How To Make & Repair Ball Hair Bands (aka Ballies)

Hair ballies, ball hair bands, whatever you call them, these are the hair bands I loved in childhood.  All 3 of us girls wore ponytails and braids with these growing up.  They were so much easier to use, prettier and more comfortable than plain elastic hairbands and they always stayed in place.  I love using them on my own very thick-haired daughter now.  

The challenge is finding them.  When I was a kid every drug store had big packages with lots of colors and sizes available.  It's taken me some serious online & beauty supply store searching to find any the past couple of years and the selection & quality has been pretty limited.  The few I'd found were pretty wimpy and fall apart quickly.

I grew tired of having the elastic stretch out like this:

Or having them just come apart after a couple of months of wear.  The ones I had as a kid lasted for decades, but the ones today don't make it past a few months!

I figured there HAD to be a way to reuse the beads to make new ones and came up with this technique.  After months of using them, I can say my DIY'd hair ballies really hold up well - way better than the factory made versions. 

And I also figured out how to make the perfect hair ballies from scratch, using silicone beads.  These are perfectly sized, really durable and can be made in tons of colors.  They're the same kind that I used to make my silicone baby teethers.  

I used the 19mm size since we wanted to make hair bands that were for "big girl" ponytails, but the smaller 12 or 15mm would be ideal for smaller size hair bands. 

It's also very easy so anyone can do it.  I was able to make a bunch in all sorts of colors to match my daughter's outfits:

Now I'm sharing how to do it!

Materials:
- 2mm Elastic Cord (found in most craft stores)
- Plastic balls from hair bands or silicone beads
- Ruler
- Scissors

Cut a piece of elastic cord that's 12 inches long (25.4mm):

String on two beads and arrange them so the balls are 4 inches apart.  Cross the open ends of the elastic.  Fold the top strand of the elastic over the lower end and bring it down under the middle of the other side.

It helps to weigh down the balls or have someone hold them in place to keep things from shifting around.  It will look like this:

Bring the open ends upward and tie in a basic knot.

Knot again, pulling very tightly.

Snip the law ends close to the knot and the band is done. 

It literally takes less than a minute to make one, so you can make a bunch in no time.  Bring on the ponytails!

DIY St. Patrick's Day Hair Ribbon Accessory

Today I'm sharing a super simple project for St. Patrick's Day:  DIY Hair Ribbon Band and a recently learned lesson about letting go when life throws your plans out of the window.

I always LOVE the idea holiday themed shirts and outfits for kids, but after so many years as a mom I've realized it's a bit like throwing money out the window.  Holiday clothes rarely fit for more than one year and the seasons for them are so short, you get maybe a couple weeks of wear (if you're on top of the laundry and the kids don't fight you about wearing it a lot) and then boom! It's over and time to pack it up.  

This year especially, with St. Patrick's Day and Easter being less than 2 weeks apart, it feels extra insane.  It's also pricey when you have several kids (I'll soon have 4!).  A hat or hair accessory, however, will last for years, doesn't get outgrown and potentially works for multiple kids over time.  It's also cheaper.   WIN! 

Adding to that, I'm in the final weeks of my 4th pregnancy and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get to everything I feel needs attention.  Being busier than ever and more worn out than ever is not the ideal combination.  When just going up the stairs is exhausting, you've gotta adjust the priorities.  Lots has been put on hold and I feel really unproductive. 

Yet, despite lofty goals, it's got to be about the easy right now.  I've been trying to do a few simple projects just to give myself some moments of craft enjoyment (and being off my feet), but nothing that stresses me out, takes loads of time to do or takes away from daily needs.

This hair accessory is a way to still have some holiday flair, but only takes a little time to put together.

Materials:
- Assorted ribbons
- St. Patrick's Day Buttons & Charms (these are from my shop HERE) 
- Hair elastic
- Lighter, hot glue gun, scissors, ruler

This set of buttons & charms from my shop made this project really simple. I still had a bunch left to make a second one or to use to embellish something for my guys:

I scrounged my stash for various green and gold trimmed ribbons and cut several to be around 11 inches.  They didn't need to be exact since staggering them looks better:

I ran the cut edges under a lighter to heat seal them to prevent fraying.  I used my open shamrock charms with my thinnest ribbon and looped the ends around them and then put a dab of hot glue to hold them:

To keep the shamrock buttons facing up (instead of turning sideways) I pulled the ribbon upward and put a little more glue between the loop and the button back to keep it straight.

I layered them together and pinch in the center.  To attach them to the hair band, I wrapped a one inch piece of the widest ribbon around the center of the ribbon pile and the hair elastic, rolling it up and leaving a little tail:

I trimmed down the tail and heat sealed it and dabbed a line of glue before I rolled it closed:

Then I glued on my big Happy Saint Patrick's Day button over the seam and the hair band was good to go:

I'm grateful for simple wins like this right now.  I'd anticipated having all our baby stuff ready to go a month ago so I could focus on spending time with the kids and getting to a few long neglected craft projects before life really gets crazy, but my daughter's accident early in the year and other issues threw my whole plan out of whack.  Seeing this project done makes me feel a little more on top of things and at least we've got a hint of the holiday in the house!   

Tutorial Time: DIY Floral Stretch Headbands

Lately I have been feeling super slow on progress with new projects.  Like a sloth could craft quicker than me these days.  It's a busy time of year and cleaning up has trumped a lot of "I wanna make something" time.  Luckily this how-to was fast, fun AND gave me a chance to use up some supplies collecting dust, so it's a stash-buster too!  DIY Floral Headbands.  SO worth making!!

I've seen a lot of make-yourself headbands over the years, but a lot of styles just don't work for us personally.  The versions with wider elastic bands or that use plastic headbands never really stay put or feel comfy for me or my little lady.  These totally do and match almost everything in her summer wardrobe. Plus, they look so lovely on:

I literally could not stop taking pictures of them outside!

They look like we just plucked them from the garden, which I love:

Making them is pretty easy AND cheap (in my case free, since I had all the gear in my ridiculous hoarder stash).



Materials:
- Thin elastic hairbands (can find at drugstore)
- Faux flowers & leaves
- Felt
- Hot glue gun 
- Scissors
- Optional: Cuttlebug or die-cutter

To attach everything to the elastic, I used small felt shapes.  You could just cut some plain circles or strips, but I was feeling fancy (and had this little flower shaped die), so I cut a bunch with my Cuttlebug.  

This makes them look pretty on the back side too:



I pulled some flowers off the random bunches I had:

I made sure the centers stayed intact:

I then clipped off the plastic bits at the back that stuck out so they would lay flat, adding a little hot glue to keep the layers all together:

I layered a felt piece under the hairband and then a blob of hot glue.

I put a flower on top and pressed the felt towards the flower to get everything to stick together.

I continued with more flowers to get the looks I wanted on each of them.  For one I also wove some leaf ribbon around as I added flowers for a garland look: 

They look just like some I've seen in stores, but were a lot thriftier and also had the exact color combinations I wanted to match various outfits.

These are great to wear in the usual headband ways, but also are great double wrapped around buns for easy up-do decoration:

I've got a few bands left, so I'll be making a few more.  That way I don't have to steal these from my 6 year old.  Mom's got to have pretty hair too, right?

Make It Easy: DIY Elasticized Organza Ruffle Trim & Use Ideas

Today I've got a new how-to for making a beautiful and versatile trim: Elasticized Organza Ruffles! This technique makes it easy to create gorgeous ruffles with delicate ribbon.  It's useful for loads of applications and the elastic is totally hidden, so only the beauty of the ribbon shows. Use them as clothing detailing, straps, hair accessories - even as embellishments to favorite toys. 

Find out my shortcut way to make 'em, 

plus a bunch of fun & easy project ideas for using them:

Materials

- 1.5 inch wide Organza ribbon (2.5 times the finished length desired)

- 3/8 inch wide Lastin clear elastic 

- Lightweight fabric sewing machine needle

- Coordinating thread

- Item to embellish or pattern piece + fabric

I got some fantastic organza ribbon from BB Crafts.  These ribbon spools come in nearly 50 colorful, shimmery shades and have 25yds each so there's plenty for loads of projects. There are a lot of other great varieties of ribbon too.  And at less than ten cents per yard for these, very affordable.

The secret to easily making these amazing & stretchy ruffles is Lastin clear elastic. This is similar to what you see as clear bra straps & hanging loops in clothing, but much stronger and meant to be stretched.  It's pretty inexpensive (less than $1/yd) too. It's ideal to pair with organza ribbon because it's strong, has great stretch and is clear, so it will not show through the transparent ribbon.  And unlike just sewing ribbon directly onto fabric, this addition makes the ruffles perfect to use on knits or anywhere you still want to have some "give".

I find 1.5 inch wide ribbon ideal for my ruffle size, but you could go narrower or wider if preferred.  Flip ribbon wrong side up and place elastic cut to desired length on top in center. Back stitch together at end for a few stitches to anchor and then begin to stitch together with a narrow straight stitch while pulling the elastic towards yourself and downward.  Pull tauter for a tighter ruffle, or just slightly for a looser version.

You'll begin to see the ribbon ruffling up behind the presser foot:

I find it easiest to hold the end of the ribbon behind the machine with one hand while I pull the elastic with the other.  It helps keep everything straight and even:

Back stitch again at end.  I like to ruffle my ribbon right on the spool so I never end up short and then just cut off when done.  You'll end up with a pretty ruffle like this:

Project Uses:

Cuff Ruffles: I'm showing how to apply this as a cuff embellishment on pants, but the same steps would apply to a sleeve, neckline, etc.  I find it easiest to use a pant pattern that has a single piece for each leg (therefore, only one inside seam), but a front+back pattern works too, you just need to stitch the outer side seams together first.  Or, to add to completed pants, unpick the inside leg seam near the bottom to have the same flat panel to stitch on.

Measure the width of the pant leg (or cuff or whatever you are trimming).  Cut the clear elastic to be 2 inches longer so you have some wiggle room for starting & stopping.

Stitch the hem next.  This makes it easy to place the ruffles and not have to worry about accidentally top-stitching over them later:

Make ruffle as shown above.  Pin the organza ruffle directly over the hem stitching, pinning frequently to keep it straight:

Stitch down the center of the ruffle along the previous stitching.

Add another row (or more) of ruffles just above it (I spaced my stitching 2 inches apart) and then complete the pants as normal.

This really dresses up a plain item like these fleece pants into something fun & fancy:

Ruffled Ponytail Cover: Make a ruffle that's 2.5 to 3 inches long and fold it in half wrong side out. Stitch down the short end, cut off excess and heat seal raw ends with a lighter to prevent fraying. 

Turn right side out and you've got a cute little ruffled accent for ponytails.

Ruffle Hair Puff: Alternatively skip the elastic and just baste stitch down the center of a 12 inch strip of organza.  Pull the bobbin threads to make a little ruffle puff and double knot.  

Heat seal the raw edges and tie to an elastic band for another cute little hair poof-style accessory:

So simple but such a nice look for a ponytail:

Doll/Toy Clothing: Pair up both styles to make fantastic costumes for dolls and small toys like this My Little Pony.  They're easy for little hands to get on & off and are incredibly inexpensive to make , so you can create an entire toy wardrobe for next to nothing.  

My daughter literally gasped when she saw her pony all dressed up and then brought me 5 more that "needed outfits", so I obliged.  It literally took 5 minutes to whip up enough for them all.   Since they were looking chic we had to do a pony fashion show, all lit-up, catwalk-style.  Work it ponies!

Other Use Ideas: Use them to make elastic straps for shoes, bridal accessories (super easy garter), clothing straps - just about anything.  Organza ribbon makes ruffles even prettier! And since it's so inexpensive to make, the possibilities really are endless!  What would you try them on?

I'm also sharing this project with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.

Click HERE to check them out!

I received compensation for this post. The opinions are completely my own, based on my experiences. For my complete disclosure policy, see HERE.