Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Make your own hair clips


You have probably all seen the adorable hair clips they are selling in online boutiques nowadays. They can cost from $4 to $7 or more, plus shipping.

Why buy these clips when it is so EASY (and less expensive) to make your own? All you need are some basic supplies and a little imagination and you can come up with your own adorable clips for your girls to wear (or in my case, your sister's girls or your friend's girls :o).

Aren't these hair clips great?!










One of my friends asked me how I made my clips, so I went to her house and we did a little workshop. I'm telling you anyone can make clips like these. Here are the detailed instructions if you are interested.

Materials Needed
:

Ribbon
Buttons, flowers, beads, and other embellishments
Aleenes Tacky Glue
Hot glue gun & glue
Metal double prong clips (I got a box of 100 at Sally Beauty Supply for about 5 bucks)







Instructions:


First cut your ribbon. To measure the length of ribbon, start with the ribbon in the clip and wrap it around the top, over the prongs and around to the back side. You want the clip to look like this when you are done:

Use a lighter to burn the edges of the ribbon so it won't fray.

Next use the Aleene's Tacky glue to attach the ribbon to the clip. Start on the inside of the clip and work your way around. (You could use hot glue for this step if you are really talented. I found that I could not get the ribbon into place before the hot glue dried. Aleene's glue takes a little while to dry, but the ribbon stays put!)


You can use your extra clips to hold the ribbon in place while the glue dries. I usually put ribbon on all the clips that I plan to do at the same time. Then when you finish with the last one, the first clip you did is usually dry.



You can leave the clips plain, but why? Now comes the fun and creative part! Use hot glue to attach ribbons, flowers and anything else you would like to make your clips adorable. You can find nice inexpensive embellishments at your local craft store, or even the craft section of Wal-Mart. It is also relatively simple to make a bow with extra ribbon. Think out of the box and have fun!

If you would like, you can also glue a little rectangle of craft foam (or even shelf liner) on the inside of your clip (on top of the ribbon). You can buy a large sheet of white craft foam for next to nothing and then cut it up and use it as you need it. My sister does this to make the clips stay in fine hair better.


You will be amazed at how quickly you get the hang of it and can make your own adorable hair clips... for a lot less money!

31 comments:

  1. Beautiful clips! My WFMW post was a bunch of links to free tutorials on hair bow making. I am going to add your link to my list. You can see it here:

    http://adayinthelife-amy.blogspot.com/2008/08/wfmw-easy-hair-bow-instructions.html

    I am excited to make some of these!

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  2. I haven't made any of these clips yet, but I plan to as soon as I get to a beauty supply shop.

    One hint I read somewhere was to glue a small piece of rug-gripper on the inside of the clip to help it hold in the hair - have you ever tried that? I'm going to try it for my Girlie, because her hair is very fine.

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  3. They're adorable! Thanks for the tips!

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  4. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

    I have five girls (only three are still young enough for bows :( sadly), and we go through sooooo many hair clips and bows and whatnot!

    I'm truly inspired!

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  5. Excellent idea! I love it! Thanks for the tutorial.

    ~Susan

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  6. So cute! I wish I had a little girl to make these for!

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  7. Love it! You did just what I did. I ordered some beautiful felted hair clips from Etsy for my daughter's first birthday, examined them, and have gone on to make waaaaay more clips than she'll ever need.

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  8. Great tutorial! I am so glad you included that because it really does look so easy to do. Usually I am intimidated by those types of projects, but I bet I can give that a try! Thanks! :)
    -Carrie

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  9. Great clips! My daughter and I want to make some barrettes and clips for girl relatives at CHRISTmas. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!

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  10. These are superfun! I pray that one day I have beautiful darling baby girls whos hair I can decorate with items as cute as these.

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  11. These are superfun! I pray that one day I have beautiful darling baby girls whos hair I can decorate with items as cute as these.

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  12. Your clips are very cute! I've played around with making a few bows and have had really good luck with "Fabritac" glue - it's a clear adhesive and, at WalMart at least, you find it right next to the Alene's craft glue. It dries much faster than the craft glue and holds really well.

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  13. Thank you! I am going to be using this for Christmas gifts for nieces. So cute!

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  14. I have three boys, but my sister and I used to make our own hairclips, just like these. It was fun to remember - thanks!

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  15. Ok. I'm on it. I have been meaning to do this and even have some sample ribbons, but I need to hit the craft store. I'm thinking we'll be having a field trip this week!

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  16. Those are way cool! I especially love the green ones :)

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  17. Thanks for all the comments!

    Aly3kids-
    I will have to try to Fabritac glue, especially if it dries faster. I used the Aleene's glue because hot glue was a disaster for me when putting the ribbon on the clips!

    jeni-
    I have heard of using various things on the inside of the clips, but not rug gripper. Where do you get that?

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  18. YEA YEA YEA! This is a post I needed to read! Sounds like it will be so fun too! Thanks.

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  19. This 'tutorial' is great!
    i will definitely make some for my 2 girls, plus... this might be a great project for my girl scouts.

    Thank u lots!

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  20. Thanks so much for this wonderful idea. I am going to make them tonight. I can't wait to get creative.

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  21. i bumped into ur blog by accident but am glad i did n thanks for the great idea.

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  22. Great idea! Your hair clips are very cute! Thanks for the tutorial. I learned a lot.

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  23. This post was obviously made quite a while ago, but I came across it when googling 'how to make hair clips'. Glad I found it! THANK YOU!

    -Nikki
    http://FloweryGreetings.etsy.com
    http://nicolebergman.blogspot.com

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  24. where can i buy the flowers and other embelishments?

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  25. THANK YOU FOR THIS!! I just made my first one and it came out GREAT!!

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  26. Hi There,

    I have to say great tutorial I have had a shot at making the clips and they are really easy to make as per your instructions.
    I have encountered a problem though, the Aleene's glue seems to leave a "wet stain" on my ribbon, has anyone else encountered this?

    Thanks Naomi :-))

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  27. I have been looking for a way to make older girls hair clips and these great. I am a stay at home mum with 2 little ones and have started making baby hair clips for my 7 month old baby, but was puzzled how to make them when she gets more hair but this blog is really useful. These are my attempts at some Baby Hair Clips lilbowpeep.co.uk

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  28. this is amazing! I'm going to buy all this stuff when i get off work thanks for showing us how to make this amazing blog!

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  29. hey honey!i am from India and my girl is 18 months.Really wanted to make some beautiful clips for her.Am so happy to get the idea from you.Can be gifted for girls of friends and relatives.So happy i am

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  30. I have been dying to make these. you make it look so easy! im your newest follower :)
    www.everydaypixiedust.blogspot.com

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  31. love your tutorial really helped me out

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