Lots of people get all sorts of weird about spilled salt, broken mirrors and ladders blocking a path. I'm not one of them (I'm not!), but I have to admit when three-quarters of our family selected a BLACK CAT from all the cute and fuzzy kittens at the shelter I felt a tad uneasy.

She was chosen for her name - Ariel - rather than the coloring of her coat. As it turns out she is quite possibly the "Best Pet Of All" despite some obvious drawbacks. Namely, 1. she is not a dog, and 2. the litterbox. Any cat that lets the kids tote her around, dress her up or make her perform any number of feline indignities, is just a good, good animal.

Not to mention an animal worthy of having its face immortalized in a foam-like substance.



Which is essentially our craftacular project for the week: Kitten's Got Your Hair Clip.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

*Air-dry clay in assorted colors. (We used Crayola Model Magic primarily because it was the only air-dry clay I could find at the store. I'm not usually a fan of mess-less products, but I have to admit the Crayola clay is pretty perfect for tykes because of its ease of use).

Contour hair clips. (We used Goody, $2+ for a pack of six.)

*A toothpick (We didn't have any ... and floss didn't work ... so I broke a tine off a plastic fork).

*A glue gun I was looking around the house for Superglue, which we don't have either, and Ittybit dug out the glue gun from the bottom of the toy box. (!!! Why? Where do you keep yours?) Turns out it will work, but you have to be ready to be gentle with the clips or make repairs).

*Five minutes, tops. (Even though this project isn't time consuming, you might want to remove all bothersome and/or distracting objects from the hands of smaller siblings. Just sayin').



WHAT YOU DO:

Mix your colors. ... Add a little white to your black if you want gray ... or a little red to your white for pink.



Roll a lump of clay into a ball and squish it flat for the head.

Shape two triangles out of the same color and attach to the head where ears might be.

Affix smaller, pink triangles into the ears, another for the nose.

Poke some holes for eyes,

Add whiskers and a mouth if you like. (Or make it look like a pirate or a ballerina. ... You can probably figure out how ... an eye patch or a tiara might do the trick. ...



We let ours dry overnight before affixing it to the clip, but my guess is you could just shoot some molten glue gun adhesive to the hairclip and dust your hands of the project until morning. (*Note: Glue Guns are HOT! Make sure your kids are supervising you with their full attention).



When you *might* try actually combing your child's hair *BEFORE* you try and tame it with clips.