They seem like such a small thing to care about, but these are special, I swear! They are stretchy elastic, no tangle and double as a bracelet & look really cute at the same time.
The best part is they won't pull your hair out, & I have a lot of hair!! My locks are currently about 2 feet long, just to the small of my back, its curly, thick (heavy) and unruly most of the time, so I have been going through about 1 of these ties a week.
They cost about $1.50 at a local store, no biggie but lately I have been flying through my supply.
They go from looking like this :)
....to this :(
So as usual, I made my own.
I bought a bulk roll of elastic from a sewing supply store. 100 yards to be exact. That should last me a while. According to my calculations I can make approx 350 hair ties.
How I made them:
These are the dyes I had laying around already, in green, black, navy, and royal blue. I also used a scissor, rubber bands, a plastic fork, rubber gloves, hot water, cold water, a candle and various plastic dying cups.
I love them in a tie dye pattern. You don't need to dye them this way if you simply want them a solid color. But the variance & multi colors is my favorite part. So I used a couple rubber bands and tied up about 2 yards at a time into a small bundle.
I dipped the elastic into concentrated dye.
I placed the dipped elastic into a large tupperware, to set for a minute.
Then I poured a bit of hot water on top to activate the dye.
Let that sit for just a bit and scooped it up with my plastic fork.
I then plunged it into a cup of cold water.
Then I rinsed them off in the large tupperware in the sink until the water was clear and removed the rubber bands.
I hung them outside in the shade to air dry.
Cut them to length and tied a knot. I used the candle to heat melt the edges, so they won't unravel and fray.
And there you have it!
My hair should be supplied with ties for the next few years. They were really fun to make. I haven't tie dyed anything since I was a kid. It was so much fun, I may be tie dyeing things around the house for pure entertainment!
