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.

Lemme start by saying I didn’t invent clay, gift tags, or clay gift tags. But I do cherish any opportunity to make other people feel inferior over the holidays. Crafting my own clay gift tags makes me look super committed to the holiday season without putting in a lot of effort. The fact that they can alternate as tree ornaments is a nice bonus, and makes me look extra clever.

If you, too, would like to make other people feel inferior you’ll need:

• oven-bake clay (I used white Sculpey, but there are a variety of brands and colours available at craft stores)
• rolling pin
• tiny cookie cutters
• skewer
• baker’s twine/string
• parchment paper (optional)

Plus some decorating mediums such as:

• stamps/presses
• stencils
• craft paint
• small paint brushes

Knead a portion of clay until soft and smooth and then roll out 1/4 inch thick. I rolled mine on the counter and then cut the shapes on scraps of parchment paper. (I found that the clay was easier to lift from the paper without shape distortion.) Use small cookie cutters to cut out your tags – any shape you like. Tiny trees would be adorable. (Why didn’t I make tiny trees?)

I used an 8 oz. package of clay to make 47 ornaments ranging from 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter.

Press designs into the ornaments or leave as is. I left some plain, and pressed others with a small wreath stamp and letters. Do not paint before baking.

Use a skewer to poke a hole for the string or hanging apparatus. Carefully lift and place the ornaments on a baking sheet and then bake according to package instructions (mine required 15 minutes at 275°F). After baking, allow the clay to cool and fully harden before embellishing.

Use acrylic craft paint and/or stencils to embellish your tags. You could even use a Sharpie to write the gift recipient’s name on the back of the tag. Thread with baker’s twine, ribbon or human hair.

Once finished, kick up your feet and bask in DIY glory. Rolling your eyes at store-bought gift tags is optional but highly recommended.

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.  

This week I entered a cupcake contest. I did not win. Mostly because my entry didn’t even make it to the voting round. But that’s okay, because the other entries were pretty rad. Still, I thought you might like to see what I’ve been up to lately…

The deets: vanilla cupcake slathered in vanilla-almond buttercream. Finished with a vintage-inspired ballerina topper (lovingly embellished by hand), and royal icing flowers and leaves.

. . .

Maybe my loss will inspire you to win! Enter:

And then eat your entry. (I did.)