DIY // Hair Clip & Earring Holder Tutorial

Largely due to the business, I have more than my fair share of felt hair clips floating around. I've been thinking about creating a fun, more grown-up version of a hair clip holder for myself, and I wanted to share how I crafted a wee combination hair clip and earring holder! It doesn't hold a whole lot of pieces, so I'll definitely have to come up with some sort of organized solution for my daughter's clippies.

MATERIALS:   sturdy stick of some sort, at least 6" across
             strip of fabric, 3" wide x 36" long    
             strip of fabric, 1" wide x 32" long 
             lace, 36"
             cotton twine
          
Before I started, I had my husband sand the bark off of the stick, and then I applied a quick two coats of a semi-gloss paint. I also cut my fabric using scissors and a measuring tape, (or you can use a self-healing cutting mat and rotary cutter). Please note that the fabric dimensions are just suggestions, and do not need to be cut exactly; since you will be braiding the fabric it is not critical that your edges be perfectly straight.

Take your longer strip of fabric (I used the hem from an old worn-out pillow case and a bit of sunny yellow fabric), and fold it in half both ways (first the width, making it 1.5" wide, and then the length). Tie the remaining piece of fabric at the fold (as shown in the top left image), leaving a little bit of a tail. Drape the fabric over your stick where you wish to attach it, bring the tail around the back and pull it through the loop as pictured; cinch your knot tight.

  
Place the little tail of the middle strip of fabric on top of the rest, so that you can braid it in to hide it (see above image).
 

 

Begin braiding your the three bits of fabric together, including the wee little tail that you've previously overlapped. You want to be sure that you don't braid too tightly (or too loosely) since this is where you will hang your earrings. You'll also want to keep the printed side of your odd piece of fabric facing toward you. When you come near the end of your braid cut the longer strip even with the other two, and use the loose piece to wrap around the bottom of your braid and then knot it in the back to secure it. Trim.

Next, fold your length of lace in half, and secure it to the stick the same way you attached the fabric; knot the ends to keep the lace from fraying.

To finish, cut a length of twine and secure the ends to opposite sides of your stick, so as to be able to hang your finished holder from a nail or decorative hook. I also tied a bow to one side of my twine to pretty it up a bit (you can see that better in the very top image).

       
The braided side of the holder is perfect to hang earrings from and the seams are great to slip earring posts through! The two lace tails opposite are just the thing to hold barrettes.    

I know this is kind of a wordy tutorial, so be sure to find my email to the right if you have any questions for me! Happy creating!