self made hairtoys thread

**tuanyiji** · August 4th, 2022, 11:52 PM

Originally Posted by Lunnafindel

OMG I love this!! That looks like so much fun, I can't wait to see what you do with them! The gold ones in particular look like they'll be perfect.

I wonder if you can get "Trash Packages" like that in the US...

Thank you, I will update later when I have an actually project finished.
I heard there are “blind boxes” on amazon or other shopping websites, you can buy returned items on the cheap but you don’t know what’s inside the box.

**Shorty89** · August 5th, 2022, 07:03 PM

Whoa! What a stash, tuanyiji.

**TatsuOni** · August 13th, 2022, 09:16 AM

I made a small hairnet with beads.

**Ada-banana** · August 16th, 2022, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by bparnell75

Here are the types of molds I used. Some of these I modified.

Here are the sticks made,

While there are many flaws: bubbles, etc, I am able to use them for about two hours
then they get soft and the bun gets lose. They bend too easily, never really getting hard like wood
I am going to do one more with a skewer down the middle to see if it will make a difference.

I know they use metal pins inside, so they won't become soft. I saw this on etsy, an acryllic hairfork with a mistake.

**KokotheHen** · June 14th, 2023, 10:09 AM

I recently started experimenting with carving my own hair sticks out of branches. I was curious to see if they could then be painted on, and since the only paint that i had on hand was watercolor, I used that (except I didn't add a lot of water, so the paint was still thick, if that makes sense). I thought it wouldn’t work, but surprisingly it did

I actually really like the finished dried result but since i used watercolor, the paint starts to smear if I touch it/ it gets wet

I wonder if any sealant could be used? Clear nail polish, maybe? Does anyone know?

**neko_kawaii** · June 14th, 2023, 11:25 AM

Clear nail polish is certainly worth a try. Maybe on a sample you haven’t put so much work on first.

**MusicalSpoons** · June 14th, 2023, 12:51 PM

Aww, it's beautiful KokotheHen

**KokotheHen** · June 14th, 2023, 02:39 PM

Neko_kawaii, I think I will try that!

Thank you musicalspoons!!

**-Aithne-** · June 15th, 2023, 10:03 AM

KokotheHen, that's so beautiful! I didn't know watercolors could be so shiny and vivid! It reminds me of the colors they use for that Arizona Iced Tea can (which I always thought was so beautiful). Was that your inspiration?

...I don't know anything about sealants or paints, but I know Mod Podge is a water based sealant. This page says that you can use it to seal watercolor, but since they are both water based, it could reactivate the water colors if you brush over it too many times (does that mean you should seal things in something with a different base?), so maybe it's not the best idea. I just thought of it because my Mom uses it for puzzles and it's supposed to be non-toxic and safe for even kids to use...

**KokotheHen** · June 15th, 2023, 03:36 PM

Thank you so much Aithne!! I used metallic watercolor paints that were in tubes, which is why i could layer them on. I originally just started painting cherry blossoms on a teal background because I like flowers and teal is one of my favorite colors, but you are 100% right that it looks like an Arizona tea can (which I also think is so pretty)!

Thank you for the mod podge idea! I feel like it could work, but I don’t have any on hand now. I’ll have an excuse make more hairsticks to try it out though

I decided to try clear nail polish and it worked surprisingly well! The sticks are smooth and coated. I’ll have to add photos later. The only problem is that the two hairsticks I tried the polish on smell strongly of it (and I don’t really like the scent of nail polish). Maybe I could stick them in a bag of baking soda? Or coffee grounds?