Faux Tusk Hair Pin

Hi guys🖐🏻! Three Stars here! This is my first time posting an Instructable and I hope you like it!

This piece of jewelry is called Faux Tusk Hair Pin because it looks like a piece of animal tusk or horn. Of course, I am using wood for this project... don't worry!

I made this piece of jewelry because spring's coming along, and I needed some nature-y vibes, so I settled with a mulberry wood pin and smoky quartz pendants that dangle from the end of the pin.

Enough yapping...

...Let's dive RIGHT IN!!😊😋😉

Materials Needed:

1. a branch - Length: 24 cm Diameter: 2 cm
2. an Exacto-Knife
3. a Pencil
4. a Wood-Burning kit - preferably with multiple soldering tips, but it's totally OPTIONAL
5. 8 Beads - I used smoky quartz from a broken necklace
6. Clear Plastic String - Length: 61 cm
7. Tape Measure
8. a Saw - any saw will do, even a serrated knife will do if you don't have a saw
9. Sand Paper - I used 2 types of sand papers, one is GRIT 60, and the other one is GRIT 150
10. a Pair of Scissors
11. Danish Finishing Oil - about 3 mL will do
12. an Old Sock - One that you WON'T be wearing after this project
13. a Drill Bit - smallest one you can find

Let's start off with the base of the pin - the branch.

First: Shave off the bark of the branch until it is bare, until no bark remains.

Next: Keep whittling down the bark on BOTH SIDES until the branch is 5 mm in width.

Then: Your branch should be around 24 cm, but it is WAY TOO LONG to be a hair pin. So, measure about 9.5 cm and saw it off.

Now, your branch should be about 5 mm in width and 2 cm in diameter, and around 14.5 cm in length.

Time to whittle the branch into the perfect pin shape!

First: You want to find the middle of the stick using a tape measure and mark it. I marked my 'middle' around 7 cm, and you want to do this because you don't want to whittle down too much of the stick, so marking it at where you should stop is the best.

Next: Start to sharpen the pin. Note: Don't whittle off too much at once! Gradually sharpen it and be careful when it comes to shaping the tip of the pin.

After all that whittling, the branch should be in a rough pin shape.

The next step now is to smooth the pin by sanding it down.

First: I used GRIT 60 sandpaper, which pretty much made the pin fully smooth.

Next: Then, for a finer, smoother surface, I used GRIT 150 sandpaper to smooth the branch down one more time.

Now, since we're done with refining the branch, let's move on to burning our design into the branch!

You can pretty much do ANY design you want; do not be refrained to just mine.

My design was very much straight forward, and if you would like to to copy it, go ahead!

Also, soldering tips can be purchased anywhere, including at Michaels, Rona, or Walmart, if you would like to buy any.

You want to drill two holes on the side of the hair pin.

I used the smallest size drill bit I had in my tool bin.

I would suggest hand drilling the two holes by spinning the drill bit into the hair piece, since using an actual drill could result in accidentally breaking the edges of the pin.

Now that you have your design on the pin, you want to add a couple layers of Danish oil to finish off the pin, and to give it the faux-tusk look. You want to use an old sock or cloth to rub on this oil, so it is applied evenly.

While you let the Danish Oil dry off the hair pin, let's string our beads together.

First: Fold the 61 cm worth of clear plastic string in half. Then cut it at the fold point.

Next: Take the smaller piece of the string and string one bead on it.

Then: You want to take both string and push them through the next bead being strung on. You want to repeat this step until all of the beads are strung on. Do this for both lengths of string.

Your hairpin should be dry by now, and the strings with the beads on should also be ready.

Time to tie the strings and beads onto the drilled holes in the pin.

Tying the strings:

First: Tuck one end of the string through the hole, and tuck the other end through the other side, so that each string should be poking in opposite directions, through the opposite sides of the holes. Do this in both holes for both strings.

Next: When tying the strings shut, you want to tie it at least 4 times to secure it. When strings ARE secure, clip off the ends.

And..... Here you go!

You're finished!

I really hope you like this hairpin!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Three Stars here....

OUT!