Weddingbee Blog

Today has been one of the biggest, most exciting wedding-related days of our entire engagement: Our DIY save the dates, which we’ve been toiling on and hot-gluing and printing and screaming about for the last month, are finally in the mail and we’re experiencing something like empty nest syndrome. Weird?

So until guests start ripping apart the mustard yellow, sealed-with-care envelopes to reveal our beloved wedding date, I have to keep quiet about them. Because yes, I want them to be surprised. And I’m pretty sure that maybe one of our guests follows Weddingbee, and damnit, I want them to be surprised, too.

So until then, let’s talk about things other than paper goods. How about hair accessories? I don’t know about you, but I think charging hundreds (yes, plural) of dollars for a handmade fabric flower is pure crazytalk.

Now this might not really apply to lots of readers. Maybe you’re cool with splurging because you’re going to wear some super-duper flower cluster on your wedding day, and it’s your wedding, so who cares how much it costs?

But not for this gal. Since my hair isn’t even ponytail-length, I rely on a steady stream of hair accessories. Like, every single day. I even have plaid flowers for winter. No, seriously. But this is getting a little off topic.

My recent DIY project, spurred by distaste for overpriced Etsy finds:

Yes, I am wearing a Hanson T-shirt circa 1997. Don’t act like you’re not jealous.

A sassy bow/birdcage veil combo! Maybe it’s a little too funky for your traditional wedding, but for your engagement photos OR as a unique reception look? YES. Or you could totally rock a smaller bow in a stiffer, more muted fabric for an adorable ’50s-inspired ceremony look.

The total cost for this project is just $8.75. So even if the holidays just about broke you or the gas prices around you are skyrocketing, you can probably afford to make one.

Let it be known that the size of the bow is completely up to you. I happen to have large hair and therefore only love large hair accessories. Plus, I liked the idea of a over-sized bow to look ultra-girly in an editorial-magazine-feature sort of way. You dig?

What you’ll need:

I bought:

• 1 yard of champagne-colored netting for $1.50
• 1 yard discounted floppy, floral fabric for $3.00
• 1 sheet white sparkle felt for $.25
• Fabric glue for $2
• Sturdy hair comb for $2

Other things I used:

• Iron
• Needle & thread
• Scissors

Also pictured is a plain headband I already had, just in case I wanted to attach it to that instead of a comb. There are also some random embellishments and buttons in the picture, which could easily be used to jazz everything up.

Step 1:

First I cut a rectangle of my floppy, floral fabric. Because I wanted an over-sized bow, my rectangle is 22-inches long and 11-inches wide.

Step 2:

Next, fold the sides in to meet in the middle. Remember, the pretty side should be on the inside in this step! And if your rectangle isn’t perfect, it doesn’t matter. Look, mine is all messed up, and up until this point, it was my little secret.

Step 3:

Because 1) I don’t have a sewing machine, and 2) I wouldn’t know how to use a sewing machine if one magically appeared on my doorstep, I hand stitched the top and bottom openings and left the middle open. This allowed me to turn it inside out, and now it resembles a pillow sham. The pretty side should now be showing.

Step 4:

Fold in half, top to bottom. The un-sewed opening will be on the inside of this fold. What an easy step!

Step 5:

Take a little piece of thread and cinch the center of your little folded nugget. Another easy step, and see? It’s already looking bow-like!

Step 6:

I cut another piece of the floral fabric, this time about 8-inches long. From there, I ironed in three pleats to give it some dimension. Was this really necessary? Maybe not. But I like pleats. Whatever.

Step 7:

I cut some of the length off & sewed it up to resemble a fabric napkin ring. Because that’s kind of what it’s going to be doing. Once you’ve gone this far, slip it around the bow. Voila!

Step 8:

Next, I measured out about 11 inches of my netting and cut out a square.

Step 9:

I did a pleated-gathering thing with one side, stitched it up with some thread, and then did a freehand cut of the loose ends. The goal is to cut the bottom into a curve, so it will frame your face without any harsh corners.

FYI: This might take a few cuts to get the perfect shape for your face.

Step 10:

After that, I simply glued the veil to the back of the bow with a dollop of fabric glue and covered up my mess with a felt circle.

From here, you can sew or glue it on your hair clip or headband.

And that’s IT! Done and cleaned up in less than an hour. What do you think? Would you ever wear something like this? Would you make the bow smaller, or—gasp!—bigger? I was planning on wearing this in our engagement photos, but I forgot and kicked myself over it for weeks. Now, I plan on wearing it to our wedding shower, along with a girly frock I got for $.50 at a garage sale.

And now I’m off to brainstorm more unique hair accessory options since I have, oh, 99 percent of my fabric left. You know what’s so awesome about that? It would basically make them FREE.

Have you considered making your own hair accessories, too? Are you so tired of finding cute accessories, only to be saddened by their incredibly high prices? Did you DIY your own birdcage veil? Links & pics are always welcome!