Daily Archives: June 15, 2011

Jun15

DIY Flower Hair Clip Tutorial

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Summer is upon us and what better time to start unearthing your bright flower hair accessories and picking up new ones to adorn those lovely kinks, coils and curls? But, what to do when you are searching for a specific type, color or size of flower and it’s nowhere to be found? Or, you find it, but someone wants an arm, leg and kidney for the one you desire? Why, make your own of course!!

So, this is my DIY Tutorial for making your own flower hair clips in slide show and gallery format again=).

First, hit Michaels or anywhere else where you can find faux flowers and select all of the species, colors and sizes you want (go hog wild if there’s a sale;). I  used white orchids here. (The whole reason I decided to do this is because I was in search of orchid hair clips for months and the only place I found ones I liked was on Etsy and they were too expensive … and I’d have to pay shipping too?!?!  No thank you!).

SUPPLIES:

  • Felt (I bought white for the orchids and green for the other flowers)
  • Hair clips (I got these from Sally’s and prefer the pointed tip clips to the 2 prong)
  • Scissors
  • Pen
  • Small circular object to use as a stencil
  • Glue Gun
  • Glue Sticks
  1. Use your circular object to trace a circle on the felt. This was a little bottle of gold leaf that I used because the quarter was too small.  I would suggest using a black pen or pencil to trace your circle. I grabbed the red because it was the first thing I saw and I just wanted to get these pics taken last night=).
  2. Cut your circle out of the felt and fold it into quarters as shown below.
  3. Cut a very small slit in the middle of side with two folds (cut through both folds). This is the opening through which you will thread the clip.
  4. Weave the clip through the slits in the felt circle. I leave the flat side of the clip free and the insert the angled side (where you squeeze the clip to open it) through the felt. This is the side that will be glued flush with the back of the flower.
  5. Pluck a flower from a stem of the stalk. You don’t need to cut. I made that mistake first and it was a lot of effort for nothing as the stalks tend to have metal running through them and I didn’t have metal clippers, so I was cutting and bending and got a hack saw.  It was ridiculous!  LOL!!  The flowers tend to pop off the stems. You can see the part that inserts into the stem here.  Just grasp the flower close to it and pull (you might have to wiggle it a little).
  6. Cut the protruding portion of the “stalk” from the flower so that it will lay flat against the felt/clip combo. However, don’t cut it too close or you may damage the flower or cause it to fall apart.
  7. Place your flower and felt/clip combo close to each other. Plug your glue gun into an outlet, let it warms enough to squeeze the glue out and apply a circle of glue a little smaller than the felt circle around the base of the flower. Quickly move to the next step.
  8. Apply a circle of glue slightly in from the edges of the felt circle and down the back of the exposed clip. Don’t place the glue too close to the edge of the circle as it will squish over and look sloppy. Also, don’t do what I did here! Either cut inside of your line when you cut your felt circle or place the pen side down so that it will not be seen through pale flowers! I’d suggest the former so you don’t have to worry about seeing any pen at all=). Again, move quickly to the next step! Glue from glue guns dries very quickly!
  9. Place the felt/clip combo in the middle of the flower and hold with medium pressure until the glue dries (it’ll cool to the touch).  This shouldn’t take more than 10 seconds.

And that’s it!  You have a flower hair clip!

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Okay, I kind of cheated because I didn’t glue the white orchid clip together=).  This final pic is of a pink orchid that I had previously made.  What is really cool is that you can make these dual purpose by creating two slits, one for a hair clip and one for a pin. Then, you can use these in your hair or pin to clothing!  I bought some pins for that purpose from Jo-Ann Fabrics (jewelry section). The pins have a flat back so that you can glue them against a flat surface.  If you have flowers with large leaves, you can use a leave for the back of the clip instead of the felt or you can attach leaves behind the felt.  Use your imagination=)!

Thanks for visiting!  Come again=)!

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Jun15

My HairStory

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1/26/13:  This is pretty old now (from June 2011). Some things have changed in my regimen since then, especially my feelings about protein. But, all my other answers still hold true.

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(Always been a fine-haired curly.=)

Long before I started this blog … you know, like two weeks ago … I did a couple of hair story “interviews.” One was posted on CurlyNikki and the other was on Black Girl Long Hair. However, figured I should post my story here as well to get “HairStories” started!!

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Q: How long have you been natural?

A:  I’ve been natural for about 11 years.

Q: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
A: I guess I was a relatively short term transitioner, if you could even call it transitioning. I BC’d at 6 months post relaxer.  Those terms and the idea of “transitioning” didn’t exist in my world or vocabulary at the time. I got my first relaxer and hair cut at 13 at a salon. From then on, either my mom or I relaxed my hair once every 6  months with a home perm. I could probably count on my 2 hands (maybe even 1) the number of times I got my hair professionally relaxed. I was too cheap for that. Anywho, at about 26, I had a bad experience with a relaxer that a “stylist” insisted she must put on my hair for a doobie at a Dominican blow out spot. I hadn’t had a relaxer in 6 months; my norm. The stylist (if  you could even call them that, because it was like a huge factory assembly line in this spot) decided to pull that junk through almost the entire length of my hair and not just the new growth!!! My hair started to break off badly after that. So, that was it for me. Plus, I wore my hair curly, even with a relaxer, because I worked out 5-6 days a week and sweat like a race horse. I very rarely even wore my hair straight for that reason, because it would have meant putting heat on my salty hair on a daily basis. I knew that was a no-no. So, I relaxed my hair, but then I would use products to scrunch in the curls (my hair was never bone straight anyway).  So, the decision to go natural was easy and practical for me. I didn’t wear my hair straight anyway and I was experiencing breakage so, at the point when I would have usually gotten another relaxer, I did the BC.

Q: What is your current regimen?
A:  See my Regimen post.

Q: How do you maintain Length? Moisture?
A: I never struggled with maintaining length, but I’ve achieved my longest hair in the last year, which is about an inch past BSL. In February, I requested a “trim” that turned into a cut and it looks like I’ve lost a couple of inches=/. I have learned over the years that there are probably four things that stimulate my hair’s growth and allow me to maintain a healthy, moisturized head of hair. Those things are deep conditioning every time I wash my hair (once a week or every two weeks), applying a leave-in conditioner and combing through my hair before styling (learned from a Ouidad stylist – makes detangling a breeze the next wash session and keeps my hair moisturized), using a hair butter or oil to seal moisture into my ends and staying away from protein heavy products (conditioners, stylers and gels – thanks Nik;-). Oh, and there is one more thing that I think has been very important, but has not been in my regimen as of late. If I am wearing a WnG, I never re-wet/re-fresh with water. If I re-wet/re-fresh, it is with a leave-in conditioner (like Infusium 23) or a regular conditioner diluted with water.


Q: Night time routine?

A: I sleep on a satin pillowcase and wear either a satin scarf, bonnet or both. I sometimes pineapple if wearing a TnC, but it’s still not the best solution for me. My nape hair is almost completely straight and I have to work to make it blend in with the rest of my hair. The pineapple can stretch that hair and ruin my blending efforts. However, given that I’ve been wearing a lot of protective styles lately, I haven’t had to worry about securing loose hairstyles.

Q: What would you tell a new natural, or transitioning diva?
A: You know, the most important thing for me to tell a new natural or transitioning diva is to love their own head of hair. I think we all have moments of curl envy as we see all the gorgeous heads of hair out there. You may think that someone has the most fabulous head of hair ever and that they couldn’t want anything else, but you’d probably be completely wrong. I drool over hair of all different shapes, lengths, curliness, kinkiness, thickness, etc. and wish for thicker hair, curlier hair, hair with more shrinkage, longer hair, etc. But, at the end of the day, I’m good with my head of hair=). I enjoy it immensely. So, I think it’s important to look at the blogs and YouTube videos with a healthy appreciation for all the variety out there, but a healthy appreciation for your own head of hair too. There’s nothing I hate more (well, that may be a fib … but, I’m trying to prove a point;-), then someone saying “you have ‘good’ hair” or that, if they had my grade of hair, they would have been natural years ago. It’s nothing against the person who says it, but I get annoyed that our world that has “taught” people this lie. I just want them to know that no matter the texture or length of their hair, it is and can be beautiful if they take the time and have the patience to learn how to treat their hair well.


Q: What’s the best thing about being natural?
A: For me, the best thing is inspiring others to go natural! My sister and mom both went natural shortly after I did. My mom rocked a short, tapered cut with a Jerri Curl for a couple of decades!! Long before I decided to stop getting relaxers, my sisters and I would constantly tell her she should stop getting Jheri Curls because the “new growth” at her shaved nape was full of gorgeous curls! So, it was very rewarding when my youngest sister, then my mom, went natural within a few years of my BC (though my sister recently told me that I didn’t inspire her, that she was already contemplating doing it and that my mom was inspired by her. Go ahead Shana, I know you want to say it. *LOL*). All of our textures are different and I constantly want to get my hands in their curlier heads to experiment with all of the styles that I’ve learned over the last year=)! Also, a few people at my job went natural after I did, and I think my natural hair may have played a little role in that (or maybe not). So, it is really rewarding to see others let go of the “chemical dependency” and embrace healthier hair.




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Later today:

DIY Flower Hair Clip Tutorial

Jun15

Special Occasion Updo

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You know, inspiration can come from many places.  Shortly before I joined the GOC challenge, I was searching for protective updos for “long, natural, fine hair.” I tried all kinds of search words and combinations on Youtube without much success. Then, I eliminated the word “natural” and came across Lilith Moon. Lilith moon is neither naturally curly nor of color. Yet, this youtuber offered me styles and options that I wasn’t finding elsewhere. Some of Lilith’s styles require a little modification and a smidgen of creativity to adapt to naturally curly hair. However, her channel and videos opened up a whole new world of styling possibilities for me. This discovery reminded me that we should always keep our minds and eyes open and receptive to all sources of inspiration. It can come from the most unexpected of places.

So, without further ado, this is the Lilith Moon youtube video that inspired the above updo.

Just a few notes on how I accomplished this on naturally curly hair.

  1. I did a TnC to stretch my hair and get a nice curl (see my TnC tutorial here; the tutorial was the actual set for this style!).
  2. To prep for the style, the night before, I smoothed my hair back with a little Eco Styler Olive Oil Gel mixed with Wonder Curl Butter Than Love.
  3. I put on a thin elastic headband and tied my hairline down with a scarf. Then, I put my hair up into a pineapple with a satin scrunchie. I folded the curls forward close to the base of the ponytail and put another scrunchie to hold the curls forward.  Then, I put on my huge, old lady, white bonnet and hit the sack (on a satin pillowcase of course;)!
  4. In the morning, I removed the scarf, reset the black elastic headband, wrapped the trim around my hair twice and tied the ends at my nape.
  5. I did NOT follow her curl “scrunching” technique! Given the expression of horror that came across your face as you watched the video, I know that you know that that would end badly. So, I just kind of rolled the ends of each inch section of curl around my finger once or twice, pushed the curl in lightly and then secured with bobby pins (those hair pins just don’t work for me!  I try and try to secure them in my hair, but they just pop right back out!).
One final note, I got the trim I used in the picture from Michael’s. They didn’t have many options there though, so I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and got some others, all of which are pictured in the last photograph.

Hope you enjoyed this and, if you try it for a special occasion … or just for work (that’s where I was going!) …, send pics and a story please!!  And thank you for visiting!

(p.s. If you really like this post, please “like” it,  “share” it, “tweet” it or just leave a comment so that I know whether these are the types of things you like to see and read;)!!)

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Later today:

My HairStory
DIY Flower Hair Clip Tutorial