36 | FEBRUARY 9 • 2023 

W

hen Rachel 
Borsand, art 
therapist and 
mother of two young children, 
was stuck at home during the 
COVID-19 quarantine after 
schools shut down, she sought 
out a new creative outlet where 
she could channel her artistic 
skill and vision.
As a longtime art therapist 
who primarily worked with 
children in medical centers, 
schools and in private practice, 
Borsand turned to her own kids 
for inspiration.
Her then-6-month-old 
daughter, Hannah, was born 
with what Borsand calls “the 
most gorgeous head of hair,
” 
and Borsand began creating 
hairbows for her to wear.
“I was so excited to get her 
accessories and hairbows, but I 
just couldn’t find anything that I 
thought was unique or luxurious 
enough,
” she recalls. “I figured, 
‘You know what, let me make 

something. I’m sure I can do 
this.
’ So that became my creative 
outlet.
”
Every night before bed, 
Borsand would turn on music, 
light a candle and learn how to 
make hairbows. “I enjoyed the 
process of doing it,
” Borsand, 37, 
of Huntington Woods, says. 
Yet there was just one 
problem: Her daughter refused 
to wear the hairbows.
“She didn’t like accessories, 
and I just had all these bows 
sitting around,
” Borsand 
continues.
Borsand gave a few away as 
gifts, and the rest were given to 
her son, Rafael, who was 2 at the 
time. Rafael, who had a toy cash 
register at home, added the bows 
to his pretend store as part of 
his inventory. Yet, for Borsand, 
something clicked.
“I was like, ‘If he has the 
confidence to sell these in his 
store in our living room, then I 
should sell them, too.
”

ACCESSORIES FOR ALL
It was the beginning of Roosy & 
Ba’Lulu’s, Borsand’s accessories 
business that sells handmade 
items for women, children and 
babies. She launched the store 
on Etsy in May 2021 and is in 
the process of building a website 
to sell independently.
She named the business after 
nicknames for her children 
but didn’t expect it to catch on 
the way that it did. Borsand 
tested the waters by first giving 
items to her friends; however, 
word-of-mouth spread, and 
people began to call asking for 

custom headbands for weddings, 
fascinators for synagogue and, 
of course, hairbows for young 
children.
At that point, Borsand realized 
she could expand beyond only 
accessories for babies and launch 
a women’s collection as well.
“If it doesn’t sell, it’s fine,
” 
she recalls thinking. “I’
d be 
left with a ton of accessories 
that I absolutely love because I 
only make things that I would 
personally wear.
”
Luckily, Borsand never had 
to go down that path because 
business picked up and soon 

One-of-a-Kind 
Accessories

NEXT DOR

Meet Rachel Borsand, whose 
passion for creating hairbows 
turned into a business.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION

STELA ZAHARIEVA @ZAHARIEVASTELA

Rachel 
Borsand

Handmade accessories from Roosy & Ba’Lulu’s

