie is rather tedious when what I'm about to tell you next can be done lickity-split.

So, you've measured the neckloop and cut the elastic. Now, you're going to sew the ends of said elastic together. Don't fold the elastic on top of itself, though. Twist it once. Then sew the ends together. Use a nice zig-zag stitch perpendicular to the elastic, thick and heavy.

Now, this is what you should have:

Or, if you did what I said, you should have a bunch of these. Easy, right? Now comes the hard part.

Feed the sewn end of the elastic loop through the top layer of the "knot" on your clipon.

Don't pull the elastic all the way through, though. Leave a good size loop at the top.

Now, take the tail of the tie and slip it forward through the part of the loop that is below the knot of the tie.

OK. Tug the elastic up loop upward.

So, you're done! See? Easy peasy. You can now dress your tot in the cutest suit ever and know that the tie will make it back home! You're welcome!

So, go make a bunch of them!

Birthday Board: The End of an Era (or Part III - whichever you prefer)

Welcome to the thrilling conclusion of the Birthday Board trilogy. This post promises winding, twisting and drilling, as we come to the end of the Birthday Board saga. If you need to remember what it is we are working on (or need the how-to's), go ahead and visit Part I - What to Buy and How to Print and Part II - the Burning of the Board

Now, the long-awaited (sorry about that) denouement (like that? I used the thesaurus for that one) of the Birthday Board.

Birthday Board: Part Three - or Making a Name For It

We left off after burning and staining our wood board (we already printed our text on it).  Now we need to make the cute little wood disc dangles that actually show who has a birthday. Otherwise you have a pointless board.  Cute ... but pointless.

Remember, you bought several things to make this happen. It's in Part I. I could just repeat everything again, but we live in a digital age, and it's pretty easy to open up a link like this (click here). It even opens up in a separate window so you can keep this page open and come right back after looking at the list of things to buy. Are we good? Good.

So, get your wood discs and sort them. Some will not be perfect and others will have weird chips in them. That's why you want to get extras. Remember, wood isn't perfect, so the discs made of wood won't be either. Don't blame the manufacturer. I'm sure they are very nice people. Keep the warped ones, though, you might want them to practice on.

Once you've decided on the discs you will use, you also need to get a scrap piece of wood for a template (otherwise you're just going to hate yourself after making 50 of these discs). Probably a piece of 2x4 (only about 3-4 inches tall). This will be used as a base for drilling and a marking point for the holes. Once you've selected the perfect piece of scrap wood, you will also need to get a pen.

Now, I just drew lines suggesting the width of the discs, but if I did it again, I would outline a disc on the wood block. Then mark a ruler line bisecting the circle at the middle. I know I kid about so-so projects not being perfect (ok, not kidding), but this is actually something you want to make sure is pretty well centered. If not, the chains will all hang wonky. Seriously.

Here is what my scrapwood looked like. Yours will have a nice circle drawn instead of outside lines, though. Maybe.

You will also need a super-thin drill and drill bit. Super thin. Like tiny. Almost break-in-your-hand thin. I used my 1/16 drill bit.

Grab a disc you aren't going to use (one of the warped ones, whatever), place it on your scrapwood template and drill two holes: one at the top and one at the bottom (use the middle line of your template as a gauge for where to drill the holes). Don't drill too close to the edge or you end up with it snapping through the edge. Just eyeball it (again, use your warped discs at first so you can mess up a few times while you get comfortable with the gap). Once you've gotten used to it all, grab your discs and go to town. ...

So, your holes are all drilled and you have a lovely stack of discs just begging to be made into something lovely. Now is the time to label. If you wait, it will be wobbly because of the clasps we'll be adding (don't ask how I know this).

Now is the time to decide how you want to denote each person's name and birthday. At first, I was going to rub the text on like I did with the sign itself, make it all cute and darling. Then I realized that families change and names would be added. Wouldn't you feel bad if you were one of the add-ons who got a crappy, handwritten tag, all alone with all the cutesy ones surrounding. mocking. So, I decided to just make them all with crappy handwriting (that's what I do, folks, crappy handwrite). I tried to make them look nice, but yeah ... you do what you can. Anyway.

I wrote their first name and the day of their birthday on the front, and then on the back wrote the entire birthdate - so it can be easily replaced when adding new discs (or if it falls off the board through no fault of my own craftsmanship).

Now would be a good time for you to find out the birthdays of everyone in your family. Don't guess. And make sure everyone writes the dates in the same order. I messed up on my SisInLaw because the date was written day/month/year (as it probably should be, really) instead of month/day/year. Felt terrible.

Once the discs are labeled, we are ready to clasp.

Get your eyepins

and some needle-nosed pliers.

Feed the long end of the eyepin through a hole. Bend the "eye" and tail part up toward the outside of the circle.

Then, pinch the wires near the holes of the disc to keep them from wiggling and use the pliers to twist the tail around the eye part.

Once you've got it started wrapping, you can actually just slide the pliers around in a circle, guiding the tail around. Once you get to the end, use the pliers to pinch a little harder to hide the end within the twists.  Keep the "Eye" part parallel to the flat side of the disc. This will keep the discs lying flat when hanging up.

It won't always look perfect, but it will look nice once it's done. Promise. Now do that twice for each disc (top and bottom hole).  Put on a movie for this, it can get tedious. Goes quick, but feels like forever. If you are giving this as a gift, you should also make a few blank discs completely ready to go and give them with it (remember ... families change).

So, you've done them all. Now what. Now comes the grand finale. Putting it all together. If you haven't already, screw in your eye screws into your board under each month. Don't put your pliers away, because you'll need them for this next part.

Organize your discs by month, then within that pile by day. Use a jump ring to connect each disc to each other and to the board. You'll need to use the pliers to open up the Eye Ring (easier than opening the jump ring, promise) and then pinch it closed again once the jump ring is on it. Use one jump ring between two discs.

And Voila! Now you have a Birthday Board that looks fabulous. Bravo!

Thanks for joining me! Come back for my next project. I'm excited to show you what you can do with old clip-on ties that won't stay on that wriggly tot. Or maybe I'll show you a great way to get a month of meals on board. Lots of plans!

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