DIY Spring Vacation Bobby Pin Craft

What’s that saying?  “Spring is right around the corner?” Perhaps you can sense Spring’s arrival where you live, but where I am in the Midwest, it’s still pretty chilly.  And with my children’s Spring vacation upon us, I’m wondering if we’ll be spending more time indoors than out.  If you’re wondering the same thing and looking for ways to keep your children’s hands busy and their creative juices flowing, you may want to try this craft.  Not only did my kids enjoy the craft, they also found some good ways to share their creativity by gifting, and even selling, their bobby pin creations.  So get ready to turn boring bobby pins into springtime creations!

Materials you’ll need:

• Plastic covering/tablecloth for work surface
• Paper towel for spills and mistakes
• 1 - 2 pieces of copy paper folded in half to add stiffness
• Bobby pins (we used wider ones than skinny traditional sized ones)
• Sand paper
• Nail polish (the more variety of colors the better)
• Embellishments such as stickers, glitter-glue, ribbon, sparkles, etc.  (Make sure they are small enough to stick on the size bobby pin you choose.)
• Glue and/or hot glue gun + glue sticks
• Optional: Fine-tipped paint brush for painting finer details
• Optional: Nail polish remover + Q-Tips(TM) for tiny detail clean-ups

Start-to-finish time for each child to make 6 bobby pins:

• Prep: 3 - 5 minutes
• Crafting: 20 minutes
• Dry time: 10 - 15 minutes
• Clean up: 5 minutes

To start, cover your work surface in case of spills.  Gather all your materials onto the table and slide three bobby pins on the folded side of the copy paper, spacing them out evenly.  This gives you a way to hold the bobby pins and not smudge them while decorating.

Next, lightly sand the top side of each bobby pin.  This may take some of the color off, but no worries because you’re going to make them prettier anyway!  Sanding helps the nail polish to stick more securely.

Once the sanding is complete, paint the bobby pins with nail polish and set aside to let dry, 10 - 12 minutes.  They may take longer to dry than when the polish is applied to fingernails, so check your work before adding embellishments.  While the first set of three pins is drying, paint the second set of pins.

Once bobby pins dry, decorate them with embellishments and let set until fully dry.  Your creations are finished!

Decorating and gifting ideas:

• Try green polish and a four leaf clover sticker to wear on St. Patty’s Day!
• Paint bobby pin one color of your child’s school colors and add a sticker made of the second school color.  Give as gifts to teammates.
• Use pastel colors to paint bobby pins and embellish with Easter egg stickers
• Make matching sets, slip on complimentary scrapbook paper and present to girlfriends as gift
• Use your imagination and send us photos of your crafting session and creations. We’d love to see them!