Ribbon Veil

For a crafty person, a wedding is another instance to flex some craft muscle and inject some more personal detail.  One DIY thing that is fun and simple to do is to make a ribbon veil. I made one for my wedding this month. They’re a great touch of color for the bride . If the bride prefers a poofy veil, this would still be a super cute accessory for the reception, the bridesmaids or flower girls, or even to dress up and feel special on a non-wedding day. You will need ribbon, a plain barrette, a hot glue gun and some ornamentation.

First, decide how long and what colors you want your veil to be. You can have it short and shoulder length or all the way to your feet if you want! Just make sure you have enough ribbon on the spools that you buy. You’re going to need twice your desired length, more if you plan to use that specific ribbon more than once. I used shades of teal and gold to match the accents on my dress.

Cut your ribbons. You want the raw ribbon to be twice the length that you want the veil. I cut the ends on the diagonal, to help prevent fraying while I worked.
Attach to the barrette by tying gently. Open the barrette. Fold your ribbon in half, lengthwise. Take the loop where it folds and put it through the barrette (you can temporarily remove the little curved forked tensioner if you need to). Pull the ends of the ribbon through the loop and all the way through until it’s snug. Repeat with all the ribbons you want to use. You can do them in random order or a pattern. I like symmetry, so I mirrored my colors. Just remember to keep all the ribbons streaming out the same direction as you started.

Once you have all the ribbons on, it’s time to secure them. If you have not removed the forked tensioner inside the barrette, do it now. You’ll put it back in later. Pull your ribbons snug and make sure they’re where you want them to be on the barrette. On the back side of the barrette, put a dot of hot glue under each ribbon tie and press down to secure. They might still move around a little bit, but they will be mostly secure. When the glue is dry (5 minutes-ish), put the tensioner back in. This will also help to keep the ribbons in place.

Now would be a good time to take care of the ribbon ends. Some ribbons will not fray easily, but others will disintegrate if you even look at them wrong. You can add anything that dries clear to seal the ends. I used glittery nail polish for a little extra sparkle.

When your ends are dry you can add your ornamentation. You can use beads, seashells, feathers, flowers or whatever is special to you. I’m using starry slider beads. Two are going on the barrette itself, and a few are going on the ribbons. Hot glue will probably be your best choice for attaching these parts, depending on your decorations.

Once you’re done attaching everything and it’s all dry, your veil is ready to go!

For more detailed instructions, you can visit the veil’s entry on my craft blog.

Karen is a blogger and crafter who has lived in Charlottesville for 6 years after transplanting from the Shenandoah Valley. While not working or attending classes at PVCC, she blogs about her life at Precision Indecision and about crafts at CraftyKix.