Turkey Feather Hair Weave

My sister gave me these wonderful turkey feathers months ago.  I haven’t been able to figure out anything to do with them other than hanging them around the house.  I wanted to put one in my hair, but they are so stiff and bulky I wasn’t quite sure how to do it.  I finally just went for it and this is what I came up with.  Still a little stiff but worked out ok.  And even though I bent it sleeping the first night it still holds its shape nicely.  I’m hoping my hair will just dread up around the feather, but it looks good either way (and it’s been about a week since I did this)!

MATERIALS:  Feather, wire, clear drying craft glue, thread

First I cut away as much of the center stem as I could using a razor blade (be careful!) and some heavy duty kitchen scissors.   And I cut some of the top off so the feather was a little shorter than the length of my hair.

Then I poked a couple holes in the top of the feather with a sewing pin (any needle-like tool will work, I’ve even used pin backs for this).  I threaded a piece of wire through the holes and then wrapped the wire around a small section of my hair near the roots.  Wrap as tightly as possible and cut off any excess wire.

I divided my hair in 2 and braided my hair around the feather using the feather as the third braiding piece.  I continued braiding past the feather, and then wrapped the excess hair around the base of the feather.

I took a little bit of sewing thread and stitched the braid end in place, knotting it a couple times for added security.  Then I dipped the tip of my hair in glue, let it dry and I was good to go!

Today’s Harvest – Feathers, Veggies, Herbs and Art

I love days when I don’t have to go to work!  I can do so many wonderful things!  I started the day with a little photo shoot, taking pictures of a couple new skirts to put up on Etsy.  There is this amazing alleyway next to my house that is filled with colorful graffiti, so I can literally walk 2 minutes to a perfect back drop for my photos!

I came home, cleaned up some chicken poop and collected a bunch of feathers. We didn’t choose our chicken by breed, just took a group of random chicks my dad’s neighbor hatched. And at first I was disappointed that 2 of them are white, because I thought their feathers wouldn’t be that exciting. It didn’t occur to me then that this was a wonderful thing because now I can dye their feathers. Apparently you can use good old Rit dye easily and get all kinds of colors. I also have been interested in experimenting with pokeberries, so I plan to dye feathers this way as well. I found this great site for information on using pokeberries, which you may very well already have growing in your back yard!

Along with the feathers we also harvested these amazing veggies and made a big salad for lunch.  Then I picked a ton of herbs and made Italian herb bread.  Actually I made 3 loaves of bread; one for dinner tonight with a few friends, one for making bruschetta tomorrow for dinner with my family and one for the house!

And in between the bread rising and baking I splatter painted some fabric for future rock and roll skirts!  As you can see!  I wish everyday could be a day off “work”.  One day.  I also officially started my future farm savings account last night so I’m ready to get serious!

Mini Death Shrine Earring

Ok, so it’s not really a death shrine, but it sounds way cooler calling it that!  And I did go through a lot of pain (at least monetarily!) getting those wisdom teeth removed!  The dentist looked at me like I was a little crazy when I asked if I could keep my teeth, but I knew I could do something cool with them.  Plus with the addition of some of my chicken’s feathers, this is a totally unique and personal earring.  So if you have some old teeth and feathers lying around, here’s one idea of what to do with them!

MATERIALS: teeth, feathers, wire, earring hook

First I wrapped the 2 teeth together with wire and added a little bit of glue on the back to hold them in place.  I did the same with 3 feathers, wrapping them as tight as I could and adding a bit of glue.  (Unfortunately my glue was so old it already turned yellow, but at least it’s just on the back!)

  

I also left plenty of extra wire attached so I could connect them once the glue dried.  I simply wrapped the teeth onto the feathers and then attached and earring hook.  Super simple, you just have to get the teeth and feather lined up how you want them and wrap away until it looks right.  Cut off any excess wire and you’re good to go!