DIY Hair Accessories Organizer: Creative Ways to Tame the Chaos Once and For All
If you’ve ever opened a bathroom drawer and been buried in a avalanche of bobby pins, scrunchies, headbands, and hair ties, you already know the struggle. Hair accessories have a mysterious way of multiplying overnight and spreading themselves across every surface in your home — the nightstand, the bathroom counter, the inside of your handbag, the couch cushions. Somehow they’re everywhere and yet, the moment you actually need a specific clip, it has vanished completely.
The good news? You don’t need to spend a fortune on a fancy organizer. With a little creativity and some basic supplies, you can build a hair accessories organizer that’s completely customized to your needs, looks beautiful in your space, and actually makes getting ready in the morning so much easier. This guide covers everything from the simplest beginner-friendly builds to more involved weekend projects, so whether you have twenty minutes or a full afternoon, there’s something here for you.
Why a Dedicated Hair Accessories Organizer Changes Everything
Before diving into the how-to, it’s worth talking about why getting organized in this specific area matters more than most people realize.
Hair accessories are notoriously small, easy to lose, and deeply annoying to search for when you’re running late. A dedicated organizer solves several problems at once. It gives you a visual inventory of what you actually own, which means you stop buying duplicates of things you already have twelve of. It protects delicate pieces like satin scrunchies and beaded clips from getting tangled or crushed. And it turns what used to be a chaotic pile into something that genuinely looks intentional and put-together, whether it’s on your vanity, inside a cabinet, or mounted on your wall.
There’s also something genuinely satisfying about a well-organized space. When getting ready in the morning feels smooth and effortless, it sets a better tone for the whole day.
Assessing What You Have Before You Build
The very first step — and one that most tutorials skip — is to do a thorough inventory of your accessories before you design or build anything. Pull everything out. Every bobby pin tin, every junk drawer, every bathroom shelf. Get it all in one place.
Sort everything into rough categories: hair ties and elastics, bobby pins and hair grips, scrunchies, headbands and hoops, barrettes and clips, larger accessories like bows or decorative pins, and any hair tools like small clips or sectioning pins.
Once you can see what you have, you’ll be able to make smarter decisions. Someone with fifty scrunchies needs a completely different setup than someone who mostly collects headbands. Knowing your collection guides every choice you make from here on out — the size of the organizer, the type of storage compartments, and how to prioritize accessibility.
This is also a good moment to edit. Let go of anything broken, stretched out, or that you genuinely haven’t worn in over a year.
The Best DIY Hair Accessories Organizer Ideas
1. The Ribbon and Frame Organizer
This is one of the most popular and visually stunning options, and it’s incredibly beginner-friendly.
You’ll need an old picture frame (thrift stores always have them), ribbon in a color or pattern you love, a staple gun or strong glue, and small hooks or clips if you want to add extra hanging storage.
Remove the glass and backing from the frame. Cut your ribbon into lengths that stretch across the inside width of the frame with a couple of inches to spare on each side. Space the ribbons about two to three inches apart depending on how thick your hair accessories are. Secure each ribbon tightly to the back of the frame using a staple gun, making sure each ribbon is pulled taut before you fasten it. If you don’t have a staple gun, strong fabric glue works but will take longer to dry and may not hold as securely over time.
Once the ribbons are in place, slide headbands, barrettes, and clips through the gaps. Bobby pins can be clipped right onto the ribbon. Scrunchies can be looped through loosely. You can hang the whole frame on your wall, lean it against your vanity mirror, or prop it on a shelf.
To make it even more functional, hot glue small cup hooks along the bottom edge of the frame and use them to hang hair ties in neat loops or dangle a few special clips.
2. The Mason Jar Station
If you prefer a more rustic or farmhouse-inspired look, a mason jar station is one of the easiest builds imaginable and costs almost nothing.
Gather three to five mason jars in whatever size combination makes sense for your collection. Small jelly jars are perfect for bobby pins. Medium jars work beautifully for hair clips and barrettes. Large jars are ideal for rolled hair ties or larger scrunchies.
You can group them a few different ways. The simplest method is to arrange them on a small wooden tray or cutting board to keep everything contained and easy to move. Paint the jars if you want a cohesive color scheme, use chalk paint to label them, or wrap the outside with twine for a more rustic feel.
For a wall-mounted version, attach pipe clamps (the kind used for plumbing, found at any hardware store) to a piece of reclaimed wood cut to size. Slide each jar into a clamp and tighten. Mount the wood to your wall with screws and wall anchors, and you have a beautiful, functional, and genuinely unique organizer that nobody else will have.
3. The Tiered Cupcake Stand
This one is a conversation starter. A tiered cupcake or dessert stand — the kind with two or three platform levels connected by a central post — makes a surprisingly perfect hair accessories organizer.
You can buy inexpensive tiered stands at craft stores or online, but making your own is also straightforward. All you need are three wooden rounds (cake boards work, or you can cut your own from a thin plywood sheet), some wooden candlestick holders or thick wooden dowels from a craft store, wood glue, paint, and sandpaper.
Sand the edges of each wooden round smooth. Stack them at increasing heights using the candlestick or dowel pieces as risers, gluing each layer securely and allowing it to dry completely before proceeding to the next. Paint or stain the whole thing once assembled.
The flat tiers are ideal for laying out hair clips in neat rows, standing up headbands, or coiling hair ties. Add a small paper cup or ceramic dish to the top tier to catch bobby pins and small items. The result looks intentionally beautiful on a vanity and keeps your most-used accessories immediately visible and accessible.
4. The Pegboard Wall Organizer
If you have a larger collection or want a more customizable, adjustable system, a pegboard wall organizer is incredibly practical and can grow with you over time.
Purchase a pegboard sheet cut to your preferred size from any home improvement store. Sand any rough edges and paint it in whatever color works for your space — white is clean and fresh, black is dramatic and modern, a soft blush or sage green feels more feminine and elegant.
Mount it to your wall using standoffs (small spacers that hold the board slightly away from the wall, which is necessary for the pegs to insert properly). Then use a combination of hooks, small baskets, narrow shelves, and rod-style pegs to create a completely custom layout. Pegs with a horizontal rod are perfect for rows of hair ties. Small baskets hold scrunchies. S-hooks can hold headbands individually. A small shelf peg can hold a tiny tray for bobby pins.
The beauty of a pegboard system is that it’s infinitely reconfigurable. As your collection changes, you simply move the pegs around. It also scales easily — if you find yourself needing more space, you can expand to a larger board or add a second one.
5. The Hanging Fabric Organizer
For anyone who prefers not to put holes in their walls or doesn’t want a rigid mounted option, a hanging fabric organizer is soft, portable, and endlessly customizable in terms of size and style.
The basic idea is a long strip of fabric with individual pockets, loops, and sections sewn in at different sizes to accommodate different types of accessories. You can hang it over a door, from a hook on the back of your bathroom cabinet, or from a curtain rod above your vanity.
If you sew, this is a satisfying project that comes together in an afternoon. Choose a canvas, duck cloth, or sturdy cotton for the base layer, then add pockets of various depths using coordinating fabric. Make some pockets wide and shallow for headbands, some deep and narrow for hair brushes, and some small and closed at the top for bobby pins. Add loops of elastic for hair ties and scrunchies so they’re easy to grab individually.
If you don’t sew, an over-the-door shoe organizer with clear pockets does much the same job and requires zero crafting. Store each category in its own pocket, label with a small tag, and you have a functional organizer in about ten minutes.
6. The Decorated Shoebox Organizer
Sometimes the most effective storage solutions are also the least complicated. A shoebox — or several shoeboxes, stacked or arranged side by side — can become a genuinely attractive organizer with just a little effort.
Cover the outside of the box in wrapping paper, fabric, or decorative contact paper. Cut a piece of cardboard to create dividers inside, then cover those too. The result is a sectioned box where different compartments hold different types of accessories.
You can customize the dividers to whatever sizes you need: a long narrow section for headbands laid flat, several small squares for different types of clips sorted by style, a wider open section for a small cup of bobby pins. Line the bottom with a thin layer of felt so accessories don’t slide around.
Stack two or three decorated boxes for a tiered effect and you have a neat, cohesive organizer that cost you essentially nothing.
Tips for Keeping Your Organizer Actually Organized
Building the organizer is only half the job. The other half is the habit of maintaining it, which doesn’t have to be complicated.
The most effective strategy is what organizers call “one in, one out.” When a new hair tie or clip comes into the house, something else leaves. This prevents accumulation from undoing all your hard work.
Return things to their home after every use. It sounds obvious, but the reason organizers fail is almost always a lack of this one small habit. Spend thirty seconds putting things back and you’ll never face the avalanche-drawer problem again.
Do a quick reset once a month. Pull everything out, wipe down the organizer itself, check for broken or stretched items to discard, and put things back neatly. This monthly check takes less than ten minutes and keeps the system feeling fresh.
Group by frequency of use as much as by type. Your most-used accessories should be at eye level and immediately reachable. Things you wear only occasionally can go in a less prime spot, like a lower shelf or a back section.
Choosing the Right Style for Your Space
One of the best things about a DIY approach is that you control the aesthetic entirely. Think about where your organizer is going to live and what already exists in that space.
A bathroom with clean white tile and chrome fixtures might suit a sleek acrylic organizer or white-painted mason jars. A boho-inspired bedroom with warm wood tones and lots of texture would look beautiful with a macramé-inspired fabric organizer or a wooden pegboard stained in walnut. A child’s room calls for bright colors, chunky labels, and lower-mounted storage that’s easy for small hands to reach.
You don’t have to limit yourself to one aesthetic just because something is functional. Hair accessories are often beautiful objects in their own right — colorful scrunchies, sparkly clips, satin ribbons. An organizer that displays them rather than hiding them turns your collection into its own decoration.
Materials and Tools You’ll Actually Need
Regardless of which project you choose, a few supplies show up again and again. It’s worth having these on hand before you start.
A hot glue gun is one of the most versatile tools for any DIY project and handles most non-structural bonding tasks easily. Command strips and hooks are a wall-mounting solution that leaves no permanent damage, ideal for renters. Chalk paint adheres to almost any surface without primer and dries to a beautiful matte finish. Sandpaper in a medium and fine grit smooths wood edges before painting. A staple gun makes attaching fabric and ribbon to frames and boards fast and secure.
For hardware store staples: wall anchors and screws for anything that needs to hold weight, pegboard standoffs for any pegboard project, and small cup hooks for hanging items from frames or boards.
Final Thoughts
A DIY hair accessories organizer is one of those projects with an outsized return on investment. It costs very little, takes only a few hours at most, and then pays dividends every single morning when you can find exactly what you’re looking for in seconds.
More than that, building something yourself means you end up with something that fits your space perfectly, reflects your personal style, and feels genuinely satisfying every time you look at it. There’s no flatpack compromise, no generic beige box that sort of works. Just a solution that’s completely yours.
Start with the project that matches your current skill level and the supplies you already have. Then build the habit of using it consistently. That combination — a good system and a simple habit — is really all it takes to go from organized chaos to genuine calm.
Your mornings will thank you.
