How to Create a Beautiful Bridal Hair Comb

Bridal hair combs are a beautiful way to complement your gown on your wedding day. A lovely keepsake from your special day, these little treasures can be passed down to future generations. The designs are frequently intricate and can be quite expensive to buy at retail, so you can save money by making your own. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create your own crystal hair comb by wiring and gluing a variety of embellishments. Let's get started.

Supplies

• Plastic hair comb.
• Large flower brooch.
• Clear bicone Swarovski crystals.
• Clear flatback Swarovski crystals.
• Clear flat sew-on Swarovski crystals.
• Silver 20 gauge and 26 gauge tarnish-resistant craft wire.
• E6000 Industrial Strength clear glue. (Use proper ventilation as the fumes are strong.)
• Wire cutters.
• Needle-nose pliers.

1. Secure the Crystal Flower

Step 1

Turn the flower brooch upside down, so the pin is facing up. Pick up your wire cutters and remove and cut both sides of the pin. Cover the pin with your hand so it doesn't go flying. Completely remove the pin.

Step 2

Take the industrial-strength clear glue and add a good blob to the back centre portion of the crystal flower. Now, face the flower with the crystal side up and place it on the top left portion of the plastic comb. Refer to the photo for exact placement. Hold the flower in place for approximately 10 minutes as the glue sets.

Step 3

Using the wire cutters, snip a long piece of your thick wire. If you run out, you can always add more, so the length is not specific.

Step 4

Place the wire in between the first teeth of the the plastic hair comb. The majority of the wire should be in front of the plastic teeth, and a small piece of the end of the wire should be behind the comb.

Step 5

Take the pliers and hold the top of the wire. Begin to wrap the wire around the first tooth of the hair comb. This will secure the small end of the wire, which is in the back of the comb.

Step 6

Continue to wrap the wire in between the plastic teeth, and over the top of the plastic comb, until you reach the crystal flower. Continue weaving the wire in and out through the large spaces in the the crystal flower. The wire will help secure the glued crystal flower in place.

2. Add the Bicone Crystals

Step 1

Once the flower is secured, take a bicone crystal and add it to you your wire, sliding it all the way down the wire.

Step 2

The crystal should rest on top of the plastic comb. Now add a second crystal the same way. There should be two crystals in a row. Create the rows of crystals all the way to the end of the comb.

Step 3

Take your wire cutters and snip the excess wire. Make sure to leave a small piece of wire at the end.

Now take the pliers and grab the end of the wire. Roll the pliers over to wrap the end piece of wire underneath one of the other wire loops. You will need to twist the wire a few times. As you you see in the photo below, we are creating a small, tight coil so the wire is held tight and does not unravel.

3. Create the Crystal Floral Spray

Step 1

Switch to your 26 gauge wire, which is the thinner wire. Slide the wire between the plastic teeth of the comb, as shown in the photo. You should start to make the first spring, placing it to the right of the flower. Fold the wire in half. The first half should rest on top of the comb, and the other half of the wire should be under the comb. Now start twisting the wires together tightly.

Once you've twisted a few centimetres of wire, separate the ends and create a loop with one end. Now continue to wrap the rest of the wire all the way down to the top of the come. You will still have the other half of the wire sticking up.

Step 2

Now take the other half of the wire and create a second loop, twisting the wire all the way down. It may not reach the top of the comb so just tuck the end under another piece of wire.

Step 3

Add two more loops to the first spray. Fold another piece of wire in half, between the plastic teeth. Twist the two halves of wire together around your first original spray. Add as many loops as you like as you will eventually cover them in crystals. We are building small leaves or sprays surrounding the flower, so they don't need to be perfectly placed.

Step 4

Following the same steps as you learned above, create another spray. This spray has 6 loops.

Step 5

Using a pin, add a small amount of glue to each loop.

Step 6

Using your fingers or tweezers, place your first crystal on top of the loop. Be careful when placing the crystals, as the sprays are delicate and the glue is wet. You can use a mix of small flat-back crystals, and the larger flat-back crystals on the loops.

Step 7

Slightly bend the wire sprays to the right, creating a natural-looking arch above the comb.

Step 8

Create a third spray, and add the crystals using the same process you learned above. Bend the spray underneath, making a "U" shape. It should be the opposite shape as the first two sprays, as shown in the photo below.

Step 9

Finish off the wire as demonstrated in previous steps. Snip the end of the wire, leaving a small piece at the end. Tuck it under another piece of the wire in the back of the comb. Now twist several times to create the coil.

Wear Your Comb

Congratulations! You're done.

In this tutorial, we've walked through a relatively simple technique of wiring crystals to a plastic comb. By twisting the wire into natural vine-like tendrils, you can experiment with creating various other designs.

We've also demonstrated how to attach a solid metal flower brooch to the comb, using a combination of industrial-strength glue and wiring. This technique can be applied to any other object you might like to attach, such as a silk flower or vintage brooch.

Now all you need to do is take is along with you to your hairdresser, and create your dream bridal look with your gorgeous hair piece.

Thinking of making your own hair piece for your wedding day? Have you found this tutorial inspirational? Let us know your ideas in the comment section below.