Making Hair Flowers

This is a picture of me wearing a yellow rose hair flower (silk/fake flower) I made a couple of years ago. When I started buying retro clothing from online stores, I found several sites that sold hair flowers. I bought two for about $6.00 to $8.00 USD. When my package arrived and I opened up my goodies, I looked at my new flowers and realized they were nothing more than a flower attached to a silvertone barrette using a hot glue gun! I said, "Wow! I can do this!" I also thought "Dang it! Why didn't I think of this first?! I could be selling these!"

Anyway, those two cute flowers were the only ones I ever purchased and I must have at least 10 that I have made myself. These are easy to make and they are cheap too!

Here is what you are going to need:

A trip to the craft store

Fake floral picks

A Glue gun

Glue sticks

A package of plain barrettes

A wire cutter

Pot holder

An old towel or sheet

First step is going to the craft store. Michael's is wonderful and AC Moore is even better. I could go nuts in AC Moore. Believe me, I have been known to spend over $100.00 on crafts!

Try to select flowers that look clean and with all their petals intact. Also, buy flowers with leaves attached. You are going to need these in the fabrication of your barrette.

If you do not have a glue gun, buy one. In additon, if you do not have one, you more than likely do not have glue sticks. Get a pack.

The bridal section of most craft stores have multi-packs of plain barrettes. They usually come in a pack of 10 and there are usually different sizes. I find that the two inch barrettes are the best. Now, buying a pack is good because there may be a barrette or two that will not close correctly or you may mess up a flower and need to start over.

Buy your goodies.

When you are ready to start, this is what you do:

Get a an old towel or old sheet and cover your work space. Put a stick into the glue gun and turn on. Set aside and place on top of a pot holder.

Take your flower and turn it upside down. The flower is attached to the 'stem' made with a wire that has been coated with heavy plastic. Look at where the wire and flower connect. Using your wire cutters, cut off the wire stem. If there is a bulbous end that cups the flower, cut the wire just to the edge of this area. DO NOT CUT INTO THIS. THE FLOWER WILL FALL APART.

Using a pair of scissors or wire cutters, cut off a leaf. If you have work gloves (preferably clean), put them on now if you are nervous about using the glue gun. You should be okay but watch how much pressure you apply to the handle. Using too much can cause glue to quickly ooze out and burn your skin! This glue is hot! I have been burned many times by not being careful.

With the flower upside down, apply a small, thin line of glue and then press the leaf onto it. Let cool. Be careful because the heat of the glue can come through. By gluing on the leaf, you are creating more of a flat surface for the barrette to adhere to.

Take a barrette and test it. Open and close it a few times to make sure it's in good working order.

Once cool, squeeze a small, thin line of glue and gently press a barrette onto the glue line. Do not press too hard. Keep flower upside down and set aside. If you are not making other flowers, turn off glue gun and let cool completely before putting away.

When your barrette is cool, you are ready to wear it! Enjoy!