Halloween 2017

Yes... I know there's only a couple days until Christmas, but I have been wanting to share our Halloween costumes from this year!

Here's the list:

Yoshi
Darla
Barnacle Boy

YOSHI

 Inspiration:

Finished Costume:

-made with a green sweatshirt, felt sheets, and stuffing

-all hand sewn, mostly using a blanket stitch

DARLA

Inspiration:

Finished Costume:

-made with a purple sweatshirt (image added with inkjet iron-on paper), plaid skirt, fake braces, wire, and nemo fish in a plastic bag with water

Barnacle Boy

Inspiration:

Finished Costume:

-made with black shorts (she already had), orange t-shirt (thrift store), foam paper (for M on belt and shell bra), elastic, felt (for belt- pinned onto shorts), green leggings, and slippers (from Dollar Tree)

It was another fun year of creating costumes!  Thanks for letting me share!  Also, please let me know if you have any questions.  Unfortunately, I didn't save any of the patterns I made to use....but maybe these photos can serve as inspiration.

Happy Holidays!

Remember These?

My oldest daughter recently bought one of those "tattoo" bracelets at Hot Topic.  When I saw it, I was thinking... wait... I used to wear a choker like that!  I can't believe they are back in style!  I was also thinking... I CAN MAKE THAT!  So, I looked for tutorials online and found a bunch.  Even though the one she bought felt like it was made with some type of fishing line, the tutorials I found all used Stretch Magic.  I couldn't find it in craft stores, they were all out of black everywhere I looked, so I ended up buying some from Jo-Ann Fabric online.  I used black and gold in 1mm, but they have all different thicknesses and colors.

   

I ended up liking this tutorial the best.  The only thing I did differently was, instead of cutting two strands of string, I cut one (6 times the length around my neck), folded it in half, and knotted a loop at the end.  This made it easier to tie it together when finished.  There are lots of ways to finish these off though...

Here's my youngest wearing a gold tattoo choker and a vampire teeth pendant (also made by me and soon to be added to my Etsy shop!!!).

A Christmas Gift Idea for Teacher

I get so many great ideas from Pinterest.

We are on a tight budget for Christmas gifts, but MUST do something special for the kids' WONDERFUL teachers! So, the kids and I have come up with this idea. We are going to get plain white coffee mugs and plates

and personalize them with a porcelain pen, much like these:

image from:

http://www.designmom.com/2010/11/diy-monogram-mugs/

Then, we are going to make a variety of truffles, like these:

image from:

http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2010/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-truffles.html

If you search Pinterest for truffle recipes, you will find all sorts of different flavors, like oreo, sugar cookie, tiramisu, etc, etc....

We might put a hot chocolate mix or gift card to Starbucks in the mug too...

What do you do for Christmas Teacher's gifts?

Spider Web

This project is so simple, but the result is awesome. It's one of those...why didn't I think of that?? ideas! I did mine a bit differently. I used one continuous strand of yarn to make the rings, instead of making each ring separately. Here is the tutorial on Made. You only need yarn and tape! When I saw it, I knew it would make the perfect addition to our spider infested door!

P.S. I can't wait to share the kids' Halloween costumes. We have our plans and are heading to the thrift store for supplies this week!