In Bloom

posted by Diana

Welp, it's another flower project this week. So I'm predictable... just in case you're not keeping score, I've done flower headbands (twice!), flower shadowbox art, flower earrings, and embedded resin flowers. Today I'm sharing the easiest flower project to date--faux flower hair clips.

I started making these last summer when I was really into making flower crowns. The hair clips are much less time consuming and more satisfying to make oodles of. I used flowers from Michael's and found the my original alligator clips on eBay. They only cost about ten cents a piece... but you get what you pay for.

Some of the clips came wonky straight out of the bag... but the rest seemed fine. Until I found a new wholesale supplier, that is. The new clips I have are much better quality (Sorry, dear friends, for your subpar gifts! I'll send you some nice, new hair accessories...). The new alligator clips are a little shorter than the original clips I purchased and are much more grippy. Now that my hair is super short, the old clips slide right out, so I was definitely pleased my new supplies have better staying power.

To make your own cute hair accessories, all you need are some fake flowers, alligator clips, and hot glue.

The first step is to pluck your flowers.

Then, I like to glue on a base leaf. I feel like the faux leaf/faux flower combo bonds to the clip better than just the end of the flower stem, so adding this extra step helps the finished project stay in one piece.

This is the step where you have to be careful about burning your fingers... less is more when it comes to hot glue, and I've apparently become fairly proficient in using it. I didn't swear at all or burn myself once throughout the course of making these!

FYI, this piece of fake wood is gross because it's what I do all my crafts on so my real table doesn't get crusty.

You can apply glue on the back of the leaf

or add glue directly to the alligator clip.

 Then I trim any excess stem.

Add a little glue on the back of the flower--you don't need much!

And pop it into place.

Here's what the back of the finished clips look like--with no excess glue to be found! My first attempts had glue spots globbing over the edges of the clip, but these look downright professional.

And the finished projects--

My hair is really short, so I don't have a lot of styling options. These clips help me change up my look every now and then (or a different color every day, if I feel like it). I also think they would also look beautiful clipped into a flowing Rapunzel braid, but someone else is going to have to make that look happen!

Happy making!