Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Happy Halloween!

October is always so busy!! This year has been no different, just adding in the Girl Scout stuff made it even MORE busy!! But the girls' had such a great time, what's a little running around? They were out of school Friday, the 15th, so we scheduled a "meet up" at our local pumpkin patch. We had a picnic lunch and the girls' ran through the Hay Maze and just all over the pumpkin patch in general. Unfortunately by the time we decided to do the Hay ride, the tractor driver had left for the day, but they didn't seem too upset! Soon it was time to grab the pumpkins we were borrowing and head over to the Festival of Virtues grounds to decorate. This was our service project for the month of October, and the girls' did a wonderful job. We were back Saturday to participate in the Festival and the girls' ran around some more and got some great lessons in virtues. This was an AWESOME event, put on by a local family. They started the foundation to honor families, morals, and to instill values in all generations! This was the 2nd year they put this Festival on and I am so honored that our Girl Scouts were able to help out and participate! Sunday we met my momma and siblings at the Baton Rouge Zoo for the annual Boo at the Zoo! The kids LOVE it so much, and we enjoy the day every year! But that meant I needed to have costumes DONE!! Thankfully, I didn't procrastinate, like I ALWAYS do and got it done!

The Boy is pretty easy...anything DINOSAUR makes him happy!! He won't even get DRESSED unless it is a dinosaur shirt!! Really, it took me 45 minutes one day. Finally he accepted that some stripes on a tee shirt were DINOSAUR STRIPES and put it on!! The next time I was in Wal-mart they had Garanimals brand tees WITH dinosaurs on them for $3!! You can BET I scooped up a week's worth of shirts!!

I was inspired by Stephanie over at MooBear with this cape...she made one for her Bear, and I KNEW it was going to be the Boy's costume!! Thanks Steph!!!
I had some Styrofoam laying around from something (YEAH, I NEVER throw anything away!), so I cut rounded triangles and stuffed them in some shiny fabric that came from the $5 grab bag! The cape was two halves that I sandwiched the "spikes" between and stitched together. Then just added some flannel for the backing! A little tricky, but not too difficult! He loves it and wears it all of the time! One down...

Next up, Ms. Priss. She picked out an Eskimo costume from Target, but I knew it would be too hot for her to wear and convinced her to let me make her one. (Sorry about the photo...I'm still not comfortable putting my children on the blog.)

Here is the problem...I could have SWORN the dress was red in the ad...but it turns out that it was BROWN!! "I look like SANTA CLAUS!!" Here comes the SASS!! And the funny part was, she LOVED it, until one of her friends TOLD her she looked like Santa Claus!! So, is that how it is now?? ALREADY?? She's EIGHT...can you give me a few more years of innocence BEFORE what-the-friends'-say-is-gospel period?? So I convinced her that she was Santa's daughter, and she was happy again! This past weekend, we were at Yogi Bear Campground all weekend. They have a really nice trick-or-treat and the kids love riding their bikes all over...anyway, my sister put some white hair paint in her hair and she T0rTed as Mrs. Claus!! I'm thinking of making something fast for her to wear Halloween night...not sure yet!! This was a dress I started for me, but didn't have time to finish how I wanted so it was in my sewing room already sewn, some what. I cut the neck and shoulder straps a little more defined, my pattern had a yoke attaching the front and back...never got around to making it!! Added the faux fur, so I didn't have to "finish" the neck, arms, or bottom hem. I did make a quick casing around the bottom and slid some boning in...just to see what it would do! I think the knit is too heavy for the FULL effect of the "hoop"..I'll try again with some other fabric!! TWO down...
Lastly(?) is the Middle Child! She wanted to be a princess...I talked her into Little Red Riding Hood.

I DEFINITELY have an ulterior motive! First...she is just too stinkin' CUTE in this!! :D AND, I've been needing to make her a cape, like, FOREVER...

So, as you can see, I didn't attach the hood all the way. I am going to remove it after Halloween, and stick a Super Hero emblem on it...VIOLA! Cape!

The tee is another of those $2 Hobby Lobby shirts that I "girled" up some! I had fun ruffling different fabrics! A good learning experience! Oh, and my other sneaky motive is to use the ruffled shorts for THIS outfit!!


This Friday is ORANGE day at her Pre-K, and I thought I picked up an orange tee at HL for her....NOPE!! So a quick pillowcase style top with some scrap fabric I literally picked up off the floor!! I had to add the "ruffle" (if that is what you want to call it) to the bottom to make sure it was long enough and covered her tummy!! Ok, here's the story...I was being lazy and decided to use my Serger to ruffle and sew the gingham strip at the same time! I had done it before, so I thought..no problem. Well, I think something is wrong with my feed dogs, because it didn't seem like it was ruffling the way it should. Oh well..good enough!! :D If you can think of a "quick fix" before Friday, please TELL ME!! So, that's all! I did finish two more pair of Minky pants, but I'll post them some other time! I still have four pair to make...waiting on some red Minky! I am sitting with Ms. Priss' class tomorrow from noon to 3pm...THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING!!! And I know I need to get to bed...or I will be REALLY grouchy!! Sorry this is kinda short and sweet...and choppy...with LOTS of rambling....until later...

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Little of This and That

WOW!!! I've been busy! Not sure if I like it, but I guess this is the life of a sewing/ crafty mom of three! I am the assistant leader of Ms. Priss' Girl Scout Brownie Troop and this year, I am trying to be BETTER at it! This is ALOT of work! We have 21 girls in our Troop, and getting information to THAT many moms has been TOUGH! But I think most of the hard work is done and now I can start slacking off a little....yeah, right! :D We will have our first Troop meeting tomorrow, and have some scheduled events this weekend...then I won't have to THINK about it for another month!!
So anyway...back to being busy!! I did some monogramming for a friend/ Cake business having Momma! We decided to "trade" services. She gave me two dresses and a backpack to monogram....YIKES!!


Can you IMAGINE if I would have messed up these lovelies?? I was sooooo nervous. But thankfully, they came out great and she really liked them...YAY! The backpack was easy enough...once I found a place that my machine would ACCEPT!! Picky, that machine of mine! :D

The backpack was grey and orange...I PROMISE you I did NOT mean to use Florida colors!!

My friend's son turned 11. This is what I made him!


He is all about orange and yellow! It is the colors of his soccer team. The bag is made from a pair of Dickies pants. Are you proud of me Steph?

The next couple of pictures are things I've made to put in our school's PBS store. I FINALLY decided on items for boys...

BAG TAGS!! YAY! These are made from stiff craft felt and cardstock cut on my Cricut Expression. I sandwiched them between some heavy clear vinyl and did a zigzag stitch.


I slit an opening in the back so the information card could be removed easily. Then my friend Kathy used her Crop-a-Dial to put tiny little grommets in for the cording and twill ties. Thanks Kathy!! That is one neat little gadget...must put it on my Christmas list! :) pssst..the link is for you daddy! ;)
Girls are easy enough...lots of bows, headbands, and clips:



The tulle bows were a hit with my daughters and their friends, so I made a couple for them.




And now that Halloween is upon us....UGH!! Still haven't started the COSTUMES!!



I'd never really done yo-yos before. Ms. Priss LOVES this headband!! Wears it almost EVERY day!!
And yesterday, to give the girls something to do, we made these:



So much FUN!!
Ok, I am a TEACHER suck up!! Ms. Priss' teacher LOVED this:


So cute, I decided to do one for ME!!

I'd used my Cricut to cut a pumpkin face for an orange tee shirt, and felt soooo wasteful with the left behind cut out!! So I just stuck in on some burlap and made a door banner for our home!!

So that is all for now!! Personal updates...we still haven't found our dogs. I have been checking the pound weekly just in case they show up, and I went on THE DAY a couple of weeks ago. You know what DAY I'm talking about right? The day that the ones that have been there too long are put down...so sad!! So we "saved" one! Abby is eight years old, and a really good dog!! We keep looking for our Floyd and Peggy, but as the weeks go by, our hope is dwindling...so if you are in Lafayette and happen upon two dogs without collars, but look happy, healthy, and well-fed, they are good dogs and need your love!! Or you can check the Lafayette Animal Aid Lost and Found website and get my info!! Thanks! Now back to the Minky pants making....until later...