When I was planning my wedding I found it hard to find a few perfect details. Jewelry! I wanted something unique and/or vintage. I searched on and off for months. I was one click away from purchasing a hair pin on my beloved BHLDN but I just could not commit to the costly total. In the true spirit of a D.I.Y wedding I enlisted my best recruits, My Mom and sister Marcy, as well as a keen eye for what I wanted. We found the materials I needed and in the end I was so lucky to wear brilliant baubles made with teeny blister pearls and labradorite.
This hair pin my Mom and I made just two days before the big day and it was absolutely perfect. In fact, as my friend Elisa said, the hair pin “branches” looked like the trees that were on our wedding venue property.
One of my goals with this blog was to give inspiration and practicality to others, including brides. Instead of spending a hundred to few hundred dollars on a hair piece you can make one for about ten to fifty dollars (depending, on the tools you already have or don’t have).
Wedding Photography of us by the wonderful Christa and Ivy
Vintage Inspired Hair Pin
Need:
- Wire
- Gems (pearls, crystals,etc) *Chose contrasting colors and colors that flatter your hair and wedding
- Hair Pin (they come in bulk, so maybe ask around to your friends/family if they have a spare to avoid having 49 spare pins)
- Wire clippers or sharp scissors
- Flat nose pliers or
How:
Begin by cutting several pieces of wire between 4-7 inches each. Take one piece of wire, with the end of the wire twist and secure around the top of hair pin. Determine your size of hair pin (I chose for it to be about 2 and 1/2 inches wide). Thread a bead, bend wire around bead and twist back down to create a branch, create a new branch on the hair pin by repeating the process of threading bead, bending and twisting. Do this until you reach your wire/branch pieces back down to top of hair pin and secure your first branch. Continue this process until you are satisfied with the fullness.
A few tips:
If working with different size bead pieces use your larger bead pieces at the end of each branch.
Keep each branch rather close together for a more organic look.
Use flat nose pliers to hold on your branch as you are twisting back down the piece of branch/wire.
Below is me modeling a second version with a messy morning hair-do.
I would love to give this hair pin to a special gal, maybe a bride to be. Please write to me and tell me about yourself, what event you would wear the pin to?
