Kanzashi is a Japanese craft which involves folding pieces of cloth into flower petals, arranging them and making them into ornate hair pieces.

Today, kanzashi can be used for items other than hair including shirts, necklaces, earrings, purses and more.

The traditional method of creating Kanzashi is fairly difficult and tedious. And like many things developed by the Japanese, it requires a lot of training and practice to do well.

Portland, Oregon based author and crafter Diane Gilleland has modified the traditional method to make it more accessible. In her book, Kanzashi in Bloom, Diane provides extremely useful instructions on how to create your own kanzashi!

Kanzashi can be made from a variety of materials including silk, wood and bone. It is also important to note who generally wears kanzashi and how it is worn. 

The way in which a geisha wears her kanzashi indicates her status immediately to an informed audience; according to the type and location of the kanzashi. Maiko (apprentice geisha) usually wear more numerous and elaborate kanzashi than older geisha and progress through several hairstyles where the kanzashi must be worn in a fixed pattern. (from Wikipedia)

Unfortunately, the tradition of crafting kanzashi is a dying art. There are only a handful of masters left in the world.