Vintage Inspired Hair Flower Tutorial

I have one last guest post for you this week. The lovely Nadir from Hodge Podge offered to share a fun tutorial with you today. This is one swoon-worthy hair flower...but if you plan on wearing it to an event, I recommend you bring your own smelling salts! Come back tomorrow for some Thrifty Treasures, and a little crafty post on Monday.

Hello, everyone! I’m so excited to write this guest post here at Serenity Now! As you all know, “wedding season” is upon us and I chose to share a tutorial with you about how I made something special to wear on the greatest day of my life. 

I was nervous about the prospect of all eyes being on me on the day of my wedding but I saw it as the perfect opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone, trying something bold and sassy, even if it was just for me.

When I got engaged last summer, I immediately began my search for how I would wear my hair. I wanted a classic look and vintage feel to our wedding, so I searched vintage hairpieces that I would swap my veil out for at our reception. I already had a beautiful headband I knew I’d wear, but I wanted something a little more glamorous with a little sparkle, and maybe some feathers or flowers. Most of my web searches had me finding beautiful pieces like these on Etsy.com:

After a few days of searching and looking at our tight budget, I resolved to make my own hairpiece.

I was really terrified of messing it up because I’d be wearing it on the most important day of my life, but I was determined and excited to give it a try. And so began my hunt. I went to one of my favorite craft stores and found the following:  (sorry the quality is so poor on some of these photos, they were taken late at night)

Goose feathers, about $3.

Pretty ivory roses, about $6. You can use any flower that you like, but I thought these roses better suited the look I was going for. I snipped the plastic yellow stamens out of the flowers to make room for the brooch I was going to fit into the middle.

Lovely wreath brooch I found on Amazon.com for about $8.

Armed with a few more supplies I had and my trusty glue gun, I got to work….

First, I took a few of the goose feathers and curled them with a pair of scissors much like you would curl a ribbon; it was very simple and there were instructions for several different ways you could shape these specific feathers right on the bag they came in. 

After the feathers were curled the way I wanted, I arranged them in a bunch and tied them together with a clear elastic strand and then I reinforced that with silver beading wire.

I don’t have any pictures of this next part, but I strung about 3 or 4 clear beads on clear elastic and pulled it through the center of the flower to cover the open space where I cut the stamens.

Then I used the back of the brooch clip to thread through and sew the brooch into the center of the flower. It looked gorgeous already as it was and I was tempted to leave it at that, but the frilly feathers were just too pretty not to use.

After that, I sewed a small spring hair clip to the back of the flower and then used a dab of hot glue on top of the thread to secure it further. Then I sewed the feather bunch to the back of the flower and secured it with another strip of feathers I had with fabric attached to them and reinforced the threads with hot glue again.

Here’s the final shot. Voila! Instant Glam! 

(Front)

(Back)

Don’t you know I couldn’t end this post without showing you some pictures of the big day with me actually wearing it? So here they are:

So there you have it, folks, and all for under $30! 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and HUGE thank you to Amanda for being so gracious in letting me post this how-to on her blog. I hope to see you all around blog land soon and hope you come visit me at Hodge Podge.

Toodles!  ~Nadir~

Thanks so much, Nadir, for taking the time to show us step-by-step how to recreate this fabulous piece! I love this classic, fresh look. If you visit Nadir, be sure to tell her I sent you. 

I'll be back here at Serenity Now tomorrow with my "regularly scheduled blogging." Hope to see you soon!