a hair(y) situation

A childhood friend contacted me through Facebook and inquired about me creating some wedding hair accessories for her big day.  Of course, I was like "heck yes!"  She showed me a picture of one she had seen in David's Bridal for a whopping $50 a pop! What?  It absolutely irks me that businesses will hike up prices when they add 'wedding' or 'bridal' to a title knowing that people will pay the completely outrageous price because the sales people will sell them the line 'it's your special day, you deserve it'...you DO deserve it, but at a fair price!  Whew...got that little rant session over with...now onto the post!

I took one look at the picture and knew that it would be a piece of cake...wedding cake, maybe?!  Keep reading to see how I did it!
What you need:
Hair Combs (you can get plastic ones from craft stores such as JoAnn's, but I wanted something a little nicer, I bought mine from IrisDVeil off of Etsy.  Simply search for hair combs under supplies and you will find a TON at great prices)
Beads (I got all mine from Wal-Mart for less than $10 and still had some left over after making three combs)
Jewelry wire (like I used for my Jewelry hanger, got it at Wal-Mart for about $2)
Needle Nose pliers (I didn't have any of these to use, but it would have made it much easier!)

What to do:
*Sorry for the poor pics, I forgot about taking pics and snapped some with my Iphone (that my sweet hubby bought me)

Determine the design you want to create.  My friend, AJ decided this for me...didn't she pick a gorgeous one?!

www.davidsbridal.com

I then cut a piece of jewelry wire about three or four times the length of the comb, I knew I would be twisting the wire and wanted it to be long enough.  I then slid my first bead onto the wire and started working from the middle out.

For this design, I put one large pearl on, then attached a small pearl and a small crystal beside the larger pearl.  I would thread one on and twist the wire around the bead to secure it.  I alternated the small pearl and crystal to mimic the David's Bridal version.

I set the beaded section on top of the comb to estimate how far along I was and how much more I needed.  At this point, I hadn't scrunched the beaded part up too much, so it looked a little bit like a caterpillar!

Once I had a long enough section of beading, I finished off the ends by adding an extra line of the smaller pearls and crystals.  I used the extra wire on each end of the finished beaded section to secure it to the comb.

I then cut a piece of wire about one and a half times the size of the comb and beaded a small pearl in the middle.  I then used the wire to secure the middle of the beaded section to the comb, I added more small pearls and it needed.

Now, just arrange your beads, twist and bend them into place...so they don't look so caterpillar-ish!  Each comb only took me about half an hour to make, I made two for the bride.  She bought them through my Etsy store, which benefits Togo Palms in West Africa and only paid $30 for two rather than $50 for one!

There you have it, a gorgeous beaded hair comb for far less than you would pay in the store...and these are handmade originals!  With prom just around the corner, these would be a great and inexpensive accompaniment to those pricey dresses!

Linking to:
Blue Cricket Design

Seven Thirty Three