Think Pink: Welcome to February!

February is my most absolute favorite month, for many reasons.

It could be because of my birthday... (Feb 5th) ;)

It could be because of Valentine's Day. (Despite the over-commercialization of the holiday, I still enjoy making/buying cards and creating some yummy treats for the Hubby and the Munchkin).

For whatever reason, I've always had a special place in my heart for this special 28-day month. I'm not a girly-girl by any stretch of the imagination, but when this month rolls around I reach towards more pink things than usual. So without further ado, here is something "pink" to start of February!

Crochet Heart Hair Clips

Materials:
Small amount of Yarn (Medium Weight)
Crochet Hook (G)
Felt Heart Cut-out (optional)
2" Alligator Hair Clips (2)
Ribbon (10 inches)
Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks

Part 1: Crocheted Hearts

Chain 4. In the first chain, work 3 tr (triple crochet). In same stitch, work 3 d  (double crochet), ch 1, 1 tr, ch 1, 3 dc, 3 tr. Ch 3, and slip stitch into the center and fasten off. Knot the two yarn ends together and trim to 1/4 in. Repeat for second heart.

Part 2: Assembling the Hair Clip

• Cut ribbon into two strips 4 3/4 in each. Hot glue the ribbon onto each hair clip. (Great video tutorial here!) 
• Hot glue felt heart to the front center of the crocheted heart. (This is a great way to cover up the "hole" created by crocheting each stitch into one chain.)
• Hot glue crocheted heart to the alligator clip. **If making two to use as a pair, make sure to "flip" one of them the other direction so they will work on both sides of a hairdo.

These only take about 20 minutes to make a pair, and the color combinations are endless! 

If you don't have the time or skills to make them yourself, be sure to check out my Etsy shop and send a custom order!

Homemade Playdough Part 2

Here's the full set of colors after I made a second batch of playdough today. Add some cookie cutters, a placemat, and a case to keep it all in, and you've got a great homemade birthday present for a 2 year old nephew! :)

Homemade Playdough

My little Munchkin is way too young to play with playdough. I'm pretty sure he would just sit there and eat bits of it until the whole thing was gone. Just like he tried to eat the leaves outside today. 

So I'm not making the playdough for him. 

But, I do have a nephew who turns two tomorrow, and his mommy is certain that he can play with big boy things like playdough. So, since I am such a procrastinator an awesome aunt, I decided to make some for his birthday. 

I waited until the Munchkin was asleep so I wouldn't have any interruptions. I'm not much of a chemist, and didn't want to take any chances with the recipe failing due to lack of diligence. 

There are many recipes out there, but I followed one from here.

Super Soft Homemade Playdough

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

food coloring of choice

Measuring everything out is the hard part. Here's the easy part - dump everything into a saucepan. Stir well to get rid of flour lumps and evenly distribute the food coloring. 

Turn heat to medium, and stir constantly. The dough will start to clump up and stick to the soon. Once it forms a large ball, remove from heat and place dough on wax paper to cool. 

After a few minutes, knead the dough to eliminate any remaining lumps. When the dough is fully cooled, store it in plastic bags or containers. I have tons of baby food containers on hand, so I stored mine in these:

One recipe made enough for three containers, plus a little bit left over. To make several colors, cut the recipe in half or pour portions of it into separate sauce pans and then add the food coloring.

~ ~ ~

Since I ended up with 7 containers (half green, half blue) I have plenty of playdough to send to the birthday boy and some to keep. It really is a great stress reliever to sit and knead it with your hands. :)