45under45: Softball Hair Bows

Play's on FIRRRRRRRST!

Softball READY!

NO OUTS!

Less than four months ago I had never heard those words. But now...? Now, that chant is on a loop in my head. I just can't control myself. I walk through the house hollering all kinds of softball cheers.

You got this, kid!

When my husband signed our son, Nicholas, 11, up for baseball, our 13 year old daughter, Summer, "mentioned" that she might like to play softball. To that we said, "OK. Your first game is tonight and you CAN'T quit!" Bug-eyed, Summer agreed to the terms and that was how it all started.

Summer's up to bat.

If I were you and you were me,

I'd scoot my booty back!

But I'm not you,

And you're not me,

So stay right where you're at!

Despite only winning two games all season, the Lady Rebels made it to something called, "The Tappy Tournament". Sadly, they didn't advance past the first round. But, they really started to look like a team and the girls took pride in what they were doing.

And then, miracle of all miracles...they made an "All Star Team"! Our girls joined up with another team's two girls and we were able to fill the roster! The parents had to produce THEE ORIGINAL birth certificate and THREE forms of proof of address (from February?!). While one coach hounded the parents for the documents, the girls practiced on a shabby over-grown T-ball field a few nights a week...only having to dodge lightning bolts and giant summer-time rain drops twice.

It was at this time, in these underdog situations, we ALL grew to become a true team. Every girl went beyond her comfort zone...playing unfamiliar positions, dealing with an unknown extra coach, learning to slide, practicing techniques they had never heard of...

She's gonna BUUUUUNNNNNT!

That's when I knew that I wanted to do something special for these girls. Ranging in age from 11 to 13, coming from VASTLY different backgrounds, and bringing to the field all kinds of unique quirks and talents, I wanted them to know how hugely proud of them I was. Hence, the softball bow with a shabby chic twist...

Red, White, and Blue All Star Softball Hair Bow

During their practices (when I wasn't busy doing softball cheers) I started to amass a collection of used balls. If a ball was determined to be "water-logged", misshapen, cut, and/or just too old, I took it home and skinned it alive!

EAT IT!

What a rag-tag lot!

Ball, ball, ball.

Good eye!

The "water-logged" cork balls disintegrated!

F-O-U-L

Foul ball!

Ya' can't judge a ball by its cover. ;)

How to Make A Softball Hair Bow

Supplies:
Softball(s)
X-Acto Knife
Plastic Coated Wire
Wire Cutters
Ribbons
Hair Elastic(s)
Hot Glue Gun
Hot Glue Sticks

I chose to use the balls our girls used for practice because I thought that would be more meaningful than brand new unused ones. Since the balls I used were dirty, I washed them off with Boraxo hand soap. (I always have that on hand, but I think that any dish-liquid/degreaser would work.)

I grasped the ball with my non-dominate hand and used an X-Acto knife in my dominate hand. I started cutting about a half inch away from the seams and followed that around until I got back to where I started. (No need to cut down very deep, only about 1/8 of an inch.) Like a mad softball scientist, I peeled the skin off of the ball. (I discarded the cores and the left over leather, but I'm sure there are other many other crafts you could use the spare parts for.)

Next, I pinched the center together and folded the leather to look like a little pleat. I used about five inches of plastic coated wire to secure the pinch pleat with a couple of twists. (Do NOT snip off the excess yet!)

I see a hole out there, I see a hole out there

I see an H-O-L-E hole out there,

so hit the ball out there, so hit the ball out there,

so hit the B-A-L-L ball out there,

and hit it hard out there, and hit it hard out there,

hit it H-A-R-D hard out there!

I bought a variety of red, white, and blue ribbons...some thin, some thicker, some sparkly, some on sale... (I wanted the ribbons to dangle loose so I didn't use wired ribbon.)

Then, I used a whole lot of math!!! I converted all of the yardage to INCHES, totaled that up, and divided by the number of bows I was going to make (which for me was twelve). That helped me determine that I could do some ribbon lengths at ten inches and others fifteen, and not have any waste or any bows without enough ribbon. I saved out one thick/wide length of ribbon to cover the pinch pleat and help secure all of the dangling ribbons.

After cutting all of the ribbons and gathering them into an assorted group, this is when the excess wire came into play. I lay the ribbons and a hair elastic down in the center of the wire, twisted the wire to secure, and then snipped off the excess wire and tucked down the ends of the wire so as to not poke the girls in the head.

Using a hot glue, I tacked the ends of the folded down leather that formed the "bow". Then, squeezed out a good sized blob of glue in the center of the pinch pleat, covering the ribbons, hair elastic, and plastic coated wire.

I left it all to cool down and set. Finally, I tied on the thick/wide length of ribbon I saved from earlier. That covered all of the glue mess and just finished it all off so that it looked neat and tidy.

Ta Da!

Lined up in the dugout.

Hey, Summer, baaaaaay-beee!

Aaaoooo!

You look so good to me!

Aaaoooo!

First "All Stars" game's Star Spangled Banner

For the first game in the series:
One kid wasn't able to come back from vacation in time to play. That took the team to only ten girls. (We already had a waiver to play with eleven rather than the required twelve.)

And then for the second game:
Another player dropped out after the first game. Now, nine girls.

After a few innings into the third game:
A girl threw up and appeared to be having the beginning symptoms of heat stroke, that made for a tough decision: Forfeit or take a looooong time out until she recovered. Brothers offered to don wigs and play, little sisters considered slipping into the dugout, even players from what was a previous rival team volunteered!

Put me in coach!

I'm ready to play!

She rallied! Sadly, we didn't advance beyond that game. But this was something really special and we were all so fiercely proud!