I'm going to the Grierson Annual Winter Gala on Saturday, and after my BEAUTIFUL sister Sarah sent me a GORGEOUS dress, I knew I HAD to make some more stuff for it! Sarah was too kind, she took a skirt she said never fit right, put a new waistband in it, and made me a bertha! Its absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I made some jewelry for it, which I'll post about later, and knew I NEEDED something for my hair! I wanted flowers for my hair, as was a custom in the Civil War, and initially planned on just slipping some artificial flowers in my braids.
As I first browsed Hobby Lobby, which had a less than thrilling selection of artificial flowers, and a worse selection of St. Patrick's day items for Adam's sensory box, we went to JoAnn Fabrics. THAT is where I had my brainstorm! The winds picked up, the ladies lazily shopping through the store had their hair blown, glasses, shattered, and fabric attacked innocent bystanders! Ahem...It wasn't that bad of a brainstorm in reality. ;) I decided the best idea to do this would be to hook them to hairpins! Not only would the flowers stay better, but the extra pins would help "anchor" my braids better!
I was off! I sifted through the shattered dreams and rubble...whoops, sorry, I digress! I hunted down the flower isle, finding a few pretty flowers, and hauling what I found to the jewelry department. I'm fairly certain I got some funny looks as I held flowers up to my head, and gazed at my image in the middle of piles of beads! Satisfied with a spray of Daisy's, I made my way to get something else I needed. I went back to the flower area and searched for Stem Wrap Tape. With this, and some ribbon I "hope" to braid into my hair for the ball, I headed out and mom and I went home. When I was able to sit down and start working, I grabbed my jewelry making kit, it holds ALL my nifty pliers, and I grabbed some hairpins.
Step one: Grab some hairpins, any brand and color that you like.
Step two: Take the flowers you chose, I picked Daisy's.
Pretty close up of my Daisy's!
Step three: Grab the stem wrap!
I wasn't thinking, and didn't take any pictures of the actual "making" BUT I can describe it!
Step four: Take a hairpin, and set it to the side for use.
Step five: Take a flower from the sprig that has been chosen, and clip the flower to be used. Make sure to get at least a decent amount of the stem when cutting the flower.
Step six: Hold the hairpin upright, and place the cut flower alongside the pin. Make sure the pin and flower are both standing upright, and that the flower is at the END of the hairpin, where it doubles over, not where it is inserted into the hair. Sorry if this sounds basic, but I was taught make sure any instructions are idiot proof! Better to over-explain, than under.
Step seven: Take a piece of the stem tape. Now I'll give some advice here, I didn't realize just what stem tape was like until I started using it...I figured it would be like regular scotch tape, smooth on one side, sticky on the other...I was wrong. Its more like the stretchy "tape" that sticks to itself, but not skin. This next part is the most ANNOYING part of the entire thing...Hold the flower and pin together, try not to crush the flower, and carefully tape the flower to the pin. Wrap the whole thing together a few times to make sure everything is tight.
Step eight: Trim any excess "bits" from the stem, if left it will catch in hair! The stray bits can be folded over and taped into the pin/flower, but I found it was just as easy to snip the parts that could snag hair.
The finished product!
Side view. This was my "sloppy copy" sloppy braids, and the pins WILL be in farther when I go to the ball.
Other side.
Top.
My little flower clip! Our camera SUCKS at close up stuff, so bear with me on the blurryness.
The top of the hairpin.
Side, showing composition. Those little green stragglers are what need to be trimmed off.
Love,
Christina
What a really good idea! Wow. Who would've thought? I like to pin fake flowers in my hair from time to time but never thought to anchor them to the hairpins. That is BRILLIANT - and you look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYou're too sweet, Sarah! I may still fiddle with the idea a little. I want to see if I can tape them to one side of the clip without a lot of hassle. I was just planning on putting the fake flowers in my hair, but then I thought of this! I was so excited! I think if I do it in the future, I'll look specifically for brown stem wrap to better match my hair, but this will work for now. :D
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