Birthday gift for under $7- DIY Play Make-up

DIY Play Make-up

My children were invited to a birthday party this coming weekend.  Kids birthday parties always make me a bit nervous.  Not because there will be 20 noisy kids in one room, but instead because of the gift opening.  I have not bought a gift (with the exception of the two per child from Santa at Christmas) in over four years.  I make all of our Christmas/ birthday/ wedding/ baby or shower gifts- but to stay on budget that means I also have to make gifts for the kids friends.
Usually this is accepted with open and happy hearts by the children and parents of the children.  After all, the parents know me and so a home made gift is more or less expected.  Yet I always get a bit nervous about how it will be perceived by the other parents at the party. The ones who spent $40 buying a gift while I managed a DIY gift for under $7.  I shouldn't care what they think, gentle readers- I know that- but often times I do.  So I am always on the lookout for the best DIY gifts out there to really thrill the child and prove to other parents that more money spent does not always equal more enjoyment.

When I saw this DIY Play Make-up on Pinterest, I knew I had found something great. And now the whole gift has been completed for under $7.

What you will need:
- a variety of old or empty make-up containers
-toothpicks
-soap &old toothbrush
-make-up bag
- several different colours of nail polish
-at least two days for dry time
- new items (like make-up brushes or sponges, hair rollers ect) **New items are optional**

I started by taking inventory of all my old or never used make-up.
Since my mom buys expensive department store make-up she often sends me the "free" bonus sample bags she gets when she spends $x, so I thought I would be able to find a lot more unused make-up. What I found instead were half a dozen lovely never used make-up bags, but only one blush and one eye shadow- I must have cleaned out my "stash" not too long ago.  But I could use one of the make-up bags as part of the gift so I counted it a win and moved on.
I reached out on a social networking site asking friends for their empty, unused or long forgotten make-up containers.  After waiting a few days and getting no responses I thought I should hit the dollar store and just get what I needed there.  I was able to nab some make-up brushes for $1.25 each, and a four pack of unusual nail polish colours for $3 along with a pack of velcro hair rollers for $1. Yet the selection of make-up I had expected to be vast was limited to one eye shadow quartet.  I skipped buying that and figured I would ask around at department stores for their empty trial containers.
Yet I was saved having to do this because as it turns out someone on that social networking site had read my plea, and she sweetly dropped off a whole freezer bag full of old make-up from the days her daughter did competitive dance.

Step one:
Take your container of old make-up and a toothpick and scrape out any remaining eye shadow, blush or pressed powder.

Old make-up

Step two: Wash thoroughly   Then wash again.  I took and old toothbrush and really gave the containers a good scrubbing.

Step three: pour nail polish into the empty wells of the container.  Repeat until you have filled all the wells in as many containers as you desire.

Carefully pour in nail polish

Step four: Allow to dry.  You will notice That the dry nail polish does not take up as much volume as the wet, so you may choose to top-up your wells as they dry.

Allow to dry

Step five:package it all together and feel pride in your gift for under $7.

This "make-up" being in real containers with vibrant colours makes it so much more realistic for the kids than the other plastic play stuff that costs three times as much.
In an ideal world one would complete this project out of doors or in a seldom used garage or basement as there are noticeable fumes from the nail polish as it dries.

Enjoy, and happy money saving!