What do you do with the hair from your child’s first haircut?
Our children's first haircuts are always an event. whether you're the kind of parent who keeps some of the hair or the parent who runs in the opposite direction, a child's first haircut is often still a milestone that's recorded in some way.
My parents kept some of our hair in a small zip bag inside our photo albums. I love the idea for 2 reasons:
1. Because I think it's fun to compare my hair when I was little to my hair in later years (the true color that doesn't truly show in photos), and
2. because I love to think that in the middle of surviving in a war-torn country, my parents still made time for these little things.
If you know anything about me, you can guess that I'm totally the kind of parent who would want to preserve this sort of memory. If you know a little more about me, you would figure out that I would want to enjoy this memory in some way (i.e. by displaying it rather than storing it away), and if you really know me, you would know that it would be a subtle way.
I cut Laurie's long curly hair for the first time when she was 4. I tied the end of her hair in the shower and cut it as straight as I could. (Luckily, curly hair is quite forgiving and all my crooked cuts through the years went unnoticed :)
The little hair bunch sat in my office for a little while, and I had no plan to do anything specific with it yet. The curls were so perfect… I remember my own hair that my parents kept in that zip bag—It was awesome to have, but the hair strands had all separated from each other and I couldn't really see the texture anymore after all the years. So I thought Laurie’s hair would need to be kept in a box that doesn't touch the hair or mess it up. That train of thought led me to the hair keepsake I created for Laurie and, not to brag, but I think it's beautiful and brilliant.
During the time of Laurie’s first haircut, she was a lot into space and rockets, so the first theme that came to mind was a rocket. After finishing the piece, I was so happy to realize that the curls at the bottom of the rocket looked like the smoke coming out of it, like a launching rocket. The smoke gave the piece a new dimension: a rocket launching, that’s an analogy for the child growing with this life milestone. It all came together just like that!
A few months after that, it was Leina’s turn. Leina’s hair wasn’t that long yet, but she was about to have surgery on her scalp, and about to have all her hair shaved! I cut a small bunch of Leina’s perfect curls from the front, at the hospital in Chicago, right before she got wheeled into the OR.
During that time, Leina loved butterflies, and of course, her keepsake had to be a butterfly. And to my surprise and utter delight, after finishing the keepsake, I realized that the hair could be interpreted as the cocoon the butterfly is getting out of, which brought back the theme of the “launch” just like Laurie’s keepsake. I love these hidden meanings in these beautiful pieces that are so precious to my heart. It’s like they are infused with good vibes :)
I got a deep shadow frame for both keepsakes so they only touch the background they are lying on. And the subtle aspect that I talked about above is the fact that when people see these pieces, unless they hold their gaze on the frames, they don’t usually realize there’s hair in there. And I love that. It’s like our little secret, in plain sight. (If they ask, however, I will not hold back! :)
That’s exactly what I also like in all the keepsakes made with clothes. Visitors might notice that they are made with fabrics, but they don’t realize how much history and memories each piece holds; all the love and the stories each keepsake represents.
If you like the idea of displaying your kid’s hair in this way, I’ve made the process video available for you to follow! It’s so easy. Click here to see and follow it.
If you like to keep the hair but not necessarily display it, I suggest you put the hair bunch in a box that’s bigger than it, and affix it to the bottom so that it only touches the bottom of the box, and not the sides or top. Make sure it’s stored in a place where it doesn’t get moved much.
If you would like to do the same rocket or butterfly keepsake I created for my kids, I also made the illustrations available for you to print at home! Click here to find to the listings, or find them in the DIY shop.
I love these unexpected keepsakes of my girls’ hair! I’ve been asked to make them available so many times and I finally got around to doing it! Enjoy!
