Beaded Barrettes

Nadine Hartman Bourne
by Nadine Hartman Bourne
3 Materials
$4
30 Minutes
Easy
Years ago I got some pretty beaded barrettes from I think it was K-mart. I love them and since I am letting my hair grow out I need something to pin it up. I went to every store I could think of and I just couldn't find anything that looked like normal barrettes. They all look like a bobby pin or the kind that bend to open and close and those types don't hold much hair. So what is a girl to do??? I was at Hobby Lobby the other day killing time and I discovered they sell a baggy full of what I needed for the clip part of the barrette. I think it was 20 pieces for about $4 and I have a ton of beads so let's get to work... Oh I should note I also later found the same kind at Walmart in the beading section.
This is the inspiration, the store bought one. I have one pair... I need more...icon
Gather up the supplies .... beads lots and lots of beads, wire, wire cutters, pliers and the barrette base. You could probably use string, the kind used for stringing beads, but I don't know how well that would hold up to prolonged use. The one I bought was made with wire. I used sterling silver dead soft wire. It is expensive about $35 an ounce. I had it left over from a crochet beaded bracelet I made years ago as a Christmas present. You can use any wire it just has to be flexible enough to bend around and over and under wires at the end.
Start stringing a bunch of beads on the wire. I didn't cut it to length I had no idea how much I would need and I didn't want to waste the wire. The order of the beads really doesn't matter as you will be putting on more than one layer. Also take the barrette apart. If you plan on making more than one set at a time. I suggest leaving at least one Barrette in tact so you can use it as a reference to put it back together.
Poke a 1 inch length of wire through the hole in one end of the barrette. Bend it and hold it along the top and cover it with beads. You will be wrapping the wire around it to anchor it in place.
Lay a bead or two along the top of the barrette and wrap the wire around. Lay some more and wrap it around. You can see the wire better here as I wrap the beads around. Keep going until you get to the end. Larger beads you will only want to place one then wrap, then place a couple of little ones and wrap...
This is the end of the first barrette. I trimmed the wire and ran it through the hole. I then bent it to the back side and with the pliers ran it under the wires.
Here is the underside it isn't very pretty, but my first attempt usually isn't. This also was some random scrap wire that I had. I have no idea the gauge, it was just enough for the first 2 barrettes. After that nothing I had was soft enough to bend and I used the dead soft wire. To the right you can see the badly bent wire that I ran under. This is how I anchored it in place. I had thought about twisting it some how but I couldn't think how with out scratching my scalp.
Here I am trying to show that it was 2 layers of beads.
This was the second set I made. the beads were smaller I did 3 passes of beads on this set. Let your creativity fly pile on the beads as much as you want until you are happy with it.
Just a little tip. If you consume something like Tic Tacs or anything in that kind of close-able container save it to put your beads in. I bought a bunch of these "Pearls" on clearance at walmart a while back for some insanely cheap price like 25 cents a strand cheap.
Here is the store bought one and my 2 sets. You can see the pastel set the wire isn't as noticeable. That was the sterling silver dead soft wire. It blended in better and was much easier to bend.


Let your imagination run wild. Black beads with copper wire would be pretty too or turquoise beads and copper wire. I have seen wire in a few colors just be sure it bends easy.


Please note if you need to go buy supplies it will cost you more than the $4 I spent. I already had everything except the barrette base. If you get them at walmart I think they were $3. They also have a pretty good selection of inexpensive beads.
Suggested materials:
  • Barrette bases   (Hobby lobby or Walmart)
  • Beads   (my bead stash but any craft store will have them)
  • Soft wire   (my craft pile. but again any craft store)
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4 of 6 comments
  • William William on Aug 07, 2017

    Pretty! These would be great for little girls or preteens.

  • Rose Broadway Rose Broadway on Aug 07, 2017

    I, too, am letting my hair grow and needed this. I finally found what I wanted but it was almost $6. I went ahead and bought it, but now I know what to do with all my beads and wire. Yours are gorgeous, and thank you for the idea!

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