Hair clips are the cutest and in fashion accessory you can wear lately and in this article you will learn how to make them yourself.
The backstory :
Several months ago, I started seeing hair clips (or hair barettes) coming back in fashion! Most international fashion brands and magazines incorporated them in their looks. I lusting after them because I love cute details in my style, but it was impossible for me to buy them, because their price was something like 35 euros a pair. That’s a bit excessive! So I decided to make them myself! And I have already made a lot. You must have seen me and my friends somewhere, wearing our adorable colored hair clips.
#ashinyDIYchallenge :
Last month, as part of the #ashinyDIYchallenge, Natasha challenged me to make hair clips and share with you how to make them yourself. I accepted.
What is #ashinyDIYchallenge? You can find out that the end of this article.
The easiest way to make hair clips is by using polymer clay (ie synthetic clay).
It is a very easy material, that can be handled like plasticine and is baked in the oven for a few minutes.
In this article, I will share with you three different ways to make your own hair clips, starting from super-duper-easy to just-easy.
Picking the colors :
Companies that sell polymer clay, have a huge variety of colors that you can choose from! Each color costs around 2.50 euros and each package creates at least 7 clips. I used yellow and blue for these specific hair clips. I made the green by mixing the yellow with the blue, but you can just buy the green!
The materials you will need (for all 3 ways) :
- Polymer clay
- A cutting surface or a piece of parchment paper
- Plain hair clips. I had a hard time finding plain hair clips, but I did it! This is the shop that has all the sizes of hair clips and is perfect if you want to make your own!
- A knife. If you use a butter knife from your kitchen, make sure to wash it very well afterwards!
- A small wooden rolling pin. I usually use an old plain glass without patterns that works perfectly as a rolling pin.
- A small tray
- An oven
- Instant glue
Tip for polymer clay :
In general, this material is very easy to use but needs heating. This means that, as soon as you cut a piece of clay to make something, you need to work it in your hands in the beginning to warm it up and make it more malleable. If it ‘s winter, this is even harder. But beware! You don’t want it to get all squashed. Soften it enough in order to be easily shaped, but not so much that it’s shiny (and this is coming from me) or greasy. A smart solution is to leave it for 10 minutes in the sun or on the radiator and handle it afterwards.
Way # 1 to make hair clips : The super-duper-easy one
- Cut the blue color into two pieces.
- With your palms, form two balls with a diameter of 2 cm.
- With the center of your fingers, open the balls in two bars as in picture 2. Anyone who has made cookies before will definitely have no problem with this process.
- Open two strips as in picture 3 and take the rolling pin or glass to flatten, as in picture 4.
- Be careful for the oval plates to not be too thin. A desired thickness is 2-3 mm.
- The first pair of hair clips is complete! Place in the tray carefully.
Way # 2 to make hair clips : The very easy one
- If you already have a green color, good! If you don’t, mix blue with yellow to create your own green.
- Once the color is ready, form two balls with a diameter of 2 cm.
- As in way # 1, form two strips, open them with the rolling pin / glass and make two plates.
- Once you form two plates, try to work them gently with our fingers to create curves at their edges. Take one plate in your hand, and using your thumb and forefinger create a curvature on the clip. You want to form something like an elongated platter (?)
- The second pair of hair clips is complete! Place in the tray carefully.
Way # 3 to make hair clips : The just-easy one
- Grab a yellow piece. (about 4 cm in diameter)
- With the rolling pin / glass open the piece of paint creating a flat oval shape 3-4 mm thick
- Using a ruler or the lines from the cutting surface, cut two strips 1 cm wide. and 6 cm long.
- Place the plain clips on the clay strips to see if they fit.
- At the base of the clip, ie where it opens, lift the clay a little, creating a small curved nest for the clip.
- Remove the metal clip from the clay. Follow the same process for the other strip as well.
- Place the strips of yellow clay in the tray.
The finishing touches :
After you prepare all the clips, put the tray in the oven and bake according to the indications of the product. The clay I use needs 30 minutes at 110 degrees.
Once the clay is baked, take the tray out of the oven and let it cool for at least 30 minutes.
Take the metal clips and glue them on the clay with instant glue. Caution! Instant glue is no joke. It’s best if you use gloves. I use fabric gloves, instead of disposable ones.
The hair clips are ready! Yaay! You can experiment with different colors and play around with the designs!
All three ways are fairly easy to follow. The reason I shared with you all three ways is simple : The first way is the base. This is the one you should start from and the one you have to master. The second way, due to the curve that you form, is a bit more difficult, but in this way you manage to hide the metal clip well enough so that it isn’t visible when wearing. The third way has the twist with the nest to hide the clip completely, but in a different way! You can see the difference in the pictures.
#ashinyDIYchallenge : What is it?
Every month, I accept a challenge for a craft! The purpose of this challenge is
1. for me to never rest (!)
2. to prove that most things we can do ourselves!
In this challenge, I showed you how to make your own hair clips. The cost of a pair of clips will be something around 2 euros, while they are sold from 10 euros upwards in the market.
So, what do you think? Will you try to make your own hair clips?
Everyone will ask you where you got them from!
See you soon,
