Hey Everyone! Here's another D.I.Y. that I've been avidly researching and looking forward to posting! There's a little backstory, here goes:
I was recently contacted by a fashion enthusiast/journalist named Katie. She messaged me about the possibility of writing a feature story on me, and I absolutely flipped at the opportunity! Once her pitch was approved, I had to think of some ways to show why I love fashion and what I do to embrace it. So, we spent the day going on tonnish adventures, including lattes at Karma Cream, a trip to Beauty Max, an impromptu voyage to the Salvation Army (where I scored two Mad Men-esque tops and she found amazing cream booties), a stop at Loop de Loop, and finally, this D.I.Y. project at my humble abode. What I have for you here is a step by step tutorial on how to make the infamous Lady Gaga hair bow out of some cheap extensions.
What You'll Need:
1) Long hair extension ($3.99 at Beauty Max)
2) Straightening iron and damp rag
3) Hot glue gun
4) Paper/cardboard surface (for easy cleanup)
5) Duck-bill clips (.99 at Beauty Max) and bobby pins (.99 at Beauty Max)
6) Small elastic bands
The best part about this project is that the supplies only added up to a budget friendly $6.39!
This is the brand of "weave" that I used for my project. It was super cheap and ended matching perfectly with my hair! (crucial to the execution of the hair bow)
Step 1: Loop Your Weave
What you want to do first, is get an idea of how big you want your bow to be, and play around a bit with your strip of hair until you find the length you need for your bow. Tie off an end with a small elastic band, and cut off the excess. Now you have the foundation for your bow!
Step 2: Tying and Melting
You'll need to tie off the other end of your hair strip, making sure the nub (so to speak) is as short as possible. Next, you'll need to overlap the ends, making sure the extension stays flat, and prepare to melt...
Take your rag, make sure its fairly damp, and fold over the ends of the extension. Now you're going to take your straightening iron and melt the hair together, over the rag to prevent a fire hazard. This sounds horrifying, and you'll experience some sizzling sounds and smoke, but its all for the sake of your future pseudo up-do. The rag keeps both your straightener and weave safe, and at the end, you can use the bare flat iron to secure.
Step 3: The Hard Part
Now that you have a crispy loop, you want to take 2 small elastics and secure the center of what will be your bow. It gets a little tricky to maintain the shape of the bow, but don't get frustrated. I admit, I nearly gave up. If you have a friend help you by holding the bow as you adjust, it's much easier. Next, you'll have to loop a piece of hair around the center in order to finish up the bow.
Get a long piece of your extension (you'll cut of the excess later) and as your buddy holds your bow for you, wrap the hair about 3 times around the center of the bow, and secure with an elastic behind the hairpiece. Bobby pin down a bit of the ponytail behind the bow, and then cut off the excess with scissors, making sure that it doesn't show from the front.
This is what you should end up with!! Cute, right?! You'll probably feel that your bow is a bit disheveled, but use some scissors to cut off stray hairs, and you're finger tips to adjust the shape and it will fall naturally once it's on your head, don't worry!
Step 4: Attachment and Eternal Happines
Now that your bow is pieced together, you want to be able to attach it to your head, don't you? Because I have short hair, I figured using a jumbo duck-bill clip would be the best idea. If you want, you can use a head band or head wrap. Once you choose what best suits your hair, attach it to the bottom of your bow using a hot glue gun.
Congratulations, you now have the most adorable hair accessory imaginable. Hello Kitty, eat your heart out!
Here are a few pictures of me, my bow, and my new friend, Katie!
I hope that this tutorial is useful to all of you! Like I said, it takes a bit of patience but it is totally worthwhile in the end. I can't wait to wear this beauty to class with some bodysuits and tulip skirts. If you have any questions about particular steps or thoughts you'd like to share, leave me a comment and I'll get right back to you! Oh, and if you end up making your own bow, I'd love to see it! I'm sure you'll be seeing mine all over the blog in the near future. Also, just wanted to thank all you for your kind comments on previous posts. I can't stop telling Katie how giddy I get when people appreciate the blog. Good luck with this project and I hope you all look wonderful with your new hair bow. Until next time!
Love,
Flavia
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