Repost from 12.8.09: Handmade Christmas Project #12 - Hair Doo-Dads

This is a repost of my December 8th, 2009 blog post on my old blog.  I want to save some of my more important blog posts before the old blog goes away.  Hey, I think it's good enough to share twice!
Happy Tuesday, Everyone!  Is it just me or do the holidays get busier every year?  I've got to get my to do list down and accomplished one of these days. 

Here's the next Handmade Christmas Project for you!  This is a project I've done before, but this time I've incorporated cutting files into it.  Check it out to see how!

Handmade Christmas Project #12 - Hair Doo-Dads

I pretty much love anything girly, and you can't get much girlier than hair bows, now can you?  Pictured here are the ribbon and flower barrettes and ribbon headbands  I've made for my girls and for several other people. I've worn the headbands myself and gotten quite a few compliments on them!  I could spend the whole day making these and last week I did that more than once!  They take no time at all to put together... the hard part is deciding what to make first.

I'm including the instructions in JPEG format so you can download and save these for later.  Just click on the image to open it larger.

Here are some ideas for supplies and variations:

1. Cut shapes out of shrink plastic, fabric, felt, or other fun materials to add to your barrettes.  I used shrink plastic to cut the snowflakes for the barrettes above.  On the one on the right I painted over the shrink plastic with stickles after I shrank it. 
2. Purchase flowers on clearance at the craft store and then take them apart to make your barrettes out of.  
3. Silk flowers will be much more durable in children's hair than paper scrapbooking flowers.
4. I purchased my barrettes at a beauty supply store.  Be careful not to get ones with a very wide angle on the hinge or the hinge will be visible and make the flower stick up on one side.  Look for bulk boxes of barrettes with are much less expensive than buying them by a dozen on a card.
5. Metal barrettes stay in the hair much better than the plastic ones.
6. Buttons and brads make nice flower centers. 
7. Use ribbon sliders to tie a bow around for a flower center or just use the ribbon by itself.
8. Make large ribbon bows and glue them to a barrette instead of flowers.
9. Make pairs of smaller sizes to wear together.
10. Clip a barette on to a ribbon headband for a whole new look.
11. Purchase a plain wire headband and clip a barette onto it.
12. Pull out some of your children's favorite outfits and make hair doo-dads to match them.
13. Here's an easy way to put on the headband without catching hair in the bow underneath: First, put the hair in a pony tail, then tie the headband on while the hair is out of the way, then release the pony tail.

Samantha has been dying to wear some of these new barrettes I made last week so I let her pick one to wear to school today.  She was so excited to pick out one of the snowflake ones!

I just had to tack on these pictures of Hailey wearing some of the first batch of hair bows I ever made!  

Time to get crafty, people!