| metal hairsticks (sometimes bent in a U shape)
The least expensive are chopsticks. Check out your local dollar
store for bags of chopsticks, which usually contain 100 pairs for
$2.00. Refer to directions below for turning them into hair sticks.
I buy knitting needles at thrift stores for around $.10 a pair. If
you buy long needles, you can cut off the non-pointed end to shorten
them.
I have found plastic and metal hair sticks at the dollar store and,
if there's anything attached to the end, I simply remove it and have
an unadorned stick ready for polymer clay embellishment.
The most expensive option, since they are usually made out of good
wood, is plain wooden hairsticks. They are lovely and well worth the
investment for personal use but may not be an option if you are
selling your hair sticks.
Preparation:
Chopsticks need to be prepared before use. Decide on the length of
your finished stick, taking into account the length of the object you
are placing at the end, and cut off the stick. For purposes of
discussion, "top" will refer to the end where you place your
object, "bottom" will refer to the pointed end that goes into
your hair.
With a sharp knife, trim the bottom of the stick to a soft point. Use
sandpaper to smooth the entire stick, paying particular attention to the
bottom. Most chopsticks are made out of bamboo and the grain runs
lengthwise along the stick. Making a soft point rather than a sharp
point at the bottom helps to keep the fiber from pulling up.
After sanding, coat the entire stick with shoe polish (colored or
neutral), paste or wax, then buff. This helps to seal the fiber and
prevent tearing. If you want your stick to be colored, dip it in any
type of fabric dye, which the bamboo fiber picks up very easily, and
then wax and buff.
Other options include painting or varnishing the sticks. I prefer a
more natural-looking stick, so I use polishes and silk or fabric dyes.
The size of the bead hole dictates what size you will need the top of
your stick to be. If you have beads you've already made, sand the stick
down so the top is the same size as the bead hole.
If you haven't made the beads yet, you can cure them on the stick.
Just remember to pop the beads off and glue them back on, so they are
permanently attached to the hair stick.
The only sticks that can't go in the oven are the plastic ones. When
using plastic, baby powder the stick and either build your bead on the
stick or test your bead for size, then remove the bead and cure it.
After curing the bead, glue it back onto the stick. This is the
method I use most often for all sticks, except the metal U-shaped sticks
where I have incorporated the metal into the beads.
After curing and polishing the bead, embellish the hairstick by
adding Chinese coins dangling from a chain or ribbon, feathers, or
anything else you can imagine.
Some other embellishment ideas to consider:
 | Hand-formed polymer clay flower with leaves
| | A small butterfly
| | Crystal beads, trims or ribbon |
| 
