The pixies come at night...

[LizzieMaine]

That's also my biggest gripe with bobby pins -- the ones you get in a drugstore nowadays seem to be less than useless. Lately I've been getting the heavy-duty professional ones at Sally Beauty Supply, which aren't cheap, but they do seem to keep their spring for more than a couple of uses.

 

[Lauren]

They steal my bobbins, hand sewing needles, and writing pens! Darn pixies.
I'm having the scene from My Man Godfrey in my head...
"I don't like them, but I don't like to see them stepped on".

 

[wahine]

That's also my biggest gripe with bobby pins -- the ones you get in a drugstore nowadays seem to be less than useless. Lately I've been getting the heavy-duty professional ones at Sally Beauty Supply, which aren't cheap, but they do seem to keep their spring for more than a couple of uses.

It's the same over here. Not only do they become less strong, but they are also shorter than they used to be.
"Hey, they might be weaker, but at least we keep our prices steady (not telling you that the pins are 20% smaller which means they've really become more expensive)" Disguised price increase; one of the most annoying things! The companies do it more and more, it's become sort of a fashion over here.

The weaker material of the pins might be a reason why we lose them. I guess I'll pay the local professional hair supply store a visit.
(I must say I'm a bit disappointed that you got the same problems with quality because I planned to make a friend bring a bag of pins from the States )

 

[ZombieGirl]

It's the same over here. Not only do they become less strong, but they are also shorter than they used to be.
"Hey, they might be weaker, but at least we keep our prices steady (not telling you that the pins are 20% smaller which means they've really become more expensive)" Disguised price increase; one of the most annoying things! The companies do it more and more, it's become sort of a fashion over here.

The weaker material of the pins might be a reason why we lose them. I guess I'll pay the local professional hair supply store a visit.
(I must say I'm a bit disappointed that you got the same problems with quality because I planned to make a friend bring a bag of pins from the States )

I agree they get lost easier when you use the cheap ones. I've been using the same pins from Sally Beauty that Lizzie mentioned and they are great! I don't seem to go through them nearly as fast. If you do have a friend pick some up for you those are the ones I'd recommend.

 

[wahine]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will try to keep it in mind.
Hopefully, those Sally Beauty pins aren't 10 times the price of regular ones?

 

[Tatum]

They steal my bobbins, hand sewing needles, and writing pens! Darn pixies.
I'm having the scene from My Man Godfrey in my head...
"I don't like them, but I don't like to see them stepped on".

They steal my tracing wheels. I have two and can never find either one...

 

[rue]

My bobby pins are stolen by my daughter, so I know where they are, but it's the missing flatware that seems to be a mystery. For some reason I'm missing 3 forks and a spoon. Very odd....

 

[ZombieGirl]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will try to keep it in mind.
Hopefully, those Sally Beauty pins aren't 10 times the price of regular ones?

Here's a link:
http://www.sallybeauty.com/premium-bob-pins/MTAGRP2,default,pd.html?cgid=Hair14-02

Not sure how much you're spending on yours but this should give you an idea. Plus there are 300 pins in there... maybe you could split with someone.

 

[wahine]

Thank you, ZombieGirl! The price is much lower than I expected. For the weak, low quality kind, I pay around 1,80 Euro (~2,50 $) for 30 pins! For 300 I'd pay 25 dollars, can you believe it?!
Good to know that the good ones you recommend are much cheaper. Well, I guess the prices are simply higher in this country. At least for some products (like clothes, fabrics, beauty supply...).

 

[BettyMaraschino]

I feel your pain with the disappearing hairpins! I just wanted to give a word of warning, though: whilst you wouldn't think hairpins would vary much in quality vs. price, I recently bought a large number very cheaply from ebay (120 for £1.50 I think) and they are not very good at all. They bend too easily and therefore don't have much grip. If I've used one for a particularly big bit of hair I sometimes have to just throw it away cause it won't go back to its original shape.

It's not like the ones I had before were expensive, and I know that at such a great price it doesn't really matter if you get through them quick, but I just wanted to point that out!

I tried them out yesterday, and they are of the same (average) quality as the superdrug ones I usually get. Unfortunately, unless I order online theres nowhere in my area to do better ones than superdrug

 

[Miss Sis]

Tape measures. The pixies come and steal my tape measures. Can never find them when I need them! (*shakes fist at the little blighters*)

 

[sheeplady]

They steal my tracing wheels. I have two and can never find either one...

They have your tracing wheels and my seam rippers. Seriously I can only ever find 2-3 at a time, and I have bought at least 6 since moving into this house. Before that I at least owned 3.

For my bobby pins that have "opened up" I use a pair of blunt-nose pliers, and put them towards the closed end (the looped end) and give a squeeze. It gives them a bit more life. The problem I have (besides the pixies) is that the rubber ends come off and then they are sharp. I tried once to dip them in hot glue, but that peeled off really quickly.

 

[Land-O-LakesGal]

I think they have a thing for both tape measures and seam rippers. No matter how many I buy I can never seem to find them.

 

[Tatum]

I think they have a thing for both tape measures and seam rippers. No matter how many I buy I can never seem to find them.

Me either, but I usually know that I misplaced them myself. Or maybe I am wrong... :/

 

[sheeplady]

I think they have a thing for both tape measures and seam rippers. No matter how many I buy I can never seem to find them.

JoAnn's (which is a fabric store in the US) has these coupon "commotion" events 3-4 times a year, where they give out very specific coupons. One is always for notions. I ALWAYS buy a seam ripper with that coupon if I go to the store. Given my revised calculations, I must have at least 10 or 15.

I put two tape measures in my husband's stocking each year. They still come up missing.

 

[Dixie_Amazon]

Nail clippers and files. Oddly enough the pixies have the same names as my kids.

 

[Miss sofia]

Hmm, i think it's the same in my house too, although my problem is with scissors, i must have bought five pairs since christmas...maybe Edward Scissorhands is living in my shed and is feeling the need for a spring makeover!

 

[MysteriousRed]

My travel set of needles and thread. :\

 

[LizzieMaine]

I buy seam rippers in bulk, because I can't hold onto one for more than five minutes. Occasionally they turn up though -- I once found one in my bed, when I rolled over on it in the night. Another time I smelled a terrible stink when I was baking something, and found a melted seam ripper in the oven. Clearly my gremlins have a sense of humor.

 

[MarieAnne]

For me it's permanent markers. The pixies make them magically appear in the hands of my three year old. . She coloured on my 50's cookie tin with black sharpie this morning (amongst other things.)