Ronghua Tutorial: How to Make Ginkgo & Osmanthus Hairpin

Inspired by the delicate beauty of ginkgo leaves and tiny osmanthus flowers, this hairpin combines the fan-shaped leaves with clusters of small, fragrant blooms. The warm yellow tones of the ginkgo and osmanthus create a graceful, autumn-inspired look, brought to life with fine silk and traditional Ronghua techniques.

Preparation: What You’ll Need

If you’ve purchased our Ronghua Toolkit, you already have everything required!
If not, prepare the following tools:

Bristle brush (Medium to soft hardness)
Flat iron (the one you use to straighten your hair)
Tweezers
At least 2 pairs of Scissors
wooden sticks / pencils / chopsticks
Hair spray or diluted white glue (1:1.15–1:1.2 ratio)
Big clips (around 15cm)
Twisting boards and wooden blocks (for even tension)
Anti-slip powder (optional but helpful)

Full Tutorial Video

Step. 1 Align and Arrange the Silk Threads

Begin by untying your silk threads and locating the knot at one end of each bundle. Carefully cut the knot open and ensure all strands are straightened. Group and separate your silk bundles based on the color palette required for your project layout.

Step. 2 Group and Prepare the Threads

Each silk bundle is composed of many tiny individual strands. Align these strands carefully and tie them around a small stick or pencil, ensuring the ends are perfectly flush. Keeping the lengths even is vital for a consistent texture during the brushing process.

Step. 3 Make Silk Rows

Proceed to group the threads into distinct rows. You will need to prepare separate rows for the petals, leaves, buds, and fine strips. Ensure that each row is organized according to the color gradients and sizes specified in your project layout.

Step. 4 Brush the Silk

Attach your silk rows securely to a stand or a flat surface. Using a bristle brush, comb the silk thoroughly from top to bottom. Continue brushing until the silk is completely smooth, fluffy, and free of any tangles. If the silk becomes static, mist the surrounding air lightly with water.

This is how it looks like when it's done:

Step. 5 Attach Copper Wires

When you feel that the silk is brushed enough, secure its tail with another big clip to your table or anything that can help stretch it taut. Take out one copper wire from the folded end of the row and straighten it. Twist the folded part into a spiral of about 3 cm. Clamp the silk threads between two copper wires and twist the opposite side tightly. Pull both wires taut and continue twisting until they merge into one. Remember, the twisting direction for the left and right end are opposite.

The spacing should be the same as shown in step 1. You can watch our video tutorial for this step:)

Step. 6 Cut the Strips

Using a pair of scissors designated for silk, trim away the excess thread from the row ends. Cut through the silk exactly in the middle of each wire twist to separate the row into individual silk strips. Never use these scissors on copper wire, as this will dull the blades and cause the silk edges to fray.

Step. 7 Center and Twist the Strips

Lay each silk strip on a flat surface and ensure the copper wire is perfectly centered.

Twist the wires by hand to tighten the grip on the silk, then place the strip between two twisting boards. Roll the boards firmly to twist the wire until it is tightly embedded and nearly invisible within the silk.

Step. 8 Flatten the Strips

For the green silk strips, cut off the copper wire on the darker-coloured end.

For the yellow silk strips, cut off the copper wire on the lighter-coloured end.

Cut the pale yellow silk strips in half. Press the strips with heated iron to make them flat.

Prepare hairspray or a glue-alcohol mix, immerse each strip completely, use tweezers to remove excess, and hang heavier strips upside down using masking tape along a table edge to dry. Insert the other strips into foam or a bristle brush to dry smooth and flat.

Step. 9 Shape the Pale Yellow Silk Strips

The pale yellow silk strips do need a little shaping. Use tweezers to remove any excess hairspray, then gently bend the silk strip into a soft curve. Next, use the tweezers to draw the silk fibres along the edges slightly inward, and shape all of the small silk strips in the same way. After it's done, trim them into a teardrop shape.

Step. 10 Trim the Petals and Leaves

Prepare a sharp pair of scissors and trim each large silk strip into an upside-down triangle, with the top wider than the bottom, keeping all large silk strips consistent in shape.

For the leaves, apply a small amount of glue along the edge of each silk piece to join the trimmed pieces together into a larger leaf section, needing about five pieces per leaf, and make the green leaves in exactly the same way.

Step. 11 Assemble the Osmanthus Flowers

Count out three stamens, fold them in half, and cut them apart. Secure the stamens together with yellow silk thread, then begin arranging the petals around them.

Each flower is made with four petals. Once the petals are in place, wrap the silk thread downward for about 3 to 4 cm. You will need seven of these small flowers in total, applying a small amount of glue along the edge of each silk piece as you assemble them.

Step. 12 Construct the Ginkgo Leaves

Cut copper wire into 15 cm lengths and use the template as a guide to bend each piece into the shape of a ginkgo leaf, ensuring the edges and corners match closely before pressing the wire flat with a wooden board.

Apply jewelry glue along the edge of the copper wire without letting it spread beyond, place the wire onto the silk piece, and gently press it down with your fingers. (You will need two large ginkgo leaves and three small ginkgo leaves).

Once the glue has dried, press the pieces again with a fully heated flat iron using a higher temperature until there are no visible gaps between the copper wire and the silk, carefully removing any seeped glue with a fine needle tip. Once securely attached, trim away all excess silk so that each of the five finished ginkgo leaves is clean and neat.

Step. 13 Prepare Leaf Support Wires and Beaded Accents

Prepare a piece of copper wire, begin wrapping silk thread from the middle, fold the wire in half, and continue wrapping around it. Secure this wrapped support wire to the back of the ginkgo leaf using jewelry glue and about 2 cm of wrapping so you can shape and position the leaf later (use yellow-wrapped wire for yellow leaves and green-wrapped wire for green leaves).

Next, prepare two pieces of copper wire, wrap silk thread from the middle for about 4 cm, thread one bead onto each wire, fold in half, twist tightly, wrap silk thread around the exposed copper wire for another 4 cm, and tie a knot to finish two bead pieces.

Step. 13 Assemble the Main Branch Elements

Take the two wrapped copper wire bead pieces, assemble them together at slightly different heights, and add the bead piece. Attach a small green ginkgo leaf followed by one small osmanthus flower at slightly different angles and heights rather than a flat plane. Next, attach a small yellow ginkgo leaf and another bead piece on the left side, following the assembly order shown in the video, and attach five small osmanthus flowers at the specified position using four strands of silk thread for quicker assembly.

Trim the bottom copper wires on a slight diagonal, continue wrapping silk thread all the way down to the bottom (tying off and continuing with a fresh length if needed), wrap back upward once you reach the bottom, and fold the copper wire back on itself. Finish the wrapping neatly by placing a thin folded piece of copper wire or silk thread, wrapping over it, passing the thread through the folded wire, and pulling the wire out to draw the thread underneath before pulling tight.

Step. 14 Attach the Hairpin

Attach the finished ginkgo branch to your main base or accessory piece using four strands of silk thread pulled firmly, apply a small amount of craft glue where the silk flower meets the main base for a firm bond, wrap the thread back in the opposite direction, secure with a folded 0.3 mm copper wire or silk thread loop, trim away excess thread, and finally brush a thin layer of hairspray over the wrapped area to keep everything neat and secure.