Little Big

I love the Montessori idea of giving your child a rainbow of play silk to your kid as a fun and creative way for them to entertain themselves. I always thought  that when I was a parent I’d have a box of play silk for my kids to play with.  That was the plan, anyway.

Silk, even for play, can be expensive, and while I think it’s a worthwhile investment it’s just not one I can justify right now. Though through my various thrifting tips I realized that I was able to collect colorful swaths of silk fabric very inexpensively in the form of vintage scarves.

It’s more or less the same thing, and Isobel loves them.

They become rugs and blankets and flowing skirts and tents for her dolls.

I’ve provided her with as many colors of the rainbow as I can, but I’m not always sure why I bother. Guess with color she prefers?

Yeah. That one.

I’ve spent between ten cents and two dollars per scarf, collecting them slowly. Most of them are 100 silk.

They are a big hit around here, and beautiful, too.

Isobel was blessed with hair so fine it’s like corn silk, it ripples under a brush like water, it’s as soft as the spindles of a dandelion. It’s also nigh-impossible to control and gets in her eyes and hangs in front of her face so often Anthony calls her his little ragamuffin. Hair clips are an integral part of our life, but it seems that we are fated to plain clips as a clip with any decoration or weight on it at all falls out of her chestnut tresses moments after we put it in.

Packets of hair clips we buy at the store are immediately striped of their pink clips while the rest are shunned and remain at the bottom of a drawer. When the pink clips are inventively lost our morning routine becomes that much more complicated. It was time for me to take matters into my own hands.

I bought a cheap set of plain hair clips and two bottles of three dollar nail polish. Target did have nail polish for a few dollars less, but we sprung for the mid-priced polish because it came in the perfect shade of pink (Tip Toe, if you must know).

Isobel wanted to help me paint them but this was a mommy-only project. While I coated each clip with layers of polish she painted our pumpkins pink. The clips took a long time to dry and I let them sit overnight before adding a second coat. I painted the clips plain pink, pink sparkles, and a pink with pink sparkles. Guess which style is her favorite?

The nail polish has held up really well so far. It’s been a week of constant use with no chipping, peeling or loss of sparkle. I credit the flexibility of the nail polish to withstand all that bending and still look great. If you have a little girl with specific tastes in hair clips, this could be a lifesaver. These would also make a lovely and cheap project for DIY stocking stuffer presents.

Be right back, going to pick out some polish to make some for myself.