Hairsticks, part II

My first attempt at hairsticks didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. As I tried out a new pair (not the ones for sale -- I obviously won't sell the ones that I put in my own hair) a couple weeks ago, the wood snapped. [eyeroll] Well, I certainly can't sell hairsticks that are going to break on the wearer, can I? And I was actually never been happy with the color or shape of them (too wide on one end, too pointed on the other). But they were the ONLY wooden, prestained, predrilled hairsticks I could find to purchase. So I guess it's best they didn't work out.

I spent the next week scouring the internet for Something Else To Make Hairsticks Out Of. I was not keen on the idea of wooden dowels, which I would have to cut, shape, sand, stain, and lacquer myself. Waaaaaay too much work for me. Chopsticks were another idea, but it proved very difficult - or impossible - to find some that were the right color, and round instead of squared, and not grooved on the ends. My next idea was bamboo knitting needles. I thought of this one at work and got pretty excited about it, and rushed to the craft store on the way home from work to buy a pair and try them. They did make great hairsticks: easy prep work, pre-finished, and the right shape; but they were too light in color, and too expensive for me to stock up and make multiple pairs. I was out of ideas at this point, so I decided to let the matter drop for a few days and see what happened.

A few days later while I was in Walmart, I stopped at their craft section to check out their knitting needles. Eureka! Here were strong, smooth, bamboo needles, but darker than the ones at the craft store, and half the price! PERFECT solution! I bought up ALL their size 10 needles, and then ran to the other Walmart near me, and snatched up all their size 10 and 10.5 needles. (I do apologize to anyone in this area who may have wanted to run by Walmart and purchase some bamboo needles -- they're now sold out.)

I got six new pair made. Yesterday I FINALLY took new pictures, and today I cropped them and put them up in my Ebay and Etsy stores. Here are a few of them: