I’m just barely getting into the embellished headband thing. Having shorter hair I find I’m a little wary (more wary than I probably should be) about what I put on my head. (Baseball caps definitely don’t look good and it’s the rare beanie that works.) I’ve purchased one headband from JCrew that had the cutest, chunky rosette on the side—and when I went to wear it I looked like I had some tumorous growth on my scalp.

But when I saw the headbands by Etsy shoppe Lou and Lee I knew I had to give embellished headbands a second shot. How could I resist these fabulous felt creations? Fortunately Lou and Lee was willing to send me a sample headband so I could review their collection on Boutique Cafe’s Daily Dish. It took me mere seconds to decide on the Ruby Zipper Rosette Headband. (Anyone else catch how much it sounds like “ruby slipper”? I’ve always wanted a pair of those!) I chose to have the ruby zipper rosette with wool felt flowers and leaves put on an adult hard headband (i.e., your standard slightly padded black fabric headband). It arrived in a simple yet cute drawstring bag, and it didn’t take me long to run upstairs and try it on. Um, I’d say it’s a keeper—no tumorous growths…just a yummy red zippered rosette that perfectly adorned my short-haired head:

Now all I need is some help from a friend like Quinn to fill me in on all the different outfits with which I can wear my new favorite accessory!

Take a look at some of my other favorites from Lou and Lee and tell me if you wouldn’t have a terrible time trying to choose just one:

When you order you can specify a size: baby, child, adult or hard headband and all of Lou and Lee’s headbands can be made into any size or into a clip. I might be “investing” in a few clips for summer. Nothing beats the winter blues like new accessories! Who knew the same felt my kids use for their school projects could be so fabulous? Okay, so it’s not exactly the same felt and what Lou and Lee does takes a lot of time and skill, but I’ll never look at a package of felt the same way again!

You can view Lou and Lee’s entire collection of felt—and some non-felt—headbands in their Etsy shoppe.—Emily

Eleven years ago when my first daughter was born I was hard pressed to find really cute hair accessories beyond those offered by large retail stores. You had a few stretchy headbands, a handful of velcro barrettes and the always popular assortment of colorful plastic (sometimes with animal shapes) barrettes. That was then…Refined Sugar is now.

Refined Sugar’s collection of accessories includes Blossom n’ Bands (stretchy bands with coordinating clip-on blossoms), Sassifier (safe, ribbon pacifier holders), Little Bow Peeps (you guessed it, cute little bows attached to stretchy bands), and Ribbon Headbands (adjustable ribbon bands available in a variety of fabrics). But telling you about their collection doesn’t do it justice. You really need to visit their site and view the online gallery to appreciate how sweet-yet-chic everything is.

When Livi wears her Blossom n’ Band with its large hot pink flower I could just eat her up! And her green and white polka Little Bow Peep has spunky written all over it. We’ve used her multicolored polka dot Sassifier quite a bit, and though I wish the clip were a little easier to attach, I love that the ribbon is a safe eight inches long. I’m hoping the Ribbon Headbands are back in stock soon as I’d love to get a few of these for my older girls (and maybe even one for me!).

I’m kind of glad the days of the plastic barrette and brain-squeezing headband are over. Life—and my daughter’s hair accessory collection—are a lot sweeter thanks to companies like Refined Sugar!—Emily

We’ve reviewed some awesome workout gear from SkirtSports, and now I have a great set of accessories from Studio i|m’s active line to complement your new Footloose dress. The i|m active collection was designed specifically for the “active woman’s lifestyle.”

With what Studio i|m calls ActiveHold Technology these hair accessories grip into place and won’t slip or fall out. Though I have a fairly active lifestyle (trips to the gym, yoga and chasing after four kids) I have pretty short hair so I had my girls try out a couple i|m products. We loved how the hair elastics with their ActiveHold tread were grippy enough to keep their ponytails in place but not so grippy they pulled out the hair when the girls were done using them.

My favorite, which worked just as well in my short hair is it did in their long, was the FeatherWeight black hair wrap. This headband was truly light as a feather (i.e. didn’t cause a headache after lengthy wear) and stayed put no matter how many double-takes I did (is that really permanent marker on the carpet?). And I loved the Sport Clips because their rubber tread holds wet hair really well, which is a great help when you’re trying to give your girls’ hair a trim and it’s your first time giving them a haircut!

Whether you have short hair or long, play on a high-school sports team or run a daily marathon chasing after children you’ll find the perfect hair accessory for your active lifestyle from Studio i|m’s active collection.—Emily