Back to relaxing kanzashi - Black and Red Kiku.

Have I ever mention that I like making kiku kanzashi?

If not, then I will say it now.  I love making kiku kanzashi!  Yep they are just fun to make.

Yes they do take forever to make due to the sheer number of petals that each one has but I think the results just speak for themselves.

So what was the design in my head?  Well a black and red maiko style kanzashi.

Similar to one of these but in black and red.

So the first thing to do is get some fabric.

For some reason I wanted to revisit habutai silk because it is easier to make kiku kanzashi with rice glue as you can fold all the petals at once and then slowly assemble them.

However getting black and red habutai is not cheap so off I went to buy some silk and a home dyeing kit.

Then there is the starching and cutting all the 1 inch squares of fabric.

Before finally making the rice glue and prepping the bases.

Here is the first 3 kiku petals folded.

And then the next 5 lots.

In total these 8 kiku used 512 petals!  That is a lot of petals even by my standards but look at them.  I love them already.

Now to create some interesting falls and additional bit and voila we have a funky maiko set!

Closeup of the falls.

The finished kiku.

and here you can see the extra bits for the bridge.

In total this kanzash used wait for it 601 petals!  This has by far been the most petal intensive kanzashi I made but I live it.  I am very pleased with the falls as they turned out just how I wanted them.  I was scared they would not fall properly but it worked.

Now I will enjoy them for a little while before deciding what do to with it.

Sakura Wedding Kanzashi!

I just have to share with you my latest custom order for a bride who is having a cherry blossom (or sakura) themed wedding!

She contacted me through etsy asking me to create for her a kanzashi that reminded her proposal amongst the sakura trees in Japan.  Isn't that a lovely image!  How could I refuse?

Isn't it adorable!

I never get bored with making falls for kanzashi as they are a lot of fun. 

Especially these ones because they have little bells so they jingle as you walk.

And just to show how long the kanzashi is on someone here is me wearing it.

I think the best way to wear this kanzashi is with a side bun which is sweeped quite high.  This way the hair will frame the bouquet nicely and also allow the falls to dangle just low enough so they swing freely.  My side bun is a little bit low in this photo because I just used a large beck clip to hold my hair but it gives you an idea of what sort of hairstyle you could try.