Ghetto Party Hat

I am a perfectionist by nature; we all know this.  I want to do motherhood perfectly, too.  Perfect mommy's don't exist, I know, I know, but dang it, I'm gonna try to be the first!  I fail miserably at mommyhood perfection each and every day, but never so badly as I did last week when I tried to be that crafty/ home-school-type-mom.  Ellie and I were watching a cartoon that morning that taught us how to make party hats out of construction paper.  If Special Agent Oso, the stuffed bear, can make one in a jiffy, I'll be darned if I can't, as well.  Ellie was super pumped about the whole thing; I told her all morning long that we were going have her friend, Sloan, over that afternoon, we were going to go shopping for supplies, and we were going to make super cool party hats together for our play date.  

Shopping for the supplies was a snap, of course.  Joe watched Charlie, so that I could take Ellie to the store on my own.  She even got to push her own kid sized cart throughout the store (it even had a flag up top that read, "Customer in Training"...too cute!  With neon construction paper, crayons, and star stickers in hand, we headed home to meet Sloan for my genius idea of  craft day.  Mind you, my mom still has some of my clay artwork from Mayfield Jr. School on display in her home...NOT because it's beautiful, but rather, because it is hideous, hilarious, and kid fantastic.  Ellie's and Sloan's party hats might just have to go on display in Mahgie's house, as well.  

First of all, the construction paper that Harris Teeter grocery store had to offer was way too small for party hat making.  Secondly, I had no stapler or glue, so we had to use the little bit of masking tape I had left in my kitchen drawer.  Thirdly, I forgot about the rubber band or string we would need to affix to the hat for the kids to wear under the chin, in order to keep the hideous hats on their heads.  Sloan was so not into craft day...would much rather play with Ellie's toy or beg to go outside to hit the kiddie pool.  Ellie, on the other hand, was bound and determined to wear that party hat!  Try #1: I used masking tape and one rubber band to make a chin strap...first try on Ellie's head....SNAP!....waaaaah!  Try #2: I tied a second rubber band to the first to make the strap longer and affixed it again with masking tape....SNAP!...waaaah!  Poor Ellie.  Try #3: I affixed the rubber bands to both sides of the hat with painters tape...yep, you guessed it, SNAP!....waaaah!  Finally...try #4: Found Joe's duct tape...success!  Check that baby out.  Ellie thought it was gorgeous...she even wore it into the pool that afternoon and for several days later.  Martha Stweart would be horrified.