I don’t know if it’s just the age of Goose (almost 7 years old) but she’s recently gotten into “beading” – necklaces, bracelets, you name it. She got a kit for Christmas that had charms and beads that she’s really had fun with. Then this last weekend her cousin gave her a huge organizer full of beads and string because she has so many. While Goose has been making different things she suggested making something Valentines-y for her teacher. Which got me to thinking — I’m always involved in making the girls hair look cute – but they rarely participate in the end result.

So ….. since Valentines Day is the day of love … what happens when a basic hairdo & a fun kiddo craft project get married?!

THIS:

This turned out to be really fun because Bug (she happened to be around when we had time for this!) made the stand of beads and I did her hair. She thought it was really neat to play a part in this one!

All you’ll need is a regular piece of pipe cleaner, and craft beads (not the ones that have a tiny hole in the middle meant only for string or elastic – they’ve got to be big enough for a pipe cleaner to go through the middle.)

String enough beads on the pipe cleaner until you only have a tiny bit on each end.

** Disclaimer – you obviously wouldn’t want to do this on a little one who might tend to put things in her mouth & choke! **Make a basic bun …Shape your pipe cleaner into your desired heart shape …She also did a red one the other day that I put around a ponytail (but the bottom of it was hidden because the pony hung over it.)With the end of the pipe cleaner that doesn’t have beads on it, you can either sort of bend it and hook it into the hair, or use a bobby pin like I did. I made a little hook or loop and then pushed the bobby pin through the loop and pushed it into the top of her bun.

And there you go … it’ll hold it’s shape nicely because of the pipe cleaner.

Cheesy? Maybe … Fun? Definitely! And the best part is that it’s a win win situation — she’s happy cuz she got to make something, and you’re happy because you got away with another hairdo without any complaining! 🙂 Woot woot!