How To Make A Jewel Hairclip

With your leftover beads and Crystal! I've noticed a lot of the little bunheads running around with those snap hairclips holding back wisps of hair. They're pretty standard, but they're also an opportunity. I saw one girl at a comp with lots of Snap Clips and separate rhinestone studs in her hair. Unnecessary! And the less stuff in your hair, the less chance for something to fall out.

Since I'll never make these for Stitch, I'm going to use my first video post with my substandard webcam to show you guys how to make a pretty jewel hairclip with whatever leftover sparklies you've got and can't bear to throw out.




Okay. Start out with your clip, your stuff, and some tape. I used some leftover Miyuki Delicas, gorgeous Pink 24K plated gold. Can't throw those out. I also had some pinky foilback Swarovski Margarita Flowers, 4mm. (Nice depth of color.) You need two beading needles and some beading thread. I used Nymo size B in white for this. I also like jazz.

Open up and tape down the clip. Cut off a length of thread about 3 feet or so, but whatever you're comfortable working with. I cut this piece a bit too short, as evidenced by the frequent rethreadings of the needles. (Sorry.)

With one needle, go under the body of the clip, and go around with both needles to loop around the clip at least once. Put three Delicas on one needle, then send the other needle through them going the opposite way. Trust me, this is going to make sense real fast, and which is why you need to be using a good quality seed bead because we're going to go through these guys a lot with needle and thread. Pull the three beads down onto the clip so they sit nice and flat and uniform. Send both needles back under the clip again in opposite directions. Put three beads on one needle again, and repeat the process. Make as many rows as you want, but I only did this four rows to just give a nice base for my margarita flower. You can certainly go down the length of the clip, just subtract beads as the width of the clip goes down.

When you're done, go back through all the beads, again going in opposite directions with your needles, back and forth. Where you want to drop a crystal, come up through the first delica on a base row. Thread a margarita and one seed bead onto your needle and put it down onto the clip. Thread down through the margarita, ignoring that other bead now on top, and then pull down through the third bead on the base row. The margarita should stand straight on the base. Continue going through the base work as normal.

When you're done, pull up the tape and let the clip loose. Bring both needles to the back, and tie a surgeon's knot on the back. Clip off the excess thread, and seal the back and side threading with clear nail polish or Elmer's. Voila! A hairclip that you can make in about fifteen minutes using materials you already have and that will match your outfit. But since I don't skate, I wear mine just for fun.