Happy Little Hair Accessories...

I have a hard time when I am in a store and there are a lot of bright colored items displayed together.  It is a marketing ploy that pulls me in. How can I pick just one?  They all belong together!  They can't possibly look as appealing solo.  How could I separate them?  Won't they be lonely?  It would be like taking an elephant for its tusks and leaving the baby elephant to fend for itself!  I would never do that!!

 I went to an actual brick and mortar store for the first time this holiday shopping season last week and encountered something I have had my eye on for the girls.  I can quickly work myself into an emotional frenzy all over a display of silk zinnias in the craft aisle.   love those big bushy flowers you see clipped on headbands.  We found the headbands and I decided to purchase silk flowers by the stem to glue on hair clips I had on hand at home.  Right by the flowers were butterflies.  We got at least one of every color.

First, I used my side snips, you may recognize them from a former post where I was using them to remove staples from Breadwinner's noggin, to cut the stem and back from the flowers.  In the picture you see the pink flower in a state of disarray.  It's metal stem and base have been removed.  Next, I used a glue gun to glue all the petals back together.  If you have never taken the stem and back from a silk flower you may not be aware that when you remove them the petals are no longer stuck together.  A large gem was then glued in the middle of the flower.  Lastly, an alligator type hair clip was glued on the back.  The flower can be clipped to a headband as pictured or directly to hair or a sweater.  Don't feel sorry for the loan butterfly.  We got one of every color on the end cap!



A word on hot glue guns.  The little orange one you see in the picture is low temp.  I gave it to my oldest daughter last year for Christmas, yes the crafting insanity is intergenerational-just ask my mom!  Low temp is great because the glue doesn't tend to melt your synthetic projects or blister your fingers as badly.  The drawback is it doesn't seem to come out of the gun as quickly.  I started the project with low temp and ended with a high temp glue gun.  The high temp takes longer to dry and seems to leave more "strings" of glue on the project. 

 This flower and headband we already had on hand.  I simply added the clip to the flower.  Even if you can't get out to purchase the aforementioned materials you can probably make this.  I made the headband one Sunday when I was home from church with a sick kiddoe.  Take a ribbon and sew some felt the same dimensions as the ribbon on the back.  Sew a piece of elastic on either end of the ribbon and you are done.

Even though the girls picked out what colors they wanted and watched me glue them together I know they will be pleased to find them in their stockings Christmas morning!