halloween 2011

Well, it was a successful Halloween around here - no costume malfunctions, no meltdowns, and best of all, no rain!

 We ventured downtown for the second year in a row, and by the size of the crowd I'd say the entire city had the same idea.

Which, as it turns out, is great for people watching, but not so great for trick-or-treating.  Who needs all that candy anyway, right?

This last minute costume was made using freezer paper stencils, and came together just hours before the school Halloween party on Friday.  The first costume, Artzooka!, was great (and he loved it). Unfortunately, not many people around here know about the show, so they just thought he forgot to dress up (he was devastated). So, we put our heads together and came up with this skeleton costume. 

 

My favorite part is the profile of the skull. The idea came from this skeleton costume on Etsy. 

One day last week my youngest and I walked into a Halloween store to get some ideas and he saw spotted this viking helmet on the shelf, and he was SOLD.  Needless to say, the helmet came home with us, and I guess it was the right choice, because he really played the part well! 

The "boots" were made using this tutorial, and they turned out perfect!

 

Halloween 2011 was fun, and I can't wait to see what costumes they dream up for 2012!

artzooka! superfan costume

Have you seen this show? Around here, Artzooka! is tops. The word "Artzooka!" is mention at least 15 times a day in our house. 

 

Jeremie, the host, makes cool stuff using recycled materials. My kids spend hours upon hours designing and building all kinds of wonderful things from their very own "Artzooka! bin" of recycled items.

Just the other day, my oldest said to me, "Mom, we don't need to buy toys because we can make our own that are WAY cooler!"  

It warms my heart to hear my kids say stuff like that! 

When it came time to decide on a Halloween costume for my oldest, it was a no-brainer.  Yep, one Artzooka! costume coming up. 

With a little freezer paper stenciling on a dollar store t-shirt we were in business - total cost, about $3.

The picture above is from a costume birthday party he attended last weekend.  Together we made a duct tape wallet for the birthday boy (Artzooka! inspired, of course) - and it was a hit!

The Artzooka! show is on the Canadian public television station, CBC (that we just happen to get here in the Pacific Northwest). You can find some fun craft ideas HERE on the Artzooka! website, and we are crossing our finger and hoping the Artzooka! show will be available on DVD! 

halloween fun

We had a fun (and dry!) Halloween this year. 

And aparently everyone else in the town came out to enjoy the beautiflul weather as well - WOW!

The folks downtown are very gratious (and brave) to come out and share treats with SO many costumed kiddos. 

I think the sheer number of people was a bit much for my boys...

 

but I was able to get a few pictures amongst the chaos.

My little cowboy really got into character by yelling, "Howdy Partner!" to everyone he passed. 

And he was thrilled to meet a few celebrities along the way (so thirlled infact, he asked if he could go home with them).

 

But I have to say...

these moments were by far the most wonderful.

 

Happy November 1st!

 

 

EEK! halloween costumes

 

littlest cowboy and Tootlless (from the movie How to Train Your Dragon)

EEK! Has it really been that long since my last post? The last few weeks have been a blur, but I have finally finished the costume making marathon (more pics to come).

 

Have a great weekend!

necessity is the mother of invention & a TUTORIAL

A few days ago, as I was sewing a cowboy costume for my Etsy shop, I began brainstorming ideas for new hang tags for my shop items. 

I wanted them to be fun as well as informative (providing care instructions and contact information).  They needed to have some spunk, be cheap cost effective, AND (a big and here) be ready to ship TOMORROW (I like to cut things close).  Hmmm...

And then it came to me...

what if I just had them printed as a regular photo?  I knew Target had a fast turnaround time, but upon further investigation I discovered my local Target Photo shop was temporarily out of service - DARN!  

Then I remembered the new Walgreens just down the road.  When I found their website I was pleasantly surprised to discover that when you create a photo account they give you 25 prints for FREE!  It doesn't get any better than that!

So I set to work designing the tags...

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and this is how they turned out.  I was so pleased with the result that I made a TUTORIAL.  Really, the possibilities are endless.

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Check out the TUTORIAL by clicking on the button below:

 

finished!

What a relief to be finished making costumes (see the others here and here).  With the help of some good music and strong coffee, I was able to stick it out until 2am last night.  I am quite surprised that I am still functioning after all that and a school Halloween Party - Go Me!!

My oldest is at the age where I no longer have a say in his Halloween costumes, hence the Batboy costume.  I was still able to keep it semi-homemade (I made the cape and appliques).  My youngest though, is still young enough to be influenced by mom, but as you can see he influenced by big brother too. As a happy medium we came up with - Recycle Man, saving the earth one recyclable at a time!!!  The best part of these costumes is that they now have new sweatshirts and pants that can be warn any time, not just on Halloween - total bonus!!

And as a reward for finishing... an evening of reading this book and listening to the soothing sound of my sick hubby snoring...well, OK, the at least the reading will be rewarding.

halloween costumes

Well, I finally finished two Halloween costumes today - Pebbles and Bam Bam. They are for the darling brother and sister that I watch during the day, ages 3 and 6 months. The Pebbles costume has a lined pinafore style top (my own pattern), leggings, and of course a bone barrette. (Please ignore the wrinkles and safety pins where the buttons should be, I had to snap the picture before all the little ones woke up from their naps.)  For the Bam Bam costume, I used a thrifted orange shirt for the pants and brown wool felt for the shoulder strap and club.  I stuffed the club with polyfil and a loud wrapper (empty fish cracker bag) to act as a noise maker! I can't wait to see them in action!!

Now off to finish the last two costumes. Why do I put this off until the last minute ever year?

Getting ready for Halloween on Etsy!

Wow, it really has been a long time since my last post. I have been working on Halloween costumes for my Etsy shop. This year I have decided to add cowgirl costumes, and they are really quite fun to make!

I just finished another Wardrobe Refashion project today, I hope to have it posted by this evening!

Cowboy Costumes

I have been back in the swing room stocking up on costumes for my Etsy shop this fall.