Shamrock Korkers! A square korker tutorial

Here is the list of supplies you will need to make our shamrock korker hair bows:

wooden dowels

clothes pins

ribbon (I love to "kork" 1/4 in. ribbon)

wood burner

glue gun

needle and strong thread (I use DMC Floss)

lined alligator clips

a little bit of time :)

Attach the ribbon to one end of the dowel with the clothespin, tightly wrap the ribbon around the dowel. I am using square dowels and it is very important to get the ribbon as tight as possible. (I love the square Korkers, the turn out so cute. They do take a little extra time)
As soon as your dowels are ready, put them on a baking sheet and place them in your oven for about 25-30 minutes at 250 degrees. Now this works perfectly for me and the korkers stay korked. You need to watch them, however. Nobody likes burned ribbon. :)

Let them cool, and very carefully unwrap them. HINT: If you choose to use round dowels the unwrapping will be much easier.

Now I couldn't take a picture of myself cutting the Korkers with my burning tool, that would have either been extremely dangerous, or I am not that talented....yet. For these particular bows I just eyeballed instead of measuring the ribbon out. For a set of 2, divide the ribbon into 2 piles.

And begin loading your needle. Place the middle of the ribbon length right through the needle. HINT: Load the entire korker on the needle before you pull it through, it will be so much easier to tie off and the Korker will look a lot better.

Here I have finished loading both needles and am ready to tie off. BIG HINT: When you take the thread through the top of the Korker, put the needle under the top ribbon onto the second in the stack. This will ensure you do not pull the thread all the way through and have to begin again. Just added security.

I was going to add the shamrock ribbon to the clips, but I ran out of time. I love the polka dots, and nobody will see them.

The finished product. I love the squares and the rectangles. So fun and different. These just might bring in the Luck O the Irish!