If you remember my last attempt at a DIY craft, you will recall it was rather disastrous. I am pleased to report that my latest endeavor has been much more successful! I still haven’t decided what sort of piece I want to wear in my hair, but I love the idea of floral head combs.
My best attempt at Zoolander's 'Blue Steel'. The placement of the comb is a little weird here, but I wanted to show it's full size compared to my head. It looks best when placed in the back-- say at the base of a ponytail or bun.
Our trusty, craft-tastic bridesmate Sarah came over and used her mad skills to assist me!
Supplies:
I purchased all of the supplies at Michael's Craft Store for about $25!
1 pair small floral wire cutters
2-3 stems of flowers of your choosing. It is best if they have leaves on the stem.
1 package of cloth covered floral wire
1 package of glass beads that compliment your flower colors
1 package of hair combs (I found these in the ‘bridal/wedding section’ at Michaels. They came 6 to a pack)
Not pictured: 2 or 3 non cloth covered floral wire. <– This was an unexpected bump in the process that I’ll explain later on in the post.
Before you begin, pull the blooms and leaves off of the stem. Depending on the brand the leaves will either pull off like the flowers or you’ll need to snip them off with your wire cutters. Also, I found it handy to empty the glass beads out of their tiny container and into a bowl. Ready? Okay! On to the step-by-step directions!
Step 1: Tread the cloth floral wire through the hole in the bottom of the flower. Repeat for the other blooms you are using. I only used 3, but my flowers were quiet large.
Step 2:Bend the wire in half and twist it around itself. The petals of the flowers will mask the wire itself. For the smaller bud I just wrapped the wire around the brown plastic base.
Tip: Before you begin wrapping the wire around the comb (Step 3), it is a good idea to play with the order and position of the flowers. Unwrapping the wire to move a flower over a wee little bit is very annoying!
Step 3: Wrap the excess wire on one of your flowers around the comb. I found it best to wrap the wires separately instead of both together. Apologies for the blurry photo on this one.
Tip: If all this wire seems a little daunting, you can always just hot glue the little dudes down onto the comb. You would skip the wire all together. I like the wire because it allows the flowers to still be moved a little once the whole thing is done. This allows you more give with how it looks in your hair.
Step 4: Wrap the other flowers onto the comb. This is what mine looked like when I finished all three. Notice how it is a little bare? We are about to fix that!
Step 5: Bend a wire in half. Place the bend around the middle section of the leaf. Wrap the wire once or twice around the bottom stem and then secure by wrapping more of the wire around the base.
Tip: You don’t have to use leaves! Peacock feathers, twiggy goodness, or smaller filler flowers (like waxflowers or queen anne’s lace) would be awesome!
Step 6: Place the wired leaf on the *back* of the comb and wrap. Placing the leaves on the back allows you to have more freedom with where you put the leaves and their angle. Here is my comb with the flowers and leaves in place!
It is important to have some serious support in all DIY adventures. Adorable dogs and nerdy* fiancées often ease the stress of wire wrapping and bead threading.
Step 7: Thread your beads onto regular floral wire. I tried the pre-wrapped ones and they just kept unraveling. To get the first bead to stay put, simply loop the wire back through the center of the bead. Once you've got a long enough string, just wrap around your comb! Voila! You are done!
A few shots of the finished products:
A close up of my finished comb! I got the wire to 'curly-q' by wrapping it around a pencil.
Bridesmate Sarah made her own! Here is her finished comb. She only used two large flowers.
There you go! I hope you have as much fun making one as I did!
* So, Deborah was actually reading this tween novel, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy. Her younger cousin gave it to her for her birthday. She super enjoyed it, but when I looked up during my crafting and snapped a picture she responded “Is that going on the internet? I don’t want to be photographed reading this!” So she grabbed the other book she’s reading, Tolkien’s Return of the King and made me retake the picture. I called her a book snob.
Your flower comb came out great this time. How are you going to wear it?