How to Make Your Own Hair Sticks

Hair sticks are a pretty, stylish way to create an interesting up-do. The late Edith Head, the movie costume designer, used sharpened number 2 pencils in her hair with great panache. Simply, using hair sticks is much like using straight pins to hold two pieces of fabric together. Lots of commercial hair sticks are available on the market, but sometimes you don't want to spend the money for them, or you want a specific color or style that you can't find at the store. Here are directions to make a pair of one-of-a-kind hair sticks!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A pair of chopsticks, disposable or more permanent
• Shiny paint like laquer; nail polish works very well for this.
• Newspaper or paper towels to protect the work surface
• A small, sharp knife, if your chopsticks are longer than 6 to 8 inches
• Sandpaper, if necessary
• Glue, pins, fake gems, beads, feathers, etc.(optional)
• Waxed paper for drying, or a jar lid or something.

1. 
    
   It's easy to acquire these at your friendly, neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

   Unwrap and break apart your chopsticks, if they are the disposable ones that come connected together. If the ends turn out splintery, remove the splinters and shape them gently with sandpaper.

2. If the sticks are longer than 8 inches, you need to cut them off evenly with a sharp knife. They are usually made from very soft wood or bamboo. Cut against a surface you don't mind scratching, like a cutting board.

3. Choose your nail polish or laquer color. The paint must be shiny so that the sticks will slide through your hair easily. You could make a set of hairsticks to go with all your favorite nail polishes! After one coat of polish, the sticks will be streaky, so let them dry on a piece of waxed paper or balanced on a jar lid or something. Apply several coats until the color is uniform, allowing the polish to dry after every application.

4. Glue feathers, beads, gems or other decorations to the finished hair sticks. Florist wire may be wrapped around the top few inches if desired. Be creative! When the glue is done, you have a new pair of hair sticks!

Tips & Warnings

• Use short hair sticks because the long ones look funny and don't hold as well.
• You can use something like heavy wire, as with wire clothes hangers instead of chopsticks, but you MUST grind and polish the cut ends so they don't hurt your scalp or your hair.
• You can make hair sticks from fancy pencils; stick large-headed pins in the eraser end with beads or little chains threaded on for a very casual, fun look.
• Make special hair sticks for holidays and special occasions by adding little hearts, mistletoe leaves, spring flower picks, etc.
• Try making several pair, then mix and match the colors for added interest.
• If using spray-on laquer, be very careful to work outdoors or in a very well-ventilated place.
• When cutting the sticks to size, be careful with the knife. NO PERMANENT DAMAGE is always good to shoot for.

[SylvirRayne]

on 11/19/2008 excellent Idea with the nail polish, not only does it come in more colors, its very cheap, and dries fairly quick. 1 bottle of love my nails works for abuot 3 pairs if the color is dark (my first pair was black, with a white pearl overcoat, turned out quite well).

travis22, I'm sure you'd look utterly adorable with hair sticks lol

[masterC]

on 7/14/2008 Wow thanx 4 the advice! automatic 5 stars

[LilacGirl]

on 5/14/2008 What a great idea! I'm going to try this. Your directions are very clear and easy to follow.

[only1special1]

on 4/9/2008 Very Nice!

[showpup]

on 4/9/2008 How fun. This would be a fun gift to make for my DIL. Unique idea. 5 stars.