Make a Hippie Headband

The hippie headband is a fun fashion trend that’s easy to make and to wear. You can make a hippie headband with a few simple materials and some hot glue. Whether you like felt, braided, or ribbon headbands, you can easily make your own hippie headband and wear it to your next outing.

Steps

Creating a Felt and Elastic Headband

1. Cut out shape from felt. Pick out one or two shapes to use on your headband. Draw the shapes on paper and cut it out to use as a pattern. Place the pattern on the felt and use a permanent marker to trace around the shape. Trace eight to ten shapes on the felt. Use scissors to cut out the shapes.
   • Make sure the shapes are small so you can fit them on the headband. Shapes that are about one to two inches wide work great. If you want bigger shapes, you will just have less on your headband.
   • Hearts, stars, flowers, and circles look great on a headband.
   • You can use two different shapes to alternate in a pattern.
2. Cut the elastic to fit around your head. Measure the elastic by wrapping it around your head. Pull the elastic to stretch a little while you measure. The elastic should be about one inch longer than the circumference around your head. Pinch the elastic with your fingers where you need to cut it, and bring it down to the table. Use scissors to cut the elastic where your fingers are.
3. Glue the felt to the elastic. Use a hot glue gun to glue your shapes onto the elastic. Start in the middle of the elastic and glue one shape onto the elastic. Move down the elastic about two inches from the center shape and glue another shape on. Glue another shape about two inches above the center shape. Continue adding shapes in both directions until you have about two inches of elastic left on either end.
   • You should have the same amount of shapes on either side of the center shape.
4. Glue the elastic ends together. Overlap the elastic ends so that one end is on top of the other and glue them together with the hot glue gun. There should only be about one inch of overlap.
5. Embellish the headband. You can add finishing touches to the headband by adding embellishments to the felt shapes.
   • Sew around the edges of the felt shapes to create a hand sewn look.
   • Glue jewels or buttons on the felt for a unique look.

Making a Braided Headband

1. Pick the material you want to use. Pick a color scheme or have all the materials be the same color. Find something that fits your sense of style. You can mix and match materials, like using lace and suede rope, to create a unique look. There are many different types of material you can use to make a braided headband.
   • Suede rope
   • Lace
   • Leather rope
   • Hemp cord
   • Gold or Silver chain
2. Cut the rope or materials used. You want the rope to be long enough to go around your head, be tied in a knot, and have some left to hang down a bit. Wrap the rope around your head to measure your head, and then double the length. Cut all the ropes the same length.
3. Braid the ropes together. Take three ropes and tie them together with a knot at the top of the ropes. Use something to stabilize the knot as you braid the ropes. You can use a clipboard by putting the knot under the clip of the clipboard, use your feet to hold the knot, tape the knot to a table, or have someone else to hold the knot still as you braid.
   • Braid the ropes until there is only about two inches left.
   • Then, tie a knot with the ropes to secure the braid.
4. Wear the headband. To wear your braided headband, wrap it around your head starting in the front and wrapping the headband toward the back of your head. Tie the headband in a knot at the back of your head. There will be extra headband hanging down beyond the knot.
   • Embellish your headband by clipping on feather hair clips or bows.

Using a Ribbon and Elastic

1. Choose what type of ribbon to use. You can use a variety of types of ribbon to create a hippie headband. If you like two types of ribbon, try gluing the thinner ribbon on top of the wider ribbon for a fun look. Many ribbon types will look good for a boho look.
   • Lace
   • Suede
   • Satin
2. Cut the ribbon. Measure your head with the ribbon by wrapping it around your head. Pinch the ribbon where the ends meet to measure the circumference of your head. Cut the ribbon about four inches shorter than the circumference of your head.
   • If you want to make the headband a no-slip headband, you can sew a strip of the hook side of velcro on the underside of the ribbon.
3. Cut the elastic. Use scissors to cut about 5 inches of elastic. The elastic shouldn’t be too wide, ¼ inch elastic works great for making headband.
   • You can use elastic in any color, but if you choose a color that matches your hair it will blend and look more natural.
4. Glue the elastic and ribbon together. Use hot glue to glue the ribbon to the elastic. Glue about ½ inch of the end of the elastic to the end of the ribbon. Repeat with the opposite ends.
   • Make sure you glue the elastic to the underside of the fabric, not the printed side.
   • Wait about two to three minutes or until the glue is completely dry to wear your headband.

Tips

• Make a couple of different styles of hippie headbands to coordinate with outfits you have.
• Be creative and unique. There’s no wrong way to make or wear a hippie headband. Put your own unique style in it.
• Embellish your headband with clip on hair accessories, jewels, or bows.
• Ask for an adult’s help when using scissors and a hot glue gun. These can injure you easily, so make sure you use an adult’s help.

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Sources and Citations

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