Chopsick Hair Sticks

These lovely hair sticks are made from a pair of chopsticks that you can get from any oriental resturant. It takes a bit of time and work, but it's worth it when you see the surprised looks on peoples faces when you tell them that you made it yourself. They're good for any occation from casual wear to evening wear.

Don't be overwhelmed by the picture! This project does not require as much stuff as the picure implies! Here's all you need:

• Chopsticks
• Beads
• String
• Paints
• Wire
• Gloss
• Jewelry Chain

Tools:

• Hot Glue Gun
• Paint Brushes
• Ice Pick or Drill
• File
• Xacto Knife or Saw
• Tape
• Wire Cutters
• Pliers

I would suggest putting newspaper over a foam poster board for your workspace because you'll want to protect your table. I found that the foam saved my table several times during this project.

Separate the chopsticks and saw off the end right below the block (shown by black line). The end will be rough and splintery, so use the file to make it smooth.

To attach the pendents, they'll need something to hang on to. Drill or make a hole with the ice pick about midway on the flattest side of the chopstick (I found that mine were slightly ovular). If the chopstick splinters and cracks, don't throw it away! File down the hole so no splinters are there to hurt you.

Use a bit of wire and loop in in the holes. I looped it twice to make sure it would be sturdy and tucked the ends back into the hole so they wouldn't stick out and hurt. I suggest putting hot glue into the holes to make sure it stays, especially if your chopsticks cracked like mine.

Because the chopsticks have to be painted all over, I suggest hanging them from a counter by looping some string thorough the wire loop and taping the string to the counter.  This will help with painting and drying. I would also put some newspaper under the hanging chopsticks.

I chose to use nice blue paint and maixed it with irradecant pearl to give it some shine. I would hold the chopsticks at the bottom and paint as much as you can, let it dry, then go back in with a second layer and paint the bottoms as well, holding it somewhere else.

When the paint has dried, put a gloss finish on. This will help preserve your paint job and give it a professional look. I mixed a little irradecent pearl in as well to give it more shine. Make sure to avoid bubbles and drips of gloss.

In between coats, you can work on the pendents in step 4.

You can find lovely beads in a lot of places. I found these in a resale shop in Ireland. Try looking around where you go to find some of your own. Make sure they are not super heavy though.

Arrange your beads as you would like them to go. You could make two strands per stick, provided they are not too heavy. Take about an inch to inch and a half of wire and make a tight loop on one end. String the end bead onto that wire and make another, bigger loop on the other end. Try to make the loops as close to the beads as possible. Now attach 2 or three links of jewelry chain to the bigger loop. Attach it to another big loop, string another bead on, make a big loop on the other side, and so on until all the beads are attached. put some chain on the last bead to connect it to the chopsticks. Now just repeat the process for the other stick.
 

Now that the chopsicks are dry and the pendents are ready, connect the pendents to the sticks. Make sure that there's not paint between the wire and the stick. If the gloss is kind of sticky, you can still attach the pendents, but wait awhile before using them in your hair.

Now go and show those beautiful hair sicks!