If you’re like me you tend to buy, make, and trade hair flowers and bows with girlfriends. They are a nice, retro inspired finishing touch to an outfit and look great on all hair lengths and textures--but how do you take care of them and store them?
(How not to store them, thrown into a drawer!)
When you buy hair flowers or bows, even before you wear them, be sure to examine how they’re made. Some are better put together than others and depending on what they’re made from, you may want to add a little “TLC” of your own to make sure your go-to favorites last a long time.
Edge care (Nail polish or "Fray Check")
I will sometimes add a small coating of cheap clear nail polish along all the edges of bows and flowers. It’s easy to do, only takes a few minutes, and will help stop edges from fraying. Test a small area first on the underside of the flower or bow, just to see if it absorbs the polish or if it changes the color. Just add a little and be sure to let it dry for a few hours. Once your test area is done and nothing funny happened, you can go along and add enough to coat the edges. Again be sure to let it dry. Other people use different products and techniques. Lil’ Darlin’ Accessories suggests a coating of “fray check” that can be purchased from JoAnn Fabrics. Graveside Looks burns the edges of her bows so they don’t fray. Don't try this one at home, kids!
If the edges of your flowers or bows are already starting to fray, you can trim the frayed edges with sharp scissors and then reinforce them as explained above.
Repair (Hot Glue)
Even the best of us come unglued once in a while! If your hair accessory has detached from its clip (a very common problem) a little hot glue might be all you need to repair that favorite flower or bow. The high temperature hot glue sticks to almost anything, and is easy to work with. Practice on junk material (scrap paper/fabric/plastic/etc) before you try it on your beloved hair accessory. And be careful, that hot glue is, well, HOT!
Storage
Once you’ve made the hair accessories of your dreams last forever how do you store them? I find the best thing to do is to make sure they’re not crushed. If you can avoid stacking them, that will help the flowers and bows keep their shape. I know many gals keep theirs in a shoebox, or a few shoe boxes.
Another good way to store them is to hang them. Get a nice ribbon and make a loop at one end, make some knots along the ribbon a few inches apart and hang it up. Then add your flowers and hair bows on the ribbon. That way you’re not pawing through a box to find the right flower or color and everything is right in front of you. This is really a cute idea because you can hang the ribbons around a vanity or bathroom. If you have a little girl she can even pick out flowers and bows to wear because she can see them all!
Another option is to use a fabric memo board holder. There are many variations and colors available at the store, but you can make your own too. It’s just a rectangular board covered in fabric with criss cross ribbon throughout. You can just clip your flowers to it and it makes a nice decoration not only for you hair but for your wall!
I hope this gives some new insight on how to care and store hair items, if you have your own way that works, please let us know. Have fun doing your hair!
-Julie Ann
This article comes as a special request from Zara Risoldi C--a lovely customer! I also want to give a special thanks to Lil’ Darlin’ Accessories for contributing advice!