Hey there, party lovers! If your child has more hair bows than you know what to do with, strap yourselves in because this one is for you! Our guest blogger Elizabeth is giving us the inside scoop on her favorite craft project for her kids – bow boards!

Hello, fellow party lovers! 

I’m Elizabeth! Also known as @thecuratedkids on Instagram, where I share lifestyle inspo for moms and kids. I’m a wife, stay-at-home mom, introverted hostess, and believer in magic. I live in Georgia with my husband Matthew and the curated kids themselves, Ella, Jack, and Caroline.

I’ve always been on the more creative side, but it wasn’t until I got married and moved into a boy’s apartment (yikes) that I became obsessed with home decor and making every space your own. I saw how you could use things like throw pillows and Dollar Store DIYs to reflect your personality. And as someone who was shy and not at all confident, this seemed like a perfect and safe way to express myself. I imagined this future “curated life” where everything in our home, anything from a butter dish to a bedspread, would be intentional and true to me. 

This desire just exploded when I had kids. Putting together a nursery, taking monthly milestone pictures, planning the first birthday-- these were my first steps into the world of childhood magic. 

Becoming a mom was my lifelong dream, but it was much harder than I could have imagined. But somehow, the work of creating beauty for my family made motherhood easier, more sustainable, and fun! I want their birthdays, rooms, outfits, and, most importantly, their childhood to be magical and intentional. And all curated by me.

So, in 2017, when I was struggling as a new mom of two, I started The Curated Kids. It's my motherhood and childhood lifestyle blog, all about sharing these passions, connecting and inspiring people to make a little magic of their own. 

Whether you're an overwhelmed mom, shy introvert, small shop lover, wannabe interior decorator, stay-at-home party planner, kids fashion aficionado or love some pretty inspo, I'm excited to have you follow along! Your curated life doesn't have to be some future thing but something you make every single day. Creating, celebrating and curating is what I'm all about. 

What is a Bow Board?

One of my favorite creations of the past few years is my bow boards! And just what is a bow board? Well, every season or holiday, I curate a collection of bows and display them in a fun, decorative way. I’m two-thirds girl mom and my girls have CURLS. I always want them to love their hair and know there’s strength and beauty in being their girly selves. 

One Halloween, I went overboard (over-bow board you might say), getting small shop bows for Ella. And they were just too pretty and well-made to throw in our regular storage basket. So, I came up with the idea of displaying them as decorations for Ella’s Halloween bedroom makeover. It’s like accessorizing her room plus, they’re easy to grab on school and church mornings. 

Bows + decor + storage = bow board! My favorite kind of math.

How To Make a Bow Board

I started clipping the bows to a wire grid, but now I like to see how creative I can get with them. You can add DIYs, garlands, and accessories, and even use different holders like wreaths and tapestries to display them.

No matter what the occasion, if you have bows to match it, you’re already good to go. I’m a little obsessed with creating bow boards for the holidays. They’re just the perfect place to display all of your girl’s beautiful bows! For example, take your wire grid for Valentine's Day, arrange all of your most adorable Valentine bows, and add a little sparkle to your board with a Pink Glitter Heart Banner.

For Christmas, arrange your bows in a triangle on your board to create a Christmas tree. Add in some gold stars and a string of Star Bright Clip LED Garland and it will be like your kids have their own mini tree in their room!

You can get as creative as you want! Here I painted a little turkey and used my girls’ Thanksgiving colored bows around it. At the bottom, I added a ‘thankful’ garland as a mini-affirmation for them to see as they wake up. You can also use Ellie and Piper’s Harvest Thanksgiving Give Thanks Leaves Banner Set if cutting out little letters to make a custom garland isn’t your thing.

For a more everyday look in between holidays, you can even do something as simple as a rainbow made out of all of your bows. Add some of Ellie and Piper’s amazing garlands, like the Golden Star Garland, for a little shine, and add some pizzazz to the wall around it with another complementing garland. Here, I have a custom ‘Follow the Rainbow’ banner, but you can also do something like the Rainbow Fabric Bunting or Multicolored and Gold Tassel Garland from Ellie and Piper’s shop.

Bow boards are just another way to make girlhood even more magical. Check out #curatedbowboard for all the inspo, and grow your bow collection at my favorite bow shops, Emmy Laine Designs, Zozu Co, Modern Piggy, Marlo Bea.