Roses and buttons and bows, oh my!

the supplies :)

After my grandfather passed away this winter, I decided to donate my hair. With cancer, there is so much that you can't control, but donating felt like a way of fighting back (http://www.wigs4kids.org/). However, losing fifteen (!!!!) inches of hair was a HUGE adjustment that left me feeling slightly less feminine (not to say short hair can't be femme, it just didn't feel that way on me). Immediately I began wearing pretty things in my hair as a way of compensation, and many of them I made myself. I'm going to show you how to make your own super cheap hair pieces as well!

We have three types...

  A. the hair band

B. the barrette

C. the bobbie pin



A) The hair band that I pictured is super easy, though you can really embellish them however you'd like. In this instance, all I did was hot glue a piece of material/ribbon around the band and tighten it and then I hot glued on a button.

You can also use the skinny bands that are super popular right now (I got 6 for $1 at the family dollar) and attach pleated ribbon, buttons, flowers (i have tutorials for rosettes and many other varieties), bows... whatever you'd like!



measure out your ribbon length.



B) I purchased a large pack of these barrettes from the bridal section of Michael's. Then I took ribbon and hot glued it on to cover up the parts that will be seen on your head. Don't cover up the bottom tip (refer to pic) because you need the metal tip to secure it in your hair. Just cover half way up the underside, around the front and all the way to the end of the inside top bracket (see pic). After that, you can glue on bows, buttons... again- anything! Depending on your hair type, sometimes these can slide around. If that's the case for you (as it is for me!) just slide in a bobbie pin first and then cover it with your barrette.





continue gluing ribbon across top & 1/2 into the inside

start gluing 1/2way across bottom end 



place wax paper in the pin



C) The bobbie pin is super easy and cheap. I like this because you can cluster them together to make a big impression or just use one for a hint of cuteness. Today, I used arrangements of buttons stacked on top of and next to each other. Again, use hot glue to attach your object of choice to the bobbie, but make sure to slide a piece of wax paper into the pin so that you don't glue the pin shut. The wax paper will get stuck to the glue permanently, so just tear off around it til the lines look clean.



allow the creation to harden



Really, anything can be attached to these hair accessories using hot glue. I got the buttons from a quilt store bucket for 25 cents/oz. You can get buttons from thrift stores, purchase pre-made bows and flowers or create your own. Experiment with different combinations, even mixing mediums, until you create something that is perfectly you!

Wearing the rosette to a summer wedding

This is more of a "look what you can do with barrettes, bobbies and headbands!" than an actual tutorial. I have plans to show you how to make a flower haircomb for a wedding or special event as well as more in-depth tutorials for some of the pieces seen here, but if there is something specific you'd like to see- please let me know!





The finished pieces



I also need to mention that today I found a great little chair for 2.99 that is in the process of being restored for a future blog. It's a great start for anyone who wants to repurpose furniture but feels a bit nervous about how much work or skill may be required. We're about halfway through already and I can assure you that it is easy and fun!

We also found the upholstery today for the bench project- yay! So stay tuned :)

<3
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