How to make metal "spring clasp" barettes hair safe

These items can be bought at any walmart or craft store.  A needle, some embroidery floss, and a piece of felt.  I chose brown. If you use a color that matches your hair, or any drab color, it won't be noticeable once its on the barette.  You can also use a little glue, any kind (You don't need it to hold for long, so nothing as tough as Krazy glue, just some rubber cement or anything you have around the house that dries quickly).

1.  Cut the felt so that you have 2 pieces, each the exact length of the metal part of the barette (not too long so it doesn't get in the way of the clasp), and slightly wider than the metal part.  If the decorative part of the barette is narrow (like on the silver barette below), you will have to be more careful to cut it closely.  Alternatively, you can cut one long piece (as you see on the white barette below, so that the hinge is also covered.  Measure this felt with the barette all the way open so the felt will be long enough. There is room at the hinge end for the felt to bunch up when the barette closes, but if you make the felt too short, it will hold the barette in a half closed position when its done. 2.  Use a drop of glue to attach the felt to the inside of the metal part of the barette, making sure the felt covers all the metal edges...if you use one long piece of felt, make sure the barette is open all the way. Wait for it to dry. 3.  The embroidery floss will have about 6 strands of thread, you can snip off a foot (30cm) of floss, divide it in half (2 pieces of floss with 3 strands each)  and thread the needle with one of them.  (You can also use all 6 strands, 3 just makes it easier to sew).  Tie a knot in one end of the thread. 4.  Sew the felt on the barettes going around and between the metal bars.  Start on the back side (the side that won't touch your hair when the barette is in) so your knot won't be on your hair (because you can put a dab of glue on the knot to hold and harden it when you're done, but you don't want that on the hair side).  Try to work it so you sew up one side and come back down the other, so that when you're finished stitching you can just tie the 2 ends of thread together (instead of trying to do one knot close to the felt). 5.  Put a dab of glue on the back side (non hair side) on a thread here and there just to keep the felt from flipping around.  You can omit that step if your barette has 2 bars, it can't flip if you stitched between them.

Other stuff you can make with items from the crafts department (they sell the metal barettes too).  Front left and back right of barettes and ponytail holders.  Even the small ones have been made hair safe.  Fake flowers were stitched onto metal barettes and elastic ponytail holders using embroidery floss.  Be aware that scrunchies are more hair safe that these thin elastics.  The little turtles and bees can just be glued on. For the velvet barette in front, the velvet cloth was wrapped around a piece of cardboard and the ugly side glued onto the barette (you need a stronger glue for that...krazy glue...be careful with that, it's a wicked fast glue!)

Bead strands from walmart sewn on elastic to make ponytail holder.

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