Barrette Collector

When I was a kid, I always had short hair.  I kept it short through my 20's.  When we moved aboard our sailboat in 1988, I decided to grow my hair long.  I've been collecting barrettes ever since.  I store them clipped to belts that are hanging from hooks in my closet.  That way, I can see them all at a glance.  Pretty clever, huh?

I have polymer clay barrettes, beaded barrettes, fused glass barrettes, carved wood barrettes, birch bark barrettes (favs), metal barrettes -- I think you get the idea.  I have barrettes . A lot.

While browsing etsy one day last year, I found Restringit, who was offering these awesome mixed metal barrettes at an extremely reasonable price.  I bought two.

 

Aren't they great?

Beaded Barrettes

These labor intensive lovelies get plenty of attention in my etsy shop and at craft shows. They require the kind of beadwork that takes intense concentration and constant measuring. The beaded panel is completed before the piece is attached to the barrette finding.

Freeform bead weaving can use all of the stitches, but the ones I use most are peyote, brick, and right-angle-weave. Looking for the perfect "add-on", such as a pearl or a single gemstone is the fun part. The difficult part is including it in such a way that it looks very much at home in the piece.

These barrettes are all one-of-a-kind. I couldn't repeat them, even if I wanted to. I use high quality barrette findings that are made in France. The beaded panels are sewn securely onto the finding as a separate step in the process.

Click here to see more photos of each of these barrettes.

Don't forget, newsletter subscribers get 25% off any one item in my etsy store!