DIY Hair Accessories

Make your head happy with one of these easy-peasy hairbands! While jeans and tops can be fickle (fitting one day, horribly tight the next – rude!), hair accessories are always your best friend – cheerful, fun and always a perfect fit – especially when you make them custom to your size and need.

These make a great last minute gift idea - why, I bet you can whip up several in an afternoon (children present and all!).

Let me also add that permission for matching mother-daughter hair accessories is granted!

So with a bundle of elastic, ribbon and other crafty stuff I’ve been hoarding, let me show you five fun and fabulous hairbands that you can make too!

Flower Power

supplies needed: length of colorful elastic, flower embellishment.

1. Cut 2 lengths of elastic (lingerie elastic is super cheap and comes in fun styles and colors!) to stretch comfortably around your head.

2. Sew ends together to form a loop.

3. Hand or machine stitch a decorative flower to each of the elastic pieces. Easiest, funkiest headband ever!

Doily Love

supplies needed: Large-ish doily (go thifting or find a granny who can crochet one!), bias tape.

1. Cut about ¼ from the circle and discard.

2. Open bias tape and lay cut edge of the doily inside.

3. Pin bias tape (with doily sandwiched inside) together.

4. Use a funky thread color and zig zag stitch from one end of the bias tape to the other. Tie loose ends under back of the head and prepare for the compliments!

Leafy Goodness

supplies needed: length of plain black elastic, fabric leaves (or cut your own from felt)

1. Stretch elastic around head to get desired size, add an extra ½ inch and cut.

2. Starting approximately 1” from the end, begin to machine sew the leaves to the elastic, overlapping each one slightly until you reach 1” off the end.

3. Secure the two ends to one another but sewing a little square with an ‘X’ in the middle for durability. Pop on your head and wander with the woodland elves!

Patch-Happy

supplies needed: wool felt (or sturdy knit fabric), fabric scraps, wide elastic

1. Measure head from earlobe to earlobe then halve that length. Fold felt in half and cut a strip (either plain rectangle or tapered in on one end like I did) to be that length.

2. Cut different size and shape pieces from your fabric scraps and machine stitch each piece one by one to the felt, forming a patchwork. Once the felt is entirely covered, you may want to add a few strategically places patches over the top for design purposes.

3. Trim any excess fabric that may be hanging over the edge,

4. Sew a 4” length of wide elastic to each end of the felt. Wait for all your friends to beg you to make them one…

Braided Bliss

supplies needed: 3 x long ribbons or fabric strips, elastic

1. Measure head circumference, cut 3 ribbons each to the same length.

2. Secure ends of three ribbon pieces by machine stitching together.

3. Braid the three pieces together, stopping about ½ an inch from the end.

4. Secure end by machine stitching.

5. Trim ends to tidy them up, then attach elastic to each end – sewing a slim rectangle with an ‘X’ in the middle for extra strength. Feel gorgeous and greek goddess-like when wearing.