Bunheads for bunheads! Dancers have long embellished bobby pins with tiny flowers, beads and rhinestones to dress up their buns. But I’m going to suggest we take things to the next level. Let’s shove tiny disembodied heads in our hairdos!

Supplies:

• small wooden beads – about 1/2 inch in diameter
• bobby pins
• mini pom poms
• sequins (my fancy sequins came in a grab bag I bought at Michael’s)
• teeny tiny rhinestones
• craft paint
• small paint brushes
• strong glue
• skewer or toothpick
• pencil
• scissors

1. Paint the beads any colour/ethnicity you like, and allow to dry completely. It may take 2-3 coats. You can also leave them plain.

2. Glue the bead to the rounded end of a bobby pin. (I used E6000, as it holds well.) Use a skewer to line the inside of the bead and cover the top of the bobby pin with glue, then slide the bead down. Don’t go too far – you want most of the bobby pin free for securing to hair. Wipe off any excess glue and allow to dry completely before embellishing. Clipping the pins to a box keeps them upright when drying glue/paint at the various stages of assembly.

3. Sketch the hair and a face with a pencil. This isn’t necessary if you feel you can freehand with paint.

4. Paint on the hair and face. I kept mine simple, but if you’re artistic you could go crazy here.

5. Glue a mini pom pom to the top of the bead, covering the bead hole.

6. Cut a sequin in half and glue it to the front of the mini pom pom. A skewer helps with the application of glue.

7. Glue a tiny rhinestone to the sequin. Again, a skewer or toothpick helps here.

You could skip the sequin, and simply use rhinestones to dress up your little friend’s bun. Teeny tiny flowers would be nice too!

Clipping the pins to a box keeps them upright when drying glue/paint at the various stages of assembly.

I brought some of these bobby pins to class last week, and the girls went bonkers for them. The girls, by the way, are in my Advanced ballet class. THEY AREN’T LITTLE CHILDREN – most of them are taller than me. Clearly these have ageless appeal!

(If you’re into ballet crafts, you might also like these Ballerina Peg Dolls!)

Are you a ballet dancer? Do you have a ballet student in your life? Are you looking for a little gift for a dancer that is cheap AND will impress? Maybe you should make a handy sewing kit!

Sewing kits are a must for dancers. They are easy to throw together, and most items can be found at a dollar store or around the house, so you won’t have to spend much cash on things that will be sitting alongside sweaty tights. Sewing kits are also a great way to impress ballet teachers, and could very well secure a lead role in the next production. Or perhaps get you promoted from Shrub #3 to Party Onlooker! When I see a kid with a sewing kit? Well, it really helps me look past that underwear sticking out from under a bodysuit.

Let’s begin. First, you’ll need a small tin. You could use something from the dollar store, a little candy tin, or a vintage tin you stole from a senile relative bought on Etsy. It should be something small and sturdy – bonus points if it’s cute. Tins will generally hold up to a good tossing in a ballet bag. (Make sure the lid fits tightly.) At a mere 3 inches square (and only 1.5 inches deep), my kit takes up no room in a dance bag.

Safety pins in a variety of sizes really come in handy when things need to be held up or together. Like, for example, when a bodysuit strap explodes. And sewing needles? Well, they make sewing way easier.

To make safety pins easy to find, glue a magnet to the underside of the tin’s lid. (I used an old fridge magnet.) Attach a strip of felt by gluing only the ends to the lid, and you’ve got an easy way to secure straight pins and sewing needles. See how the sharp ends are tucked under the felt?

If there’s anything I’ve learned after teaching for 20+ years, it’s that you can never have too many pairs of scissors or too much thread in your dance bag. Pink thread is a must for female dancers, black/white/beige is great for guys and gals. Teeny-tiny scissors can be found in cheap sewing kits and at craft stores. Throw in a seam ripper and needle threader if you can.

Buttons, snaps, hooks and eyes are a fast-fix for nearly any wardrobe malfunction, and are often overlooked in sewing kits. Show up for recital with these in your bag and your teacher will finally forgive you for that stunt you pulled on stage last year.

You don’t have to use a super-cool tiger measuring tape – a little fabric one will serve just fine. Pointe shoe ribbons/elastics and elastics for ballet slippers can be found at your local dance store or online. I like to bundle these things together with hair elastics, as you can never have too many hair elastics at a dance studio. If you/your dancer doesn’t wear pointe shoes, leave out the pointe ribbon/elastic. For male dancers, emergency elastic should match the colour of his ballet slippers – white, black and tan are the most common colours.

Once you’ve collected your supplies, jam ’em into the tin and you’re good to go! Throw that little tin into a dance bag, and you’re prepared for any shoe/wardrobe emergency that might come your way. Except for toilet emergencies. A number of my students have dropped their bodysuits into toilets over the years. A sewing kit can’t help you here.

Materials: peg dolls, drill, pencil & eraser, acrylic craft paint, small paint brushes, fine-tip marker, mini pom-poms, glue, thin ribbon (about 1/4 inch wide), needle & thread, scissors, birthday candles, grit and fortitude.

Step 1: Buy peg dolls. Or, if you are a skilled woodworker, make ’em.

Step 2: Drill a hole into the top of your ballerina’s head. The hole should be the same diameter as your birthday candle – we used a 1/4 inch drill bit. (This step is optional if you don’t plan to set your ballerina’s head ablaze.)

Step 3: Sketch the bodice, hair and eyes onto the peg doll – bring your only friend wooden friend to life.

Step 4: Paint the bodice and hair. It is likely that you will need 2-3 coats of paint. A fine-tip marker works well for the eyes.

Step 5: If you opted not to drill candle holes, glue a mini pom-pom on top of your ballerina’s head. If you drilled candle holes, you can set a mini pom-pom (without glue) on top of the hole, and remove it when you want to insert the candle.

Step 6: Make the tutu. Secure thread to one end of a very thin ribbon, and then weave a sewing needle in and out at short intervals, pulling to create a ruffle. Make the ruffle long enough to fit your ballerina’s girth and then sew the ends together to complete the tutu. Place tutu on dancer. Squeal with delight.

Optional Bonus Steps:

Step 7: Surprise your guests by removing a ballerina’s bun.

Step 8: Shove a candle into her head.*

Step 9: Light on fire.

* Note: it is easier to shove a candle into your ballerina’s head before you place her on a cake. That said, trimming the base of your candle and ensuring it will slide easily into your dancer’s head-hole before placing her on a squishy frosting surface will ensure the whole operation runs smoothly.  

As far as crafts go, this is about as easy as it gets. But you should know that the tiny ballerina cupcake toppers are just that – tiny. They are only a couple of inches tall from head to toe. So if you don’t like finicky, elf-sized projects, walk away.

You will need:

• vintage style ballerina cupcake toppers – you can find these on etsy, ebay, and through other merchants – they are about 2 inches tall – google vintage ballerina cupcake toppers
• autumn coloured craft paint (I used a rust colour) – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well – for painting the bodice and tutu
• autumn coloured glitter – to match colour of the craft paint you have chosen for the bodice and tutu
• gold craft paint – acrylic, multi surface stuff works well – for painting the tiara and pointe shoes/ballet slippers
• small, artificial flowers in autumn colours – with petals that can be snipped off
• mod podge or other glue – quick tack glue works well on the flower petals
• teeny-tiny paint brushes for painting
• small paint brush for applying glue
• small paint brush for brushing off extra glitter
• small, sharp scissors

We will be using these super difficult to understand terms in this tutorial:

Key to this project is finding the right artificial flowers for the job. I took my little ballerina with me to the craft store so I could find flowers that had petals that were an appropriate length and width for tutu decorating. I managed to find some very small flowers, and then chose my paints and glitter to match.

Begin by painting the bodice and tutu of your ballerina in your chosen autumn colour. I used a rusty colour. This may require more than one coat of paint. Please refer to the photo above if you are unable to locate the bodice and tutu. Don’t forget to paint the underside of the tutu – most dancers don’t parade around in crotchless costumes.

Paint the tiara and pointe shoes gold. Her shoes might be hard to define – just glob some paint on there. (Oh, and you could use another colour if you like.)

Snip the petals off the flowers and apply around the tutu. This takes some patience – you have to find just the right petal to fit each section of the tutu. Let the petals hang slightly over the outer edge of the tutu. You will have to hold each petal in place until the glue sets slightly – which makes this a great activity to do whilst watching romantic comedies on a Saturday night. You could place the petals close together or have them overlapping. It’s up to you!

Finally, apply glue to the bodice, and then sprinkle on the glitter. After the glue has dried, brush off any excess glitter with a small paint brush. You don’t want glitter falling into your cupcakes. (Bleck.)

That’s it! You can use your toppers on top of cupcakes or cakes, or act out scenes from your favourite ballet with them. (Actually, don’t do that – it’s way creepy.)

Note: when you buy ballerina cupcake toppers, you will notice that they come with loads of imperfections – the paint will be absent in places, gooped on in others. I’m not sure what happens in the manufacturing process; I believe kittens are involved. If there are annoying paint smears in places, you can gently scrape them off with something sharp – I used an unfolded paperclip. Bear in mind that this means other stuff can be scraped off your ballerinas as well – including anything YOU put on ‘em. Handle them with care.

Disclaimer

I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that these cupcake toppers aren’t edible. DON’T EAT THESE CUPCAKE TOPPERS, DOOFUS. Also, they aren’t suitable for small children. Because they will eat them.