DIY Hair Sticks

There are a lot of things I refuse to spend money on (envelopes, stamps, stencils) and one more to add to that running list is hair sticks. Not because I don’t dig the look – it’s classy and I’m a fan – but they’re sorta pricey, especially considering I’m overwhelmingly likely to splinter and snap ‘em within a matter of weeks. Which is a bummer, because I only know how to do like, two, girlie things to my hair and hair sticks really provide me with some easy solutions to this beanie. Which is not cute three days in a row.

So, chop sticks or cuticle sticks are a good source material. So are shawl pins. Any kind of plastic, metal, bone, or wood the right shape will work so start scouring your apartment (your job, your boy toy’s junk drawer, glove boxes, etc) for some found goodies. From there, you’ve got a few options:

Image courtesy diyfashion.about.com

If you have beads and craft wire, you’re in luck ‘cause this will be super easy. Just measure out 15-20 inches of wire and curl the middle around the stick and wrap a few times. Add beads as you wrap and round off to top. There are more complicated beading options, but I don’t see why a bit of glue and beads wouldn’t also do the job. Another alternative is to paint them, and then glue tassels or ribbons to the end.

Image courtesy instructables.com

You can also add (and remove) earrings for some interchangeable sticks, but it’s going to require a wee bit of drilling. Once you’ve got a hole in the sticks, you can weave the wire of the earrings through and twist to hold. Using an eye bolt screwed into the top of the stick will also give you a loop to thread wire or jewelry through. I also like this option:

Image courtesy craftstylish.com

Which uses stamps (but could also probably be done with ink pens if you sanded the sticks down first) and will have to be sealed somehow –natural beeswax works for that. A quick YouTube search will give you plenty of ways to use your new accessories.