DIY Hair Accessories

Rose Snaps

You can make these with roses, plastic spiders, jewels, or almost anything you want to adorn your hair with. Simply get some metal (though plastic snaps are easier on hair if you can find them) and attach them to the ends of ribbon wide enough to hold them. The ribbon doesn't need to be very long, just long enough to open and close the snaps with ease. {FIG. 1} Fig. 1
After you sew the snaps to the ribbon, you can attach whatever ornament you are going to use. You can first attach longer satin ribbon to hang down gracefully. Glue plastic spiders (you can spray them with glitter spray to make them sparkle) or acrylic jewels. Sew on flowers or bows. {FIG. 2} Fig. 2
If you want just hair jewels, or something else really light you can attach the rough part of Velcro with glue or use the kind that already has the adhesive which is how the hair jewels you can get in stores are made. The snap trick is great for things that are too heavy for Velcro.

There is almost an unlimited number of things you can do to make a nifty veil like hair clip. My favorite one has several pieces of long tulle and black "sequin" fabric falling down from a black silk orchid. It's fairly elaborate, but these instructions are for an easier one. You can do whatever you wish once you get the basic idea.

You can find the basic metal hairclips at places like Walmart and most craft stores. You'll need one of these (two if you decide to make smaller ones that can be worn on pigtails or just to hold your hair back on either side). You also need craft glue, hot glue works really well for this, some lace, tulle or netting.

Premade bows (which can also be found at craft stores) make this much easier. If you can't find a premade bow you like take some wide ribbon and fold it under {FIG. 1}, wrap another piece of the ribbon around it and fasten by either sewing it or gluing it. You can also fasten it by tying a piece of lace which can trail down.
Fig. 1
I usually take some ribbon and wrap it around the metal hair clip then sew it in place using the little holes at the end and securing it underneath, so none of the silver shows.{FIG. 2}.
Fig. 2
Sew the tulle or lace onto the ribbon so it falls down gracefully off the back. Gather or pleat the fabric slightly as you attach it to give it some fullness, then attach your bow. You can also put a row of silk flowers, or anything you can think of that will sew or glue on. If you use glue remember to read the bottle and follow the suggestions for drying time. Once you have had sufficient drying time hold the clip by the metal part that goes in your hair and shake it around a bit to make sure it will hold together... that can save a lot of grief later.

This is a super easy way to make a veil with lots of possibilities for personalization. Get a horeshoe shaped head band, the wire ones are good because it's a cinch to sew everything on to them, and the stay in place really well. Get a yard to several yards of tulle or net, depending on how full and long you want you veil. Pick up an embroidery needle and some upulstry thread (the really heavy stuff).

Fold the net over in such a way as to preserve the length you want. Fold it lengthwise for a full, but shorter veil, fold it in half for a longer less foofy veil. Stagger the fold for a more layered look. Use a basting stitch (long loose) in and out of the net along the fold using the heavy thread. {FIG. 1} Bunch the fabric along the stitch, keeping the thread straight so as to 'pleat' the net. The 'pleated' fabric should be the aproxamitly the length of the headband.
Fig. 1
Stitch the net to the hair band securely, then stitch flowers or ribbon over the headband to hide where the net is attached. The more layers of net you add the fuller it will be. You can add kitty ears or devil horns for a costumey effect or sew an old rhinestone bracelett to the band for a tiara veil.

Get a yard to several yards of tulle or net, depending on how full and long you want you veil. Pick up an embroidery needle and some upulstry thread (the really heavy stuff). Fold the net in half lengthwise. Measure some string and cut it to be a few inches longer than you want the veil to be. Find the center point of the fabric and weight it down, as well as weighting down the corners fo the fabric. Tie one end of the string to the center weight and the other end to a piece of soap or a white eyeliner pencil. {FIG. 1} Mark out a half circle with the soap, then neatly cut along the line you drew.
Fig. 1
In order to get several layers, you can repeat the above steps as many times as necerssary. Make the circles progressivly a little smaller for a tiered effect. Once you have your circles cut out lay them out flat and centered with the smaller circles on top. Carefully fold the circles in half together, then in half again and again. Grab the point of the fold which is the center of all the circles. Arange the fabric so it falls out evenly over your hand like a fountain, then wrap some thread around the bottom to hold it together. Sew it together above where you wrapped the thread to secure the net in the correct shape.

Snip off any excess of the point beneath where you secured it. Attach a small boquet of flowers, a large spider, or anything else to the top. If you do the flowers you might want to stick the stems down in the fabric before you tie it with the thread so the blooms lay flush on top. Secure the veil to the top of your head with bobby pins or by sewing small combs underneath the top knot area.