Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Super Quick and Easy DIY Hair Flowers Tutorial (No glue!!)





Ever buy or make hair flower accessories only to have them fall to pieces; the clips not stay in your hair; or worse yet the clips pull you hair out when removed? Well, that's what I've been battling with until the other day. I had a brainstorm and came up with the easiest and most secure hair flowers I've ever used to date. And, the best pluses are that they are cheap (being made from stuff around the house) and since no hot gluing is involved your kids can help you make them.



Here's what you'll need:

- Plain old buttons (At least one flat button and another shank or not)
- 3" long bendable hair pins (I used Sta-Rite brand from Sally's Beauty Supply)
- Artificial flowers (the kind that you can take apart)



I used cheap dollar store flowers for mine. What you'll be doing is taking the flower off the stem. Taking it apart by removing the plastic stud that holds the petals and other parts together. I took apart three different colored flowers (black, red and salmon-ish orange) and mixed up the petals. You can keep the parts in order or mix and match as I did. You can toss the studs. We won't be using them anymore.

Now we are ready to assemble our hair flower.



First, slip the shank or flat button onto the hairpin. Then, start sliding on all the flower parts from the top down. Add a flat button at the bottom and bend the prongs of the hairpin out to hold the button in place.



Lastly, curve the prongs with your fingers so that they resemble a fish silhouette. This will keep the flower parts on the pin while still allowing you to use the pins in your hair.

TIP: Depending on the placement of your hair flower, you may also want to bend the prongs to one side so that the flower faces out while the pin is flush against your scalp.



The pic above shows the center of the flower where I used a shank button. If your flowers are full enough, you won't really see this button while wearing it.

To secure the hair flower in your hair squeeze the prong tips together before poking into the your hairdo near the scalp in a side-to-side small zig-zagging motion. I was able to wear all six of mine the entire day from sun up to sun down without one falling out.

MORE TIPS:
• The great thing about this particular type of hair pin is that if you are going to be dancing roughly or bending over you can bend the prongs even more once they are in your hair to secure them even better.

• With the bendable pins, you can even have fun taking your hair flowers apart again and again and rearranging your flowers endlessly!

• You could also add a couple drops of scented oils to the center of your flowers to make them smell good. Or, soak a wooden button in the oil.



Hope you have found this tutorial useful. Have fun creating hair flowers!

8 comments:

Kiera-Oona said...

I never thought of that. I always took the plugs out the flowers, but sewed them on, rather than just using a button to hold it all together.

I personally try to avoid hot glue guns, cause I gave myself a 2nd degree burn on my index finger one week before our first troupe performance while making headbands.

mieljolie said...

Hi, Kiera-Oona. I think the buttons are working really well. I've never tried sewing them. What do you use to secure them in the hair?

I did try wire wrapping them to an alligator clip with a thin gauge wire and a bead center, but they got pretty messy and the wire can catch in the hair. The hair pins are tipped, so that eliminated some work and extra parts.

I've never had good experiences with hot glue. Always burn myself; the glue never holds long; and I end up with thin strings of it all over myself and the project making me feel like I walked through a spider web. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Miejolie

Codruta said...

I stumbled across your site yesterday and love what I see so far. I especially love the Harry Potter stuff, even if that wasn't the way I stumbled over your site. I think I'm becoming a fan.

mieljolie said...

Thank you, Codruta.

I'm hoping to have time for more Harry Potter crafts in the near future. Ideas are stewing in my brain. We shall see. :)

Mieljolie

that weird Hunt girl said...

Just stumbled across your blog from craftster. Had to take a look and I love the idea for the flowers. I have the same problem with things in my hair unless it's the plain old hair claw. I'm going to get some flowers and pin my hair this year. Thanks for sharing.

mieljolie said...

Hello Hunt girl! I'm glad you came by and found the tutorial is useful. Simplicity is grand, isn't it?

The light weight of these hairpin flowers is ideal when wearing many. Hairfalls add a lot of weight, so having lightweight decor is a big plus.

For a while now my thick hair is getting so long, I've also been switching more from rubber-bands to chopsticks, which makes wearing my hair up off my neck more comfortable in the summer. Not as much weight pulling on one spot of the scalp like ponytails.

Have a craft-tastic weekend!

Mieljolie

Laura Rodriguez said...

Hi,
I love the way your hair dreads is styled with the flower decor! It's just amazing. I was wondering if your dreads are sewed in? If not how did you attach them? I am in the process of pulling together a pirate outfit for a huge halloween anniversary bash in October for my parent's 40th! Any input would be much appreciated! :)

mieljolie said...

Thanks, Laura! My dreads are not sewn in. Just attached to elastic ponytail holders.

I attach the plain black/brown dreads to the band by poking the dread tip end through the loop at their top. Then, I used tiny safety pins to attach the colorful dreads to the band in-between the plainer ones. That way they are easier to mix and match with whatever I'm wearing.

For this style I actually have 3 sets (of about 12 strands each) wrapped around a bun on the top of my head. One set, which is placed center back is longer than the other two which are hanging to the sides. I wrapped a few longer dreads into the bun, as well.

Guess I should mention that my real hair is waist length. I prefer wearing it up at faire due to dust (Especially when we're camping for a few days.). I've also tried the two bun method with one of the three bands stretched across both buns.

The hair flowers are a great way to hide the bands without adding a lot of extra weight.

To make my single ended dread falls I used a variation on the tutorial at:

http://randomsome1.insanejournal.com/35637.html#cutid1

I've attempted to explain the construction of my dreads at:

http://mieljolie.blogspot.com/2009/11/braided-hair-falls-with-instructions.html

and at:

http://mieljolie.blogspot.com/2008/12/acrylic-dread-falls.html

Good luck with yours. I'd be happy to answer any additional ?'s you might have.

Mieljolie