Jun 02 2008
Birthday Baubles
It seems that there is at least 2 birthday parties a month that my littlest gets invited to. I often said it over the years with all my children, and it hold true to this day – my kids have a much more active social life than I ever did.
With all of these parties to attend however comes the obligatory gift. I love it that here in England they don’t do a ceremonial opening of the gifts during the party. Instead the birthday girl/boy opens them afterwards and sends thank you notes to each guest. So much nicer than the risk that your gift will be less glamorous or exciting than another’s, and it takes the focus off of the loot grab aspect of a birthday party. But nonetheless, while not ‘required’ a gift is traditionally expected and what child wants to show up empty handed. We have a very tight budget in our house and as much as I hate to admit it, £200 of birthday gifts throughout the school year just isn’t in it. Its times like these when I am glad that I am a crafty mama. I can turn a few surplus bits and bobs into a lovely gift that if I were to sell in my shop would fetch a price well above what I would otherwise spend on a gift.
This weekend was the party of a sweet girl who loves her accessories. The perfect opportunity to break open the bead boxes and see where inspiration leads. Insisting that her friend would love something pretty for her hair, Anja decided that hair clips would be the project of the day. So we rooted through all the sparklely goodness and negotiated a pleasing pattern from which to create some lovely hair clips. (I had to explain that as much as she loved that single giant black bead it would not compliment her selection of pinks and yellows. Not to mention fit.) Naturally they had to be dangley – mere sparkle does not suffice in the fashion ethos of a 7 year old. And a bow – nothings complete without a bow.
Using wire bases that I use in making earrings, and hanging them on the clips with jump rings for maximum dangle, topped off with a little ribbon bow we made a sweet pair of hair baubles. Anja was pleased with her contribution to the effort of placing the beads on the wires in the pattern, carefully replicating my original example. She even astutely pointed out that because of the little purple bead at the base, they were not symmetrical. (They have been studying symmetry in school and she is most fascinated by the concept. )
From our collaboration of design and labor came these beauties.
We gave them a test run in her hair to be sure they dangled appropriately, which they did. I’m not posting that picture though because up close there was no denying that she was in desperate need of a hair washing. Bad (tired and in pain) mommy seems to have let it go a bit too long! As I mentioned earlier, there is no opening of gifts at the party, but it was reported back to me today that a certain girl who had a party this weekend was wearing very lovely set of hair clips that were being ooh’d and aah’d over by the girls on the playground. I am pleased with this, and am considering refining the design (attaching the bow was a bit fussy – there must be and easier way) and possibly offering them for sale in my etsy shop.
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