woven no-slip barrettes

remember these barrettes from the eighties? or probably more like the late seventies? my mom made me a million of these - in every imaginable color combination for every holiday and outfit. i decided to try to make some of these for my daughter, but i also wanted to try out some ways of making them stay in her hair. these barrettes are really quite easy to make - they take a little time, but with some practice you could get really fast. you just need some of those two-bar barrettes that you can get at the grocery, some 1/8" satin or grosgrain ribbon, fray check, and some buttons or beads for embellishing the strands. oh, and if you want them to be no-slip then you also need some super glue and hi-polymer eraser (although next time i'm going to see how well craft foam sheets work instead) and an exacto knife for cutting the eraser. to make a two-color barrette: 1. cut out about a yard of each color of ribbon, 2. lay them on top of each other so that you have one combined strand, 3. start at the end of the barrette that doesn't open (you want the hanging strands to be at the open end of the barrette), 4. weave one side around the outside and thru the middle bar opening (open the above image larger to see the layout of the ribbons), 5. weave the other side around the outside and thru the middle bar opening, 6. keeping your strands straight/not twisted continue alternating like a braid down the barrette. make sure you don't twist and turn your strands and you'll have to push the woven strands up towards the beginning to get a tight braid. once you get towards the end you won't have to pull the ribbons as tight or keep pushing them up. when you run out of room just make sure you end with all the ribbons on the same side and thru the center of the barrette. they should stay in place now, but i put a little dab of fabric glue to ensure they stayed put. with the second barrette just make sure you start on a different side (right vs. left) and that the ribbons hang down in a mirror image of the first barrette. then add your beads or buttons to the hanging strands and tie off - i put a little fray check on the ends of the ribbons since they will unravel like crazy if you don't. now to make it a no-slip barrette. i cut off a slim piece of eraser, then trimmed it to the size of the barrette and super glued it to the inside. they are a little hard to clasp and open, but they are going to stay in her hair pretty darn well. to make the three-color version you do the same thing except that you aren't weaving with one doubled up strand of ribbon, you will weave each ribbon individually. these look so adorable and they make for great gifts.