Beaded Dragonfly Hair Comb

Although Stacie learned origami from her grandmother at the age of 5, she didn't come to fully appreciate it until adulthood. Now she spends her spare time creating highly detailed and stunning pieces of origami and beaded artwork. In this project, Stacie, who also runs her own bridal accessory shop, creates a playful, beaded wire dragonfly hair comb.

Materials:

bugle beads
size 8 glass beads for wings
5mm Swarovski crystal bead for dragonfly
2 round 4mm beads for eyes
plastic leaf beads
4mm Swarovski crystal bead *
size 8 seed beads *
24- and 28-gauge craft wire
colored craft wire to attach head to body (color to match body)
Delica glass beads for flowers
wire comb
two-part epoxy
* for clusters on pink leaves

1. For beaded wire flowers: Flowers are comprised of beads strung onto wire. Each petal is an open loop that is then filled in with more beads on wire and twisted into place (figure A). No glue is used to construct the flowers.

2. The dragonfly is made of two pieces of wire--a medium gauge to build the body and wings and a fine gauge to attach the eyes and thorax together and also to attach this section to the body (figure B).

3. The flowers are wired onto a metal hair comb (figure C).

4. Attach the dragonfly to a spiral of twisted wire using more wire and a dab of epoxy glue to stabilize it.

5. The twisted wire is attached to the hair comb using more wire and another dab of glue.

Website: www.stacietamaki.com