Mrs. K, I think there's something growing on your head...

Yes, this title is a real life statement I received at school the first day I wore one of these. My favorite and most used piece of hair flair is the white flower with the black feathers on the left in the picture above. That is the flower I received that oh-so-sweet comment about.

I got the idea to create some hair flair when I went to get my hair cut the last time. I went in needing something different, and the girl doing my hair really spiced it up for me. I LOVE this new cut. Anyway, she had a big black flower in her hair, and I loved it. My cut would nicely accommodate a few blooms too, so I went in search of the much coveted bloom.

On my hunt, I found several. They were all cute, all on alligator clips (so they'll work on a sweater or a head of hair), and all over $8.00 each. I loved them all and had to have one. However, I'm a girl on a budget. I need things to spice up the old wardrobe on occassion, but I don't necessarily want to splurge on things that aren't necessities either.

I started looking these little pretties over a little closer to find they were all constructed in a very similar manner. As previously stated, all were on alligator clips situated in the middle of a bloom--either sewn on or hot glued. I decided I could easily recreate them.

That's when I took off to Hobby Lobby (the mother ship for my kind) and found all I could possibly need. I already had a hot glue gun and plenty of sticks, so we won't put that into the equation. I bought a pack of 12 alligator clips--from the jewelry/beading section for $1.99--full price. The floral stems were on sale for 50% off, so I bought several that I thought I could use. I left Hobby Lobby spending just under $20.00.

I went home and started gluing. I made eight pieces of hair flair and wasted next to nothing. All I threw away was a pile of stems; all else was used. This project took me about 15 minutes--to make all eight.

This particular stem came with two flowers, so naturally I had to use both. I bought two separate types of feathers to add a bit of a flair. The flower really is brown--though it looks a little orangy here.

These are just some basic stems that I chose to keep simple. They'll add a nice touch of spice when I need something easy.

I cut down the stems as far as they would go, centered the alligator clip over the stem, hot glued it, held it there until stable, and called it good!

Long story short, had I bought these retail I would have two of them for the same cost (tax and all). I picked out exactly what I wanted, took a few minutes to make them, and got much more bang for my buck.

Lingering thought: I'm not entirely sure why I used the phrase "bang for my buck." Really, it kind of irks me. In my head buck=deer. This should probably only be used in hunting talk--not monetary.