'Tis the Season.. Swirl Mint Bobby Pins!

I know it's somewhat early for thinking of "holiday time"...... But it's never too early to think of cool accessory ideas! These simple bobby pins are great to whip up quickly for yourself or any gifts or favors, holiday or not!

The 'Tis the Season theme coincides with Cousin's new launch of their product line in both AC Moore Craft Stores (all along the east coast)  and Beverly's (for all my California followers!) This 'Tis the Season line features all different cute charms, beads and findings that are super cute and great for making all sorts of jewelry or crafts! The whole collection can be seen here, or buy them at Prima bead online!

To follow Beverly's on Facebook, click here!

To follow AC Moore on Facebook, click here! 

To follow Cousin on Facebook, click here!

Both have great jewelry ideas, tutorials, promotions, sales and other cool things for craft DIY-ers!

These would be great as handmade holiday presents! You could even make these in different colors for different holidays; maybe try these cool orange beads and black crystals for a spooky halloween vibe!

I used colored bobby pins to coordinate the look, and for it to be a little fancier.

Let's get started!

*MATERIALS NEEDED*

-Two bobby pins

-Cousin 24G gold wire

-Cousin Jewelry Basics 4mm Clear Crystals

-Cousin Tis The Season Swirl Acrylic Beads

Step 1: Cut about 2' of your wire. About 1" from the end of the wire, start wrapping right at the bend of the bobby pin; wrap about 5 wraps, nice and tight to secure wire on. Add on a 4mm crystal. Secure the crystal by wrapping the wire twice around the top arm of the bobby pin, right up against the bead.

Step 2: Add on one swirl bead; wrap again twice right after this bead, pulling the wraps tight up against the bead to secure. Continue; add on two more swirl beads, wrapping twice in between the beads. Add on the last 4mm bead and wrap all the way to the end; cut the wire flush when you reach the end!

Quick, simple, easy!

I like to put them on a topknot for a cool but hip look.

Pattern and all photos copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Please do not use/post without linking back and crediting me! 

Day 6: Quick Tropical Hair!

Having flowers in your hair is not just for hippies anymore.....

I've got a really simple tutorial here!

And, these are my most FAVORITE flower. Plumerias. I had never seen one in real life until now!

They just look oh-so-tropical!

I spotted pink plumeria flowers too!

But let's get started with my oh-so-easy tutorial for summer hair!

You could start off by prepping the hair with my Beach Spray....

It's as easy as this: braid a small section of your hair, and tie off with a hair elastic or as I used here, a Silly Band! If you did multiple braids with multiple color Silly Bandz, it would produce a neat rainbow effect! Don't use a thick hair tie, rubber bands work the best.

Take the stem of the flower (it should be about 1" long) and pass it through a loop of the Silly Band, the elastic will hold it tight!

That's about it. Use multiple flowers for a very hippie look!

Miu Miu-inspried Shell Bobby Pins

I think its definitely too early to be thinking about this fall and winter, but in the fashion world, they have already moved on to next year! I saw the Miu Miu collection and though that the mix of stripes and spots were super-cool. However, I wanted to make a summery tutorial, especially because I have a lot of shells laying around.

Shell bobby pins! These are great for summer because they are bright and very eye-catching. I painted these with a mix of stripes, dots and used similar colors, from the Miu Miu collection. 

You don't have to use the same patterns or colors that I did, you can paint them in any color to match your outfits! You can even add glitter for extra shine. As you can see, the bobby pin disappears (be sure to use a pin that is your hair color) and it looks like the shells are floating in your hair!

Let's get started!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are shells, E-6000 glue, a paintbrush, paint, polymer clay, and bobby pins.

Step 2: Take your shell of choice, and place a marble of scrap clay in the empty spot where you want your pint. Squish it to fill the basin, and then press in your pin to make an indentation. Carefully pull the pin out to leave that indentation there.

Bake your shell and clay for about 15 minutes at 125 degrees (I use a toaster oven). The brand of clay doesn't matter, but I always use Sculpey.

Step 3: Once your shell has baked and cooled, add a dollop of glue to the top of the pin. Push the pin back into the indentation you made, and press down to adhere; let the glue dry. I made three different ones, from different shaped shells!

Step 4: Once the glue has dried, its time to paint. This step is pretty loose, you can paint any pattern you want. Obviously, I channeled the Miu Miu collection and mixed patterns and bright colors contrasted with dark black. I used acrylic paints and nail polish and they both work fine, but I would reccommend nail polish because it stays shiny and adheres better.

Do not use very big, heavy shells, as these won't adhere well and they will weigh down too much.

These are a super unique accessory that will surely make a statement!

Tarina Tarantino Skull Hair Clip

This cool skull hair clip is both girly and goth. It features a sparkly skull cabochon (in true Tarina Tarantino style) offset by a silk flower backdrop and gems. It's $38 for the real deal, but we can make ours for pennies.

This kind of clip is very easy and quick to make yourself, and you only need a few "ingredients".

My version is glued onto a hair clip for easy use. You can make it in any color combination you like. I used old gems from a nail art kit, but if you want to be all legit and use Swarovski sparkly flatbacks, go right ahead! It will be even more dazzling.

And, if you're not into skulls, you can use any other cabochon you have laying around; maybe a bigger gem, button, or anything else you can come up with.

Step 1: Gather materials. You need small gems, a hair clip, silk flowers, a cabochon, hot glue and super glue.

Step 2: Glue the smaller flower on top of the bigger one (with hot glue). Glue the skull into the middle (hot glue). Use your super glue to glue on gems around your skull, on the petals. When you are satisfied and the glue has dried, hot glue your skullflower to the hair clip. Allow hot glue to dry, gently peel the hot glue (still attached to flower) off the metal clip, score the metal clip, apply superglue and re-glue that glob of hot glue back to the clip on the superglue. I make a glob because I feel it holds better and sticks better than if you just used superglue by itself. 

Let dry.

How easy was that? 

A good project to do while babysitting or at a party night. Simple enough for kids to do but the results aren't super baby-ish like other projects!

A fun bright accessory!

All photos and instructions copyright Allison Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated!

Beachy Waves Hair Mist

Summer is here! Time for summer hair. What says summer more than the sunny beach?

The look of effortless waves is the envy of many city dwellers, but it's totally easy to achieve sans-beach! 

Celebrity hairstylists rely on chemical-laden and totally overpriced beach sprays to give their clients "the look". Plus, anyone who buys these sea salt sprays is basically buying 80% water. 

That doesn't work for me, or for my DIY-ers. 

So, why not create a totally natural and totally handmade version yourself?

Silly question, I know.

The DIY version produces the same results, see above.

Yes, your spray will be about 99% water. But that's ok, because we are taking out all the nasty chemicals and other undesirables you really don't want in there anyways.

What's best about the spray is that it won't smell like artificial fragrances; it will smell of fresh herbs.

Much nicer to your nostrils and the environment.

Enough talk; let's begin.

Step 1: Get an old spray bottle (I used a small one, maybe like 4 oz., recycled from a Bath and Body spray). Fill it up with water (distilled). Dump this water into a glass. 

Gather a generous handful of fresh herbs from your garden, if you have one. I used a combination of lavender and spearmint. 

If you don't have a garden, you can use herbal tea bags. Maybe like chamomile or peppermint would be nice? You could also try a combination.

Place the herbs or tea bags into the glass.

Step 2: The magic ingredient; sea salt. It will mimic the saltiness of the sea, and give your hair that beach texture. Get a handful of sea salt and add this to the glass.

Step 3: Get a wooden spoon. Muddle all these ingredients together; really break up the herbs, and if you have tea bags you might want to break open the bag and dump the herbs into the water to make sure you get the most out of your muddling.

Muddle, muddle, muddle.....

Now, set this glass aside in the sun (maybe on a patio table), cover with a dish o for a couple of hours to really infuse this water with the essential oils and nutrients from the herbs.

Step 4: After this has had time to infuse, strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a measuring cup. Make sure to press down and squeeze the herbs to get all the lingering juice out!

Step 5: Pour this back into your spritz bottle. Make a label if you want and tape it on!

Store in fridge, and make sure you use it up quick as it won't keep like those ones with preservatives in 'em!

*TO USE*

Spritz on your hair, just enough to dampen a little. Scrunch hair for a looser texture, or twist for more ringlet-style curls. 

Beach ready!

Mimco Fabric Flower Barette

Have an old scarf? Don't know what to do with it? Make a Mimco Fabric Flower Barette! This barrette is a perfect accessory for the upcoming spring. Plus, it's a cinch to make. You can even make them in different sizes, depending on what size scarves you have. I used a pretty large one, so it made a really large flower. But it looks great on top of a ponytail!

This post was requested by a blog guest. Thanks, Linda!

Let's get started.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed is a silk or silk-type scarf (any size will work, just make sure it's a long rectangle, not a square), a hair clip, embroidery floss and hot or tacky glue. I find that hot glue is easier to work with. It dries a lot faster!

Step 2: Find the center of the scarf. Tie a cinch with the embroidery floss (use a couple of feet of floss), nice and tight. Then, tie on your clip and hot glue this knot to hold it in the center of your clip.

Step 3: Start the flower. Flip your scarf over, and bring the floss up once again and tie another knot at the top. Then, with one side of your scarf, make a fold a couple inches long (the size will depend on how big your scarf is) and fold it over towards you. Then, bring your floss on either side under the fold, and tie a tight knot to permanently seal the fold/ruffle. You want to end up with about 3 folds/ruffles on this side, each being a little smaller than the first.

Step 4: Finish ruffles on one side. Make another fold, bring the ends underneath and again tie tight to seal the fold. Repeat once more (leaving about an inch or so of the raw ends) for 3 ruffles. Cut the floss right after the knot. 

Step 5: Cut another length of floss and tie on to the center, coming from underneath and knot at the top right at the knot you made in step 2. Just repeat steps 3-4 for this other side of your scarf. You should end up with something like the picture at the top. As for the raw ends, this is where your hot glue comes in. Roll them in towards the center (with your clip upside down), gluing with small spots of glue as you roll under. Keep rolling until your ends are neatly tucked in and you have a nice flower shape like this. Let your glue fully dry. That's all there is to it!

These look especially good at tops of ponytails, or next to topknots (if they are made with smaller scarves!).

A fashion statement!

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated :)