All Hallow's Eve - 2015

I am so excited about this year's costumes. They were easy to make, fun to put together, and cost was low or free :) 

My boy finally wanted to be a pirate! 

I was given some fabric a few years ago that I have been saving just for his pirate costume. The shirt is made from the same fabric I used for my girl's pirate costume last year. I barely had enough! The pants are made from a stretch material. It was a bit hard to work with. My machine kept skipping stitches. I tried a variety of needles, stitch and thread combos. At last, the only thing that really worked was a straight stitch with a sharp needle on the highest speed setting. Once I got that figured out, it all went together quite quickly. 

I borrowed the coat from my mom. It's a coat she made for a George Washington costume for a school project when my brother was a teen. The arms are a little long, so they are just tucked in a bit. I think it really pulled the whole look together.

Every pirate needs a little gold! 

My boy picked out the color for the sash. It was originally going to be a vest, which was no longer needed after finding the jacket. I like the sash much better :)

I didn't have a pattern for the boot covers. I just wrapped felt around his leg for size, then added a cuff at the top; and, lastly, a curved piece for the shoe top.

The ring was a last minute addition. He got it at his school Halloween party. 

Absolutely perfect!

I had an unbelievably hard time finding a pirate hat. I went to several costume shops, with the only hats available were for teenagers or adults. I basically gave up on finding a hat. 

A few days later, I just so happened to walk down the party aisle at Target and they had a pirate party section, with a pirate hat as a favor. The best part -- it only cost 2 bucks!

Argh!

There was no question what my girl was going to be .. a mermaid! Her biggest dream right now is to be a real mermaid. She even swims like a mermaid! 

We were on our way out from Joann Craft Stores one day (in July) and happened to see the fabric that would be perfect for her mermaid costume. I can't even tell you how excited she was!

I wanted her costume to be a good reflection of the natural flow of the fabric I was using. I couldn't find any pattern that I was really in love with, so this costume is entirely made up. I'm surprised at myself that I was able to pull it off. Clothes making is not my forte and I struggle with it quite a bit. I've gotten better over the years, but most the time still have to call my mom for help. 

This is my favorite costume so far. I made every part of her costume. 

Her costume makes me want to be a mermaid, too! She looks like she should be attending prom, or walking down the red carpet, instead of trick-or-treating. 

The top was fashioned after one of her halter tank tops. After I finished it, I wished I had made the back a little higher. That thought sat on my mind, until I ultimately made a last minute costume change (more on that in a bit).

One of my favorite parts of this costume is the arm bands. Not knowing what the weather might be on Halloween night, I needed to come up with some way to keep this little girl warm. I made the arm bands long, to cover as much as possible. I especially love the little fin along the side. 

I struggled mostly with the tail. It was the first piece I made. Not only did I battle the skipping stitches, but I also had to make up the skirt. Basically I wrapped the solid blue around her little body, making it form fitting. The fin was then gathered in. I love the flow of the fin when she walks. 

 I made her little starfish earrings. 

I also found these little jewel stickers to add a little more sparkle to her ensemble.

Her headpiece is 2 parts. The first being the double pearl headband.

The second, and more obvious is the flower arrangement. I've made quite a few flowers for her to wear in her hair, but these are my favorite! I'm so happy with how they turned out. I picked beads for the center that resembled sea glass. 

And then there's that starfish!

The last couple of days here have been getting colder. Not wanting this little mermaid to be frozen, I quickly made a little cover-up for her. I used the sequin material and lined it. I just hope it's warm enough!!

This was another first for me. I fabricated the pattern myself and had it sewn together in about half an hour. I'm still in shock!

I will definitely be making it again! .. with a few adjustments :)

They had a fun time trick-or-treating this year. They are much more about collecting the candy than they are about eating it. When I pulled out their trick-or-treat bags, they were still full of candy from last year!

The highlight this year was getting an orange from someone :)

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Fancier Foxes

This post is looong overdue! 

A few months ago, I made a Fancy Fox quilt for my newest nephew. My kids fell in love with the foxes. So much so, that: 1) they didn't want me to give the quilt away. 2) they wanted to make their own fox quilts. I've been posting pics here and there of their progress. Although - it's been a few months since they finished their tops. Summer came along, and like all other projects, we (I) took a break on the quilts. I finally got them quilted in August, and even took pictures a few weeks ago. I'm a bit behind with showing them off. I'm still trying to find a happy medium with how to spend my time while the kids are at school. Lately, I've been sewing up their Halloween costumes. Which, I'm happy to say, are nearly finished, and should have pictures to show y'all in a week or two. 

Making these quilts with them has been such a great experience for all of us. The kids really took to concentrating on their stitches, and even challenged themselves to go at a faster pace. They sort of made a game out of timing themselves to see how long it would take to sew 5 squares, or how many they could get done in 2 minutes. 

They were very particular about what they wanted, putting their personalities into their quilts. They picked everything, from fabrics, placement, accessories, backing and quilting. Which has been funstrating (fun+frustrating)! I think it's a good trait they have, but can also be frustrating when what they want isn't really available. My girl was much more giving in her decisions. If it was the right color, that's all that mattered. 

My boy on the other hand, was a little more picky. He wanted each fox be different - not just in color, but also in print. He has always known what he wants, and always figures out a way to get it. I had to pull out every single bin of fabric I have, with a lot of rejections, before he found a fabric for each fox. In the end, he decided it was okay if the patterns were similar (but still not the same), especially when it came to dots. Even thought it's just a quilt, I'm glad to see him not waver from his determination. I know he felt very accomplished when he was able to find 42 different fabrics. He could have given up after the first bin and just settled on what he had, but he wouldn't have been happy.  

Trying to decide on a background was nearly as daunting for him. After many mind changes, a couple quick lessons on color theory and contrasting, a trip (or 2) to the Riley Blake warehouse, he found the right color of grey he could be happy with.

So how did we make these foxes fancier? Of course the glasses were a must. My girl didn't like the glasses that Elizabeth Hartman made to go along with her pattern. She thought they looked too boyish. So I came up with some other, more girly glasses. Paisley also wanted to add bows. Which I love! 

This is my favorite of her foxes.

My boy also wanted to add glasses. And mustaches.

I came up with a few mustaches for variety. He only wanted the short, nearly straight mustache.

I think it makes the fox look quite sly.

It didn't just stop at glasses and mustaches. He also wanted a hat, which then led to a monocle.

This is my favorite of his foxes. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

This might really be my favorite of all the foxes. He looks so dignified!

Paisley wanted a simple wave quilted across hers. She picked a very pale purple thread by Sulky. It has a been of a glimmer to it, just like her :)

She couldn't decide which Michael Miller Basics purple dots she liked better, so I pieced them in a gradient (I should have made some of the strips wider).

Argyle wanted his to be quilted in flames. He found a red/yellow/orange variegated thread in my box that was perfect for the flames.

He also pulled about 13 different fabrics for his backing. I did my best to incorporate all that he had, but when it came down to it, had to leave a few out. The pieces just weren't big enough. I made the back up as I went a long. I don't usually do improv piecing. I had a lot of fun with it, and am seriously considering making a top in the same fashion. 

I don't know who's more proud of their first quilts (and tremendous accomplishment), me or them. The quilts are shown to just about everyone who comes by our house, have been on their beds since the moment they were finished, traveled with them in the car, been to movie nights, a hospital appointment, talent night and shown off to their school classes. 

I am amazed at their tenacity during the whole process. 

I'm glad to be able to share my love of quilting with my kids. 

I'm happy I could teach them.

I am extremely proud of them. 

The Boy's Turn

Since my little girl picked out fabric for her new quilt last week, my boy wanted a turn at picking out fabric for his quilt, too. He also wants a fox quilt, and wanted each fox to be different. He riffled through my stash this morning and came up with this assortment:

He says he's going to stay up all night sewing it. I think it's great he's so ambitious :)

Guess I better get cutting!

Lego Birthday Party

Today, my boy is 6! 

And, he is obsessed with Legos! So, we had a Lego birthday party for him - at the Lego store! It was perfect! I had so much fun planning his party, I wanted to share all the details with you today.

The invite!

The Lego store does a mini build each month. The kids get a little set with everything they need to build that month's chosen creation. Then they get to build it in store and take it home. Since kits are limited, each kid gets a ticket for the build. I thought it would be so fun to make the invitation like a ticket too (I followed this template).

The goody bags!

Of course everything had to be Lego themed! I found some yellow paper bags at the dollar store, made some Lego faces and printed them on yellow card stock.

I made some little coloring books, using images from the Lego movie. I even incorporated a little sewing by stitching down the center of each booklet, to secure all the pages. 

And melted an entire big box of crayons into Lego minifigures. 

A couple of marshmallow pops to look like Lego heads.

I had the most fun making these temporary tattoos! 

(all packaged up in little zip bags) 

To finish up the goody bags, a few candy bricks - that you can actually build with! 

This month's mini build was a space rocket with launching pad and control center.

So cute!

Master builders in the making!

Fairy Forest

A couple months ago, a friend of mine told me about a Fairy Forest she heard about. After doing a bit of research, I was able to find Its location, and we all went out there last month. This place was so amazing! It's located in an area of woods that was so open, with trails winding in and out of the trees. Nestled below the trees, in the trees and  in the small clearings were fairy houses, dwellings, villages and trinkets for all the fairies.

First thing we saw was the Enchanted Forest, where Tinkerbell and her friends live. 

This little ranch was my absolute favorite! I love the little pigs and cows. It even had a little chicken coop!

Fairy Stonehenge.

We spent a couple hours in the forest. There was so much to see, I don't think we got to it all. Every couple of seconds one of the kids would call out "Woah, look at this!" "Look what I found!" "Hey guys, I found something over here!". 

My kids wanted to make some houses for the fairies too. So I got a couple of small bird houses and some glitter paint. I found a cute little set of picket fence and picked out a few fake flowers. The kids also brought home a few pine cones to paint.

 A couple days later, we headed back to the forest to give the fairies their new houses. A few minutes after we got there, we got caught in a hail storm that lasted at least half an hour! We were pretty soaked by the time we found a good spot for our houses.

 

We also sprinkled some glitter around their new houses and marked a pathway for visitors. 

Hope y'all have a magical day! :)