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.

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

Bike Wash

Made this the other day for the girls and they LOVE it! I cost maybe..$3.00? I used 3/4inch PVC, Two elbows, and 2 "T's". I drilled the holes along the top pipe (Little tip, when you are drilling on the pipe put the "T's" on both ends so it will lay flat, otherwise you have to hold the pipe really tight...its just easier, trust me) then I duck taped everything together.. well because Raley is wild and I figured it would come down the first time she swung herself around it. Also I forgot to get end caps... just didn't think about it.. so I used duck tape for that also. Worked like a charm! They have loved it, even Hamilton the Duck has gone threw it! We made this during our Ocean/Water week. I will put up everything that I do with them for Homeschooling, It just takes awhile to get it all together I have probably 8 or 9..maybe more, units that we have done over the summer! 

DIY Giant Outdoor Building Blocks

Made these for the girls to play with outside! Cut the wood different sizes, painted and sealed them. They have had a blast with them!

Chalk Board Wall

We made a Chalk Board wall!! I bought a sheet of plywood. It was 4X8, then I used my circular saw and cut it to 3x7. Then I put two coats of "Bulls Eye 123 Primer" on front and back and the four sides. I was hoping it would help keep the water out. I Bought Martha Stewart Chalkboard paint in grey *It is not so "grey", but it matched the fence* I put two coats of the chalkboard paint on pretty thick, It used about a bottle in a half by the time I was done. My plan was to hang it over the two horizontal post across the back of the fence but when I got it up there it was so heavy I was worried about support so I sat it on the bottom horizontal bar to help hold it up. Then I drilled two holes on each side so they were above and below the horizontal bar on the backside and looped the rope threw two times and I was done! Lilly helped me with it all except the cutting with circular saw... For obvious reasons I hope... This board has been threw several big rain storms and held up great!! So I am pleased! We did this during our Garden unit week. It sits right behind the girls swing set and they have had the best time with all there friends playing school. Last week we were doing Fairy week and all the girls played "Fairy School" and made wands and got the fairy wings out, their was 8 or "Fairies" in my backyard! Cute!

Spoons!

My sister and I are making Spoooons! She has been gathering spoons at Estate Sales we go too and we have been banging away! They will be for sale at the farmers market we are doing! Two things I have learned doing these, Sterling Silver are the best because the they are softer and this automatic hammer makes it go by soooo much faster (That's the thing laying to the left of the spoon in the top pic)
Ps, I have so much to share about Easter it is just taking awhile to edit pics yada yada

DIY Wood Gift Tags

I made these gift tags with my wood burner! It is pretty self explanatory. I bought the Tags at Joann's and the wood burner at Michael's. Its easy and fun! Do you like my "helper"?!



Compost Bin DIY

 

The first picture is of the compost bin the first try, it would have worked fine but I got feed up with it! It was taking to long to find the time to cut the wood because I cant have the kids around me while doing it and I was really just wanting to get it done. So I unscrewed it all and made just a frame with an open front. Then I used this thick mesh that my mother got at habitat for humanity on the inside and for the door flap on the front. I used a staple gun to hold the mesh on the inside. Then stapled down one side of the flap on the front. The other side of the front flap is looped around a couple nails to hold it up. That way I can easily open the flap to be able to turn the compost pile and then hang the flap back up when I am done! I made it all with scrap wood I had in the workshop, so it is not the prettiest thing but I figured next summer I will know more about composting and can make a better system.

The Greenhouse is done!

                                                    The Suburban Pirate's ship is done!
This is the Greenhouse that my Sister and Brother in law built from windows the bought at habitat for humanity, and all the rest was vintage or used items! Turned out pretty awesome!

All off the white cabinets on the inside of the glass in the greenhouse came from Habitat for humanity, along with the granite counters, the white enamel table is from the 1940's, the floor mats came from our parents house, all the garden containers were picked up at Goodwill and garage sales. The glass tiles on both sides of the doors she found on craigslist. The tin on the inside and outside of the door, were piece from a old hotel ceiling downtown. Here are some of the flowers in her backyard.

Freezing Fresh Basil

From our Garden!Lemon Basil

Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil in Vita Mix

My Helper

This is the sweet Basil pureed. I put one teaspoon of basil per Ice cube then filled with water, It was about another teaspoon of water to fill the cube. These will be great for making spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce and much more! As for the Lemon Basil I chopped it up with a knife finely instead of using the Vita Mix. This way I can use it for seasoning chicken and other meats. I also put one teaspoon of the chopped Lemon Basil per Ice cube and topped the cube off with water.