Monday, May 25, 2009

Vintage inspired pin-up hair clip

That title was a mouthful wasn't it?

Well it's been fantastic weather lately and you know what that means! Cruise-ins! Blame it on my parents - who grew up in the 50's - but I love classic cars. My friend and I would put on our poodle skirts and pile into the back of our 1951 Chevy Bel-Air and hit all the local car shows. Yeah really, I wore a poodle skirt. I even have vintage cat's eye rhinestone sunglasses I wore to complete my ensemble.



I've tamed my wardrobe a tad since then and stick to sunglasses and this awesome purse I bought at Cherry Redd.




Looooooooooove!


To add, and yet not go overboard, a little flower for my hair seemed like the right idea.



Instructions:

Start by picking a faux flower you can pull off of the stem. The flatter the flower the easier it will be to attach. The first clip I made I used an orchid which was perfectly easy for a first try.



But for my second I wanted to try a rose.



Choose a ribbon color that complements the color of the flower and will blend in. I was having trouble deciding between brown and pink but went with the pink because it was wide enough to cover the whole clip.



Unwind a little ribbon from the spool and dab a bit of tacky glue on the back and front of the clip handle.





Hold the ribbon in place using something like a clothespin or a paperclip until this part dries.






Once that portion is dry, apply the glue along the rest of the top of the clip and smooth on the ribbon. I like to cut my ribbon a little long and tuck the end under the clip's edge. With the clothespin now holding the end in place until dry it also prevents the top and bottom of the clip from being glued together!



Now walk away and keep yourself occupied until it has dried COMPLETELY - I'd say around 45 minutes to an hour.



Your flower should have a little nobby on the back from where you pulled it from the flower sprig - clip that off with scissors.





I like to attach my flowers to the be-ribboned clip with E6000 adhesive because that stuff is amazing and it doesn't take a whole lot to work well.


Line up your flower somewhere near the center of the clip and try to get a leaf or petal to cover the clip's handle so it won't show when you wear it.
Now put this somewhere flat and safe where it can dry for a few hours. If the flower you choose is flat like the orchid, it's easy to leave, but if it has more dimension like my rose, you may have to prop the flower up with something to make sure your end product doesn't come out crooked.




And there you've got your very own vintage inspired pin-up hair clip. Or if you're not into that its still really cute if you just like flowers!



I was listening to music while I worked, heehee!

Need some vintage inspiration?
Try this from my favorite group of all time: The Ventures.



10 comments:

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh that is so cute! I'll have to link in my next Fashion Roundup.

theUngourmet said...

Molly,

I love your post for today! Cute clips, adorable bag and fun tunes!

I am crazy for old cars as well! When we were on our vacation there was a GTO thing going on. It was so fun to see all of those beautiful old cars.

Enjoy a sunshiny week!

Katie Lane said...

Cute! This reminds me of when Hubby and I were dating and he would pick a flower and put it in my hair everywhere we went :)

myDIYweddingday said...

So adorable! I linked to this on my blog, thanks so much!

Melissa said...

Super cute! I must have missed your headband tutorial along the way. That is super cute too :)

Pretty Perch said...

Love this post...vintage glasses, cool leopard and black purse and adorable hair accessories.

I have a feeling we are going to be good friends...tee hee

Congrats on winning the Rose hairpins, when you have a chance please email me your send to info.

happy tuesday!

TheYandR_Lady said...

Oh I really wish I had seen this blog a few days ago. Older daughter going to prom. This would have been perfect. How would you attach ribbon to a headband if you wanted to make that instead?

http://www.theyandr.blogspot.com

TheYandR_Lady said...

Yup, the thin headbands with feathers or flowers is the hot look this summer. Oh and the Coda Bows with net veils.

My daughter has been asking for the headband flower or feather for her prom.

The Veils weddings of course. if you make stuff to sale, it might be worth figuring out!

Brittany said...

Precious!

I love the orchid clip. It is such a pretty idea. So girly!

Cranky Cat Studio said...

I LOVE the black and leopard print purse!
(And I am quite fond of the vintage hair clip too!)