Parenting Seminars

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Birthday Barrette and Holder Tutorial

One of our little friends was having a birthday. We needed something special for her. Something that Lucy and I could make together. Something that would be useful but cute.

These are my criteria for gifts that we make. I like making our gifts instead of buying them. Especially for kids. They can get bombarded with purchased stuff that has no connection to the people who gave them. And now at birthday parties, the unwrapping process is often saved for at home. So there isn't even that small moment where the child takes the gift from the giver and has to say thank you and look at the person.

So, after a little inspiration hunt, and a recent playdate to notice this particular friend ALWAYS has her hair in a barrette or hair tie, we decided a few cute barrettes and a holder would be fun.

I can't remember where I found the tutorial for these flowers but they are really easy. I cut circles of fabric then folded them in half and half again to create a triangle with a curved bottom. These will be the petals.
I then handstitched the bottom and continued to add each petal until I had 5 or 6 on the same thread. I pulled the thread tight so the petals gathered at the bottom and sewed the thread into the end of the first petal to create a loop of petals.


After a few added stitches to pull the centers together they were almost done.

In the past I have added cute buttons to the center. I actually like that better but this was a last minute gift and I didn't have buttons. So I cut out some cardboard circles, wrapped them in fabric and secured with hot glue.

Once the flowers were done, I stitched them onto hairclips and they were done.

The holder was done with the same technique just with bigger circles. I stitched a loop of ribbon to the top for hanging and two long ribbons hang down for her collection of barrettes. I hope she enjoys them. This was super fun to make.

1 comment:

Dan and Gail said...

Sooo pretty!!! Miss you guys.