Halloween Witch Hat Hair Clip or Pin

New for Halloween 2010! Halloween Witch's Hat - make it a hair clip or a pin.

By pammydawn

Crooked little Witch's hat made of 100% wool felt and embroidered with 100% cotton green embroidery floss. Whimsical and fun, this clip or pin would be the perfect accessory to put you in the mood for Halloween tricks and treats. Available as a hair clip, or a pin brooch. As a hair clip, the hat encloses a 1.5 inch snap clip, completely hand-stitched securely in place. The hat measures approximately 2 inches tall.

Frog and Water Lily Hair Clip Set

Freddy Frog Hair Clip or Pin - by pammydawn

Frog and Water Lily Set of TWO - by pammydawn

Bring out your inner PRINCESS!

A lovely blush and cream water lily blossom and lily pad is floating just for you. It is made of 100% wool felt blossoms, each individually cut and assembled like a little petal puzzle. About 2 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide, it will enclose up to a 1.5 inch snap clip, but is also available as a French barrette or pin brooch.

Freddy Frog is made of 100% grass green wool felt and accented with merino wool roving that I needle-felted. Adoring googly eyes are wet-felted natural wool balls, securely stitched to his fat little head. Detailed needle-felted warts and underbelly are in a lime green. He sits atop a deep forest green 2 inch lily pad and rises about 1.5 inches high. Freddy encloses up to a 1.5 inch snap clip, but is also available as a French barrette or pin brooch.

Spring Flower Hair Clips and Pins

Newest blooms for the spring and summer!

Multi-Hued Spring Hydrangea - by pammydawn

Forget-Me-Not and Sakura Blossom Hair Clips - by pammydawn

Blue Nikko Hydrangea - Wool Felt Pin or Hair Clip

Spring Hydrangea - by pammydawn

Fresh and sweet, new blossoms for spring!

Each bloom contains more than 25 small hand-cut flowers, stitched securely onto multi-colored green leaves. Customize your hydrangea - use as many different colors as you would like, or only one. Please list your color choices in the notes at checkout.

This pin/hair clip measures approximately 2.5 inches in diameter. Colors pictured are Sky and Baby Blue with Royal Blue stitching.

Want to make one?  Visit my "How To" guide here!

Royal Monarch Butterfly Pin or Hair Clip

Mariposa - Open Monarch Butterfly Pin or Hair Clip - by pammydawn

Mariposa - the inspiration for this mini felt sculpture, is butterfly in Spanish. It is also the home in which I grew up, in the rolling foothills approaching Yosemite Valley. Sadly, you don't see as many majestic Monarchs there as in the past, but it is still one of the most beautiful places I know come Spring and the blush of wildflowers.

Mariposa is made-to-order, and hand-crafted using 100% wool felt. Each piece will be hand-cut and stitched, making this butterfly as unique and without duplicate as it's fluttering inspiration.

Backing this wearable art-work is a 1 inch bar pin, securely stitched to the fourth layer of felt. Nearly life-sized, Mariposa is 3.5 inches across, and about 2 inches tall.

Layered Wool Felt Flower Hair Clip or Pin

Layered Petal Posy - Wool Felt Hair Clip or Pin - by pammydawn

Organic, free-form blossom, made from hand-cutting layers of 100% wool felt interspersed with needle and wet-felted wool layers to create a textured and full bloom. Nested in the center is a needle-felted crimson nubbin. This luscious 10 layered Posy was inspired by, and made to coordinate with, the English Cottage clothing line created by the very talented Chew Bug Designs.

Hand-made from cream, cranberry, and crimson felt, and as a hair clip, will enclose up to a 2 inch snap clip or French barrette. It would be equally captivating as a lapel pin! If you are interested in any other color combination, please contact me. I have many colors of felt, and would be happy to accommodate your custom desires!

Blue Morpho Butterfly Hair Clip or Pin

Blue Morpho Butterfly Pin or Hair Clip - by pammydawn

Spring means renewal - what is more representative of renewing life than butterflies? Colorful and the embodiment of beauty, butterflies are a great inspiration for me. Trying to capture their unique wings in wool is an exciting challenge. The newest in my felt butterfly repertoire: The Blue Morpho.

Blue Morpho is made-to-order, and hand-crafted using 100% wool felt. Each piece will be hand-cut and needle felted, making this butterfly as unique and without duplicate as it's fluttering inspiration. (Photo is an example only, your butterfly wing pattern will be similar, but unique to your pin). Backing this wearable art-work is a 1 inch bar pin or hair clip, securely stitched to the third layer of felt. In life, Blue Morpho butterflies are 5-8 inches in width, this representation is nearly 3 inches across, and about 2.5 inches tall.

Shamrock Wool Felt Hair Clip, Pin, or Magnet

Put on a little luck for St. Patrick's Day with a lovely, bright, grass green shamrock. Available as a pin, hair clip, or a magnet.

Shamrock - by pammydawn

Spring Love Bird Hair Clip or Pin for Easter

Spring Love Bird Hair Clip or Pin - by Pammy Dawn

Little Love Bird gets a Spring makeover! Spring time little love bird is made of aqua, baby pink, baby yellow, and apple green 100% wool felt with a needle-felted top knot. Layered hand-cut and hand-embroidered felt flapper measures about 2 inches from beak to tail feather. As a hair clip, little love bird will enclose a 1.5 inch snap clip and is also available as a French barrette, magnet, or pin brooch.

Valentine Punky Pirate Princess - Skull Heart Hair Clip

I ♥ Princess Punky Bones - by Pammy Dawn

Princess Punky Bones has a new sister! For the smaller punk princess, skull and cross bones wears a bow and sits atop a double-decker heart and encloses a 1.25 inch snap clip.

The Original - Princess Punky Bones 2 inch clip - by Pammy Dawn

Spring Pansy Hair Clip or Pin

New for Spring! Delight in the little things - who can resist a pretty little pansy? Nothing makes you feel as lovely as fresh spring blooms - adorn yourself or your little one with a pretty pansy to welcome spring.

Pretty Pansy Wool Felt Hair Clip or Pin by Pammy Dawn - $7

Little Love Bird Hair Clip or Pin Brooch

Sweet little love bird is made of chocolate brown, golden brown, turquoise and apple green 100% wool felt with a needle-felted top knot. Layered hand-cut and hand-embroidered felt flapper measures about 2 inches from beak to tail feather.

As a hair clip, little love bird will enclose a 1.5 inch snap clip and is also available as a French barrette or pin brooch.

How to Start a Hair Clip or Bow Business - The Best Felt and Hair Clip Supplies

Whether you only make hair clips and bows for your own daughter or you want to sell them online, going to Michaels and Walmart (or JoAnns, or wherever) for your supplies can get old, and EXPENSIVE.

When I first started my online business, I went to Michaels and Walmart for my supplies because I wasn't sure how my business would grow, and I didn't want to invest a bunch of money all at once. However, I would find that the supplies I needed were not constantly available, and I was paying for the "middle-man" mark-up, and all the extra packaging that went along with it.

Maximum savings is always achieved in BULK. Storage is definitely a factor - where will you put all your extra supplies? My office is a bit over-crowded, much to the chagrin of my lovably OCD hubby. So investing in a storage system is a good idea.

The categories of supplies you'll need are as follows:

❀Tools

❀Raw Materials

❀Hardware

❀Packaging

Assuming you already have the tools you will need for crafting (good sharp scissors, needles, etc.) your next basic materials will be your raw materials and hardware.

What kind of hair clips/bows will you make? Basic craft store felt is easily available (and pretty cheaply) at the craft store, but it is not very durable. Recycled and synthetic vegan felt is also available, but I haven't researched where to purchase that particular type of felt. I find that 100% wool felt is my choice, but there are also some excellent wool blend felts available in many lovely colors.

Some sellers on Etsy have done the bulk purchasing for you, and offer reasonable prices, but you are sometimes limited by quantity. However, it is a good option for someone starting up.

My favorite suppliers of felt are right here in the USA, small businesses with awesome customer service, and very fast turn-around. Weir Dolls has lovely felt, and also low shipping costs.
If you request it, they will send your package via first class mail, and refund you the extra shipping charges. I always go here first to save on shipping. Their color options are not very wide, but they have a decent selection. You can also find thread, wool roving, fabrics and other great supplies here while supporting another small business.

My second choice for felt supplies is another USA small business.
A Child's Dream Come True has a great selection of lovely wool felt, roving, you name it, but the shipping costs are a little high. When I need felt, I make sure I purchase many squares at once to spread the shipping cost out over a larger number of squares. If I need just one square of felt, I would use Weir Dolls.

Hardware choices are many, but I go for simplicity in ordering when I'm looking to purchase my supplies. You also want to make sure you aren't buying some nasty lead-coated metal clips or something.

I went through the expense of having these hair clips XRF tested, and they have been certified lead-free. I sent 3 sizes of snap clips and 3 sizes of French barrettes from Trimweaver and each came back as having NO LEAD at all. They offer bulk discount on hair clips, ribbon, and many other supplies.

After you've made your lovely creations, and are fortunate to have a sale, how are you going to package and ship them? I started out using some little boxes from Oriental Trading, but they were a bit irritating because I had to fold and glue them before I could mail out my packages. I discovered craft boxes from Paper Mart to be the best deal I've seen. You'll need a place to store them because they come in bulk, but the plain brown kraft jewelry boxes are 100% recycled content, and make packaging secure and gift-ready.

Bubble mailers from places like Office Max and Walmart are ok if you want to pay a bit more, but we're talking about something your buyer will potentially throw away - so I wouldn't want to spend too much. There are instructions online for making your own bubble mailers, but who has time for that??

I found Shipping Supply Co. has excellent prices and you get it FAST. The only problem is storing a huge box of bubble mailers. If you can work out where you will store your supplies, this place is a great one-stop for your shipping supplies.

Hopefully my trial and error will be helpful to other mommies wanting to start up a hair clip business, or just make fun clips for your family and friends. Happy crafting!

Octopus Hair Clip Request

Red the Octopus has a mini-me version!  I recently had a request for his reincarnation as a hair clip, but in orange rather than red.... so I guess he has actually spawned, rather than cloned.

As a finger puppet, Red was about 4 inches tall.  The hair clip is roughly 2 1/4 inches tall from head to tentacle and houses a 1.5 inch snap clip.

Peppermint Candy Hair Clip

Peppermint Hair Clip or Pin Brooch - $8.00

Refreshing and calorie-free!  Peppermint pinwheel candy hair clip is 100% wool and encloses a 1.25 inch snap clip.  I was envisioning this clip as part of my holiday set, but I think it could work for everyday as well.  Customize the color to match any outfit!

How to Make a Custom Felt Hair Clip

Feeling crafty? You can create your own felt accessory to match any outfit.

Basic materials needed:

-design with multiple copies

-small craft scissors (sewing scissors are best

- they need to be SHARP)

-pins

-embroidery thread

-needle

-bar pin or hair clip

-felt (wool or wool blend are best, but craft felt can also be used)

Simple designs are best, the more intricate the design, the more cuts you'll need to make. You can use clip art or draw your own. I like to sketch my own designs and scan them so I can shrink and enlarge as needed. If you're making a hair clip, keep in mind the size of the hair clip you'll be using when you create the design. You'll want to have a finished product about 1/4 to 1/2 inch larger than the hair clip.

I began with sketching the squirrel, then scanning it and printing multiple copies. You'll want a copy for each piece you need to layer. Cut out each individual piece and decide which color felt you want to use for each. You may choose to embroider the details rather than cut felt. Be creative! Try using buttons, sequins, or fabric for additional details.

Once the pieces of your design are cut, pin each piece to the felt and carefully cut them out using the sharpest, smallest scissors you have. I like to use small Gingher scissors. Be sure to have a back and front to sandwich the hair clip between.

Before you begin to stitch the pieces together, check to make sure they fit together neatly. Start by stitching the detail pieces to the top of your design.

Once the front is completely stitched to your liking, including embroidery and embellishments, you are ready to attach the hair clip or pin.

Decide which direction you want your clip to open and make a small slit to slip the bottom prong of the hair clip through. If you are using a bar pin or French barrette, you'll need to flip the piece over and stitch the pin/French barrette securely to the back of the design. Stitch across the clip to hold it in place.

Lastly, stitch around the outside of your creation. Knot your thread carefully; you don't want it to unravel in your child's hair!

Voila! A completely unique hair clip or pin for you or someone you love. Feel free to leave comments if you need clarification on any of the directions listed here!

To purchase the squirrel, please visit Pammy Dawn!

Squirrel design Copyright Pammy Dawn 2009. No reproduction without permission.

Name that Squirrel!

After a month or so of much-needed vacation, I've finally felt like creating again!  My fall collection needed a nutty squirrel, so here is the first sketch, yet to come to fruition.  Now comes the task of choosing felt colors, textures, and naming the critter.  

I'd love to hear from you if you have any fabulous suggestions!  If I pick your name, I'll link to your blog/website in the final listing on my shop, Pammy Dawn.  Please be sure to leave your shop link when you comment if you have any burgeoning ideas!

Sketch Copyright Pammy Dawn Designs, 2009.  No reproduction without permission.

Foxy Loxy - Red Fox Hair Clip or Pin Brooch

Foxy Loxy - Red Fox Hair Clip or Pin Brooch

Finally having some free time this week, I wanted to do some new designs inspired by the requests I've gotten recently.  The first is a curled red fox, Foxy Loxy.  I think my favorite part of this design is the tufty wool tail.  Foxy Loxy is about 1.75 inches across and houses a 1.5 inch snap clip.  He is a rusty pumpkin orange wool felt with cream accents.

Mother's Day Blog Sale

Monarch Butterfly Pin for Mother's Day

In honor of Mother's Day, I'm offering a 10% discount code for followers of my blog! Discount will be valid now until May 10th, 2009. To redeem, make a purchase in my Etsy store and enter "MomBlog 10" in the notes at checkout. I will send you an adjusted invoice on Paypal reflecting the 10% discount. Don't forget to also let me know if you want pins or hair clips for your unique creation in the notes section! Happy shopping, and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Celebrate motherhood! A huge thank you from my darling inspiration and me. Happy Mother's Day!

Sweet Easter Bunny Hair Clip or Pin Brooch

Sweet Bunny Wool Felt Hair Clip or Pin Brooch

Hopping in for spring - sweet bunny measures about 1.5 inches and encloses a 1.25 inch snap clip.

Warm brown, baby pink, and cream 100% wool felt has been lovingly hand-stitched to create this sweet little companion. His fluffy tail is made of un-dyed natural lamb's wool.