Handmade hairpin, my love at first sight

"In front of the ancient bronze mirror, she sat quietly, looking at herself in the mirror. A long hair like a waterfall, skin as white as gelatin, eyebrows clear, almond eyes slightly open. After a period of silence, her lips gently opened, calling the maid beside her to pull her hair. Her ink-colored hair was gently pulled up and fixed with a glazed hairpin. Light and elegant, so that after the first glance, one can no longer move their eyes."

When I was a child, I imagined more than once that I could become a classical beauty, wearing a long-sleeved dress, wearing a hairpin and a step rocker on my head, walking gracefully and movingly, with the celluloid on my neck and the step rocker on my head swinging with my steps.

This childhood imagination, every little girl should have had; in order to turn their own imagination into reality, from time to time, the family chopsticks inserted in the hair as a hairpin, the bed sheet draped over the body as a dress situation, many girls should have done it. When I was little, I was the only girl in the house, but I could still have fun by myself. Now think about it, the original self is really simple cute ah, imagination is also quite rich.

In fact, compared to the beautiful long skirt, I longed for more when I was a child, is a variety of forms of hairpins, and my favorite is the rocking. A kind of walking, with the trembling of the steps, hairpin on the jade will naturally sway hairpin style.

All along, I would like to have a hairpin of my own, but it is located in the northwest, this kind of handicrafts can hardly be seen. So I used to make my own hairpins at home, like chopsticks, sweater pins, automatic pencils, etc. I even tied a sweater chain to a hairpin. I even tied a sweater chain to it instead of a hairpin, and I admired my own whimsical ability at that time.

Perhaps it was because I planted this seed of love for hairpins in my heart that I fell in love with it at first sight when I saw the handmade hairpin again. "

In the history of the development of the Chinese nation, there has long been a record of hairpins: hairpin is a kind of jewelry used to fix and decorate hair. Chinese ethnic minorities have traditionally used hairpins to fix and beautify their hair, with a wide variety of hairpins and a long history, with strong national characteristics and rich cultural connotations. In the ancient times, the hairpin was called "maturity"; in the Tang Dynasty, hairpins were popular; in the feudal era, Han women inserted maturity, which was regarded as a sign of women's adulthood.

Ancient hairpin in many forms, only in terms of material, there are bone, stone, pottery, mussels, thorns, bamboo, wood, jade, copper, gold, ivory, horn and tortoiseshell and so on. In addition, hairpin style is very rich, the main changes are concentrated in the head of the hairpin. It has a variety of shapes, but also love to use flowers, birds, fish and insects, birds and animals as hairpin head shape.

Common flowers include plum blossoms, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, peach blossoms, peony blossoms, and hibiscus blossoms. Ming "Tianshui Bingshan Record" on the name of hairpins have "gold peach blossom top hairpin", "gold plum blossom treasure top hairpin", "gold chrysanthemum blossom treasure top hairpin", "gold gemstone top hairpin", "gold compartment inverted pendant lotus hairpin", "gold compartment cat's eye top hairpin", "gold Kun Dot Cui Plum Blossom Hairpin" and other names. Hairpin with an animal as the head of the hairpin, common dragons and phoenixes, unicorns, swallows and birds and swimming fish, etc., of which the phoenix hairpin is the most, the production of the most exquisite.

The first time I came into contact with handmade hairpins, it was purely by chance. That day, I was looking through the space dynamics, and I happened to see a set of hairpin jewelry made by my classmates, which was very exquisite. I really had a feeling that a door that had been closed for a long time was suddenly opened, and my eyes lit up, and the first reaction in my head was: let my classmates teach me how to do it! And so, under her guidance, I jumped into the "hairpin pit".

People around me often say that I have a talent for crafts, and I think so too. Based on my experience of doing handicrafts for so long, most of the handicrafts that look difficult are actually not that difficult to do. The same is true for handmade hairpins. In simple terms, it's just a matter of combining the various parts that are to go well together with copper wire, T-pins, 9-pins and other connecting tools.

Of course, handmade hairpins also have their own unique features, in which it still takes a lot of brainpower - creativity, or "brainchild". The delicacy and beauty of handmade hairpin is not only reflected in its production, but more importantly, its pre-design and creativity.

There are hundreds of materials for making handmade hairpins, and thousands more. Different materials, under different creative different collocation, will give rise to countless styles and styles. As big as the heart is, the stage is as big as the mind; as big as the brain, the path of hairpin making is as wide as the mind. For example:

These two hairpins are both hairpins (double straight), but by using different colors and combinations, the final product will be two different effects. I also named them: the green one is called "Hedge" and the purple one is called "Lime". Unfortunately, my classmates saw them and sent them away. I even joked with my classmates, "I can marry my daughter to you, treat 'her' well. "

I remember a lot of people asked me, why do you do hairpin called "daughter", but also give them a name (sometimes a single branch of a name, sometimes a series of a name). At first I did not understand, do more, but slowly understand.

The production of a handmade hairpin may seem simple, but it takes the maker a lot of brain cells and time. Especially when you make one, or a group of hard to think of styles, it's like witnessing the birth of a new life, a feeling that we can not describe in words. Almost every hairpin has condensed the efforts of the maker, so I regard the finished product as my own daughter, and every time I give them away, I still feel a little bit reluctant to part with them.

Now I think about the handmade hairpin, from the initial imagination and desire, to the love at first sight in college, and now gradually understand, the process is not long, but I gained more than I thought. Although I have experienced the pain of "the hairpin pit is as deep as the sea, from now on, my wallet is a passer-by", but every time I see a piece of finished product in front of my eyes, all this unhappiness will be put aside. That sense of achievement and deep joy, it is an additional surprise to me.

Of course, handmade hairpins are really just one aspect, and there are many other accessories that you can make yourself. Like bracelets, earrings, hair combs and so on, each of which is separate but interconnected. Here's a picture of my finished product.

When I wrote this, I suddenly thought of a song that fits the title of today's post, so I'll end it with it:

(PS: All the hairpins and bracelets in the photos in the article are made by me, so I hope you can support them!)