DIY costume Max from Where The Wild Things Are

 I have had both of these costumes done for a month or more now...My goal was to get these up so other people could use the idea.. but celebrating Halloween and doing activities for that kiiiind of trumped. Sorry, maybe next year! For Raley's costume this year, she was Max from Where The Wild Things Are. It has always been my favorite children's book, from when I was little to now. I always wanted to do it if I ever had a son, but I think it is very fitting for Raley. She is wild and fearless and full of imagination. When she was little ( she still does it now sometimes) she would growl at Lilly and me and snap her teeth and cackle because it would always make Lilly squeal and run. Whenever she did  it always made me think of Max when he yell to his mom "Iam going to eat you up!!"

To make the costume, I wanted soft white snuggly fabric. I took Raley and gave her the choices and she picked this one and it is exactly the one that I had in mind! For the body I folded the fabric in half ( so the fluffy sides were touching) and laid her on the fold so half of her body was on the fabric and I traced it. For the arms and hood I used Simplicity pattern 5520 because it was what was in front of me. I used the arms for the little boys knight costume on the pattern and the hood that was on there also along with the "ears" I did make four of these pieces so it was lined when it was down. The ears I just stuffed and sewed on the outside. I cut the legs and arms so they looked like claws. The tail I just cut out what I thought a wolf tail would look like. I cut a little hole in the but and sewed it in from the inside. It pulls up on her so I did not put a zipper or buttons on. For the crown, I used the same fur as the tail. I also got the heaviest fusible interface  that I could but I did not iron it because I was afraid it would melt the fabric. I hand sewed the fur on and I wanted it to be detached from the hood so she could wear it alone.I put all the tips of the crown together and clipped them with a clothes pin so it would give it that funky curl. I really love it, so does Raley!  FYI This outfit cost $10 to make, in your face $90 pottery barn kids costume, Ha!

DIY Merida Brave Costume Part 2

 

Lilly and I love the movie "Brave" so it was a easy do decided on a Halloween costume this year. For those who have not seen it, It is probably on of my favorite "Princess" movies. Its about changing your fate and she does not need a prince to save her. Since I am a single moma of girls this message is huge for me. Anyways, For a long time there was only the blue "Princess" dress out, and we wanted the Green "Adventure" dress that she wears for most of the movie. So naturally I made her one!  I would have made it even if it was out for sale. Because I love to make their costumes, I have always made them, except one year when my mother made it because I was super sick. I had this pattern from Lilly's costume last year. 

I used Simplicity pattern 5520. But I did not use the whole pattern and used pieces from both patterns. I used the (referring to the pattern front) purple dress for the body, the sleeves from the brown dress but chopped them so they were not as long and took them in so they were more fitting. Once they were attached to the body I then chopped them in half and and added the gold band. I used gold folded ribbon for the sleeves and collar. I did not use the collar from the pattern. For the bottom Satin with this pattern because of the curve that goes around the bottom is really hard to get a good looking seem and I was not wanting to spend a ton of time messing with it so I zig zagged the green so it would not fray and then cut a gold band and sewed that to the outside. 

For the pouch I used a fake leather fabric.

For the arrows I used sticks from the yard and hot glued feathers and wrapped floss around it and black felt for the tip. Her bow is not in the pictures but it was made with a curved stick and string  and wraped with the same colored floss.

Spooky Playhouse

With the change of the holidays and sessions I decorate their playhouse! As Lilly gets older she is able to help more. Its a lot of fun we are very huge into decorating for the hoildays/sessions here! Here is our Spooky Playhouse, it has candy corn lights on it too but you can not see those during the day. But you can see some of our fairy village covered in leaves.

DIY Tombstone and Graveyard

 I made the tombstones out of a sheet of Styrofoam that I got from lowes, they use it to insulate walls. The sheet was 8ftx4ft and I had them cut it in half so it would fit in my car. Then I just free handed the rest. I used a box cutter to cut the tombstones out and added some cracks to it to make them look aged. Then because the box cutter was not the easiest to use to cut the names, I used my wood burner. I also added more to the cracks with that. BUT do this outside if you try the wood burner because the fumes that come off of it are horrible  To spray paint, I used a black and grey spray pants. I did it at a distance because, again you want them to look aged not a solid color. Also the spray paint eats away at the Styrofoam which is neat and adds to the aged look but if you do it too close it will just eat a hole. I then cut wire hangers in half used two half's in each tombstone. I put half of it in the tombstone and the other half in the ground.

 As far as the names I decided to do real ones.I know you can make up names and have fun, but I like to keep it real.. I did some of my Favorite Actors, Actresses and singers. I put their real birth and death date on them. There are some that I felt funny about using, because of how they died... Annnnywho...hope everyone is having fun getting in the Halloween spirit!

*Elvis Presley
*James Dean
*Billie Holiday
*Ellen Vera
*Lana Turner
*Humphrey Bogart
* Buddy Holly
*Marilyn Monroe
* Natalie Wood
*Jayne Mansfield

Meet Jude!

Tomorrow is a BIG day for us!! We are getting a new puppy!! 

She is a French Bulldog!

The breeder named her Jude because Martha Stewart has French Bulldogs and her 

Granddaughter's name is Jude and she was reading her last magazine about her granddaughter

 Jude when the puppy was born. So for right now its Jude but we might change it. 

We will let the girls decided. 

The above pictures are of the day we went to the breeder and picked her out!

DIY Brave Costume Post 1

Here is a sneak peek at Lilly's Brave Costume I made for this year! I have it all done but I just need to take some better pictures then the ones on my cell phone to show it! The above picture is what almost did me in... If you have ever sewn with stretchy fabric and satin you know its not most peoples idea of a fun time. If you have not tried that combo yet, let me give you a piece of advice.. Pin, Pin, Pin. Pin ever 1/4 of an inch. The more you pin the better because then your fabric can not move. This rule goes with any kind of fabric that has stretch in it. I tried to skip this and pined maybe every foot... I knew better but was trying to hurry. Baaaad idea. Also sew on your largest stitch, that way it does not pull the fabric with every stitch. I will hopeful take the pictures tomorrow! Raley is going to be Max, from "Where The Wild Things Are" one of my all time Favorite books! I kind of talked her into it and she has been super pumped about it! I know its more of a boy costume but it fits her personality :) I have hers done too and just need to do pictures      

Bits&Pieces

1&2: Out at the Barn. We are out at the barn several times a week between Me riding and Lilly's riding lessons. The second pic of Raley giving my "precious" Malibu some well deserved treats! 

3. My little Lil

4. Lilly and I knitting on a Sunday Eve. These are some of the hats we are making for "Halos of Hope" that will be donated to indivuals with cancer.

5. Friday Family Movie Night. Lilly, Raley, and I have done this for years. Every Friday we get lots of snacks, blankets, and pillows and make a fort and watch movies. Its our Friday night Tradition. This last week we watched this. I am not a huge fan of it anymore... They call each other stupid and idiot waaay to much. We do not use unkind words like that. Even "Dumb" is not cool in our house. Because really, who wants to be called any of those names?- That is my ranting movie review for the week..  "Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown = No es bueno.  Also in case anyone hits up the Redbox and sees the "Shrek Halloween Stories" and thinks it looks cute and fun, Its NOT. I could not turn the TV off fast enough. Waaaay to scary for kids under 5 ...heck it kind of freaked me out.. Mooooving on. 

6. Raley and I were sitting in the grass watching Lilly throw the ball. Kind of funny, Lilly would throw the ball to Remy and when he would take off after the ball, Hamilton was right behind him running as fast as he could with his tiny wings flapping! Silly duck

7. I was clearing out some of my fabric and Lilly decided to make a "Skirt". She was so proud of herself!

8. Indoor picnic at my sisters= Happy girls!

9. Malibu and I

The Last of Summer..

This was the last activity in our summer jar. Every summer I have 100 ideas of fun summery things to do and the girls get to pull one out of the jar each day. This was our last. It was a rainy day so actually, it was the perfect day for this event. We drew 30 sunshine's and taped them all over our town!  It is called Guerilla Art. For us it is about making a positive statement, sending out good Karma. It is a way to express your views and opinion to a large audience in a anonymous way. Who would not love a Ray of sunshine on a cloudy day?!

Halos of Hope

I taught Lilly how to knit on a circle loom, she has really enjoyed it!! I was talking to her about making hats and giving them away and she thought that was a great idea! I had originally thought to give them to the maternity  ward at St. Luke's but then I thought maybe there was somewhere else that needed them more, somewhere that would help teach Lilly in the value of helping others. This is what I found!! And there is a Yarn store in Brookside to drop the hats off at and they get them to Halos of Hope! I encourage everyone to try this with their young kids or just by yourself, think of the impact your child could make!!
http://www.halosofhope.org/

Ps. Lilly is 5 years old and she has been able to do the circle loom since last winter!