Head Band-ing

A few of the "final products..."

In response to the aforementioned "situation" where Ryan and I were unable to determine if a random baby was a boy or girl (and in conjunction with our not-overly-pink wardrobe per Ryan's preference), I've been hunting down hair accessories to help us avoid the "What a lovely...um...baby!" reaction and encourage the "What a lovely little girl!" reaction.

This baby girl's closet has turned out to be more feminine than fun, which has made finding coordinating hair accessories a little more challenging than expected.  Really, there are a lot of options out there, but the affordable ones seem to only be available in bright colors and patterns, and the  "softer"/daintier options seem to be way expensive.  After creating my ideal hair accessory wardrobe in my Etsy cart, the final price was a bit alarming--after all, she will be growing out of these things relatively quickly and many of them match only one outfit!  And, of course, there's the artist in me (as well as the Type A personality) that knew deep down I could make these headbands myself...

So I did.  I don't know why, perhaps because I have a million other things I'm trying to accomplish and prepare for in the following weeks, but I really didn't feel like making felt flowers from scratch, which is why I procrastinated so much on this project.  As I sent Ryan off on his final trip before the baby comes, I figured I'd better take advantage of my last weekend at home alone, so I decided to check out the semi-homemade options at Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics...and was surprised.  Although the options on Etsy were definitely cuter and more creative, for the price, the craft store options were pretty decent.

I ended up spending about a third of my Etsy dream cart total, and in about an hour I had 20 headbands to show for my effort! And, truthfully most of that hour was spent configuring the headbands to her outfits.  The lesson here?  Hot glue = miracle worker!  Although I like some better than others, it was a lot easier than expected, and I figure these semi-homemade options will tide me over until my creative energy needs another outlet...because I already have the nagging voice in the back of my brain challenging me, "Seriously, you could make Etsy-ier headbands if you wanted to...and you know you do!"  One day, maybe sooner than later...A nap time activity for mom, maybe?

My favorite? The totally impractical neutral one with the "brooch," which will only be used for pictures. :)