DIY Creaseless Hair Ties

Fashion.

These creaseless hair ties are all over the place.  I see them online, in magazines, stores,   EVERYWHERE!  I went to pick up a pack at Target the other day and realized that I would be spending about $5 on three hair things that were just elastics knotted at the end.  Yes, my frugal side kicked in and I immediately went to the craft store.

Joanne Fabric had an array of elastics that were prices from $1.99 for basic colors to $2.99 for printed elastics.  Each package contains one yard of elastic.  That would allow one to make numerous ties for yourself and some friends.

The printed and colorful elastics were cute, but I am pretty neutral when it comes to hair accessories.  I chose to buy black, white, and a ruffled brown.  They were really easy to make and only required about 10 minutes to make a whole bunch. 

With the amount of elastic I bought, I was able to make about five hair ties with each color.  At the price of $1.99 - $2.99 that would break down to $0.40- $0.60 per hair tie.  That is saving you ~75% of what they would cost in the store. 

Here are the easy steps.

Collect your materials. Elastics, scissors, something for measuring, lighter.

Cut the elastic to a desired length.  I have a good amount of thin straight hair and I cut my elastics to 7 inches.  This allowed me to tie up my hair looping twice with just the right amount of tightness on the pony tail.  If you have really thick hair and a lot of it, you might want to make the cut longer

Fold the elastic in half length wise.

Tie a knot close to the end and pull it tight leaving some elastic sticking out.

Singe the end of the elastic with a lighter so it does not fry.  Warning, it will catch on fire if you leave it on the elastic.  It also will melt so be careful and don't touch it with your hand.

Done.  This is the ruffle brown one I made.  

If you don’t want to use a lighter, you can always put some clear nail polish or fray check.

If you use white elastic, then do not use the lighter.  The burn marks will show and discolor the elastic at the ends. Use clear nail polish or fray check. 

After finishing this little project and putting my hair up for pictures, I left the pony tail in my hair for a few hours.  When I took it out, it was like I didn’t even have it up.  #winning

<3 mk

Inside Out Modern Bun Helper

Fashion.

I was inspired by this look from Jetting to the Wedding via Pinterest and tried it at home.  Anytime there is an easy updo, I want to do it. The messy bun is a style I rock on the regular. When I went try this out it wasn’t as quick and easy as I wanted it to be. I have layered hair and there was difficulty pulling all the layers through the hole.  

In comes the helper, a zip tie. I have spoken about my love for these zip ties before for home projects and now I can say I have used it for hair purposes.

What is inside the white container?  Click here

Put your hair into a ponytail at the crown of your head. If you have hair like mine, straight and fine, back comb in a c-shape motion on the top and sides of the head.  This will give you some volume and not such a pulled back, slick look.

Spray your pulled back hair and ponytail with some hair spray before; it will help keep those flyaways contained.  I use Moroccan Oil hairspray, it is light and smells delicious.

Take the zip tie and pull it so it circles your ponytail.  Make sure there is enough room in the loop to fit your fingers.

With the pointed end of the zip tie, aim it towards the front center of the pony below the hair elastic.

 Push the zip tie end through the center until you see it peeping out the back.

With your finger, gently make the small hole you created with the zip tie larger to allow all of your hair to pull through.

It is easiest if you use your thumb and pointer finger and pull through using the end of the zip tie from the back.  To ensure the zip tie does not tighten further, put your finger in the loop as you pull it through.  If it does tighten, not a problem, it will come off your hair, but you will not be able to easily reuse it.   No big deal, it costs less than five cents.

Having layered hair, the bottom piece sticking through doesn’t lay right.  You can take the pieces and wrap them around to the front going in both directions.  They will be hidden by the mess bump you have just created. Secure with some bobby pins, some hair spray and you are done.

To make the bobby pins hold, spray them with hairspray before inserting.  You can use both bobby pins and hair pins.

Hint-  To make sure the bobby pin hold, spray them with hairspray before inserting into hair.

<3 mk