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Charline Cormier-Pellerin

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Most little girls like to play dress-up and get decked out in jewelry while they imagine themselves as fairy tale princesses or glamour girls. And most little boys, when surrounded and outnumbered by a bunch of little girls in dress-up mode, will want to join in on the fun.

Inexpensive dress-up clothes can be found at second-hand shops. Outdated party dresses and princess dresses left over from Halloween, old uniforms and accessories, fancy hats and capes can all be brought home and stashed away until the kids want to play 'pretend.'

Cheap costume jewelry can be purchased at the dollar store.

However, if you haven't any on hand and are looking to either entertain the children or encourage their creative genius, a lot of simple jewelry can easily be made by recycling stuff found around the house.

Beads for necklaces and bracelets can be made with a variety of household items such as straws (cut into small pieces), buttons, construction paper or cardboard found on empty cereal boxes (cut into small pieces and perforated with a hole-punch).

Magazine pages can also be used by cutting a colorful page into skinny strips, rolling the strip around a toothpick, sealing with tape (so that it remains rolled) and then taking out the toothpick.

Once you have found or made the beads, they will need to be stringed. Real string can be used but there are also other alternatives. Rope, ribbon (curly ribbon too), shoelaces and dental floss can all be used, but my favorite option has got to be pipe-cleaners!

As a matter of fact, pipe-cleaners can even be used all by themselves. All you need to do is twist their ends together to make bracelets, necklaces, belts, tiaras and rings.

They can also be cut into small pieces and then rolled into beads. And the best part is the wide variety of colors that they come in, such as gold and silver or glittery red and green at Christmas time. And for those who haven't got their ears pierced, little sticky earrings can be purchased at the dollar store, but tiny stickers will work just as well.

Then stand back and sneak a peek (if you can) as Peter Pan rescues Tinker-bell, as a police officer tickets a speeding damsel, as a dad burps the baby, as a mom purchases a new car from a salesman, or as the prince marries the princess and lives happily ever after. Possibilities are endless and limited only by your childrens' imaginations, which are easily fueled by the joys of indulging in fantasy and dressing up.

* Charline Cormier-Pellerin, Moncton resident and mother of four children, writes a regular column on parenting and its many adventures for This Week.