Dowels for making Curly Ribbon / 1 bag

1. Cut your ribbon into one yard lengths (36 inches).

2. Preheat your oven (making sure that it is clean to avoid getting any “leakage” on your ribbon) to 250 degrees. (If the heating of your oven is off, you can adjust this up or down as needed.)

3. During preheating, begin twirling your ribbon around the dowel. Begin by take one end of your ribbon and clothes-pinning it to the dowel. Then proceed downward in a spiral pattern around the dowel until you’ve reached the end of your ribbon; then clothespin this end to the dowel.

4. Placing your korked ribbon on a large baking sheet. If you don’t have a baking sheet available, then line your oven shelves with aluminum foil. Place the ribbon in the oven. Allow to bake for 20 minutes.

5. After 20 minutes, carefully remove one dowel from the oven (it will be hot!) and allow to cool for about one minutes. Then, using your hands to feel the length of the dowel, check for any remaining wetness. If there is none, remove the clothespins and, in a downward motion, slide the ribbon off the dowel. (Newer dowels will not allow ribbon to slide easily and make take a little more effort to remove, but this will change the more times the dowels are used in the oven.)

6. If the curl of the ribbon does not seem tight or any wetness remains, return to the oven and repeat the above step every ten minutes until ribbon has a dry, tight curl.