Day 98: Trunk or Treat Star Wars

This was my first experience with a trunk or treat.  I had less than two days to get it all together so I think overall it went pretty well. Although I am reminded of my age when probably half the people didn't know what the theme was, jeez! 

 

My little Chewbacca chillin' in his Millenium Falcon while the battle for the galaxy goes on in the trunk. I dressed as Princess Leia and no I am not including that pic. :)  The black board in the trunk has lights on it acting as stars.  They looked boring while it was still daylight, but much cooler when the sun went down.

Day 95: Strawberry Shortcake Costume

Strawberry Shortcake Halloween Costume

 

My daughter was set on Strawberry Shortcake as her Halloween costume for about the past month or so.  I figured it would be pretty simple to make it, so of course I did. I took a white shirt and made it into a dress by adding an attached skirt.  I started by using a blog about making a t-shirt twirly dress, but once I cut the fabric I realized the blog didn't explain how to fold the fabric very well.  Luckily, even after cutting the fabric I still had enough to use.  I ended up using a simplicity dress pattern I already had.  It is one that you make the top and skirt out of different fabric.  So it was easy to manipulate the pattern to what I needed.  I used only the skirt pattern pieces and just extended the length of the skirt to the total length I wanted the added part to be plus an inch for the hem. I made the green diamonds and strawberry out of felt and hand stitched it on.  I figured I could easy remove these later and she can wear this dress as a normal dress incase she doesn't want to keep it for dress up. The hat I had another simplicity pattern for.  The leggings I bought at Toys R Us.

 

This one shows a little bit better view of the hat. 

 

Day 87: A-10 Applique Blanket

A friend asked me to embroider on a chenille blanket for her.  This is a new one for me.  I thought an applique might work out better.  I think it worked out pretty well. 

Supplies

If you haven't seen this tip before, it is way easier to put your stabilizer in the hoop and just pin whatever you are sewing onto.  It makes it so much easier to line everything up correctly!

Here is what the blanket looked like after I sewed the image.

Then I took my applique scissors and cut around the image, leaving a shaggy look and feel. The photo shows the final baby blanket. I think the new mom will love it.

This wasn't an actually applique image, just an embroidery one so it didn't have the auto satin stitching around the edges.  I didn't want to add that free hand because it would take so much more time and also I wasn't sure that the chenille would work well with too much stitching. 

 

Day 79: Pumpkin Jar Tea lights

My daughter and I did this a few days ago, but then we ran into a stomach bug and have been busy these past few days.  I have been saving baby food jars not sure what to do with them but knowing we would find something.  This was a fun craft that my daughter could be a part of and then after the holidays we can just throw them out.  (probably wouldn't last if I saved them because the paint easily chips off) 

The finished candle holders, we even gave one a mustache in honor of my husband.

My daughter drawing the faces. 

 

First we cleaned the labels off the jars.  They rip off easily but leave behind two small glue residues.  I use an abrasive scrubbing pad and warm soapy water to help remove them.  Then we drew faces on masking tape.  Next, cut out the peices of the faces to use as a masking.  Place the tape face on the outside of the jar.  Then paint the outside of he jar with acrylic paint.  Once dry, peel away the face and you have a window to see the tea light inside. 

I've seen this idea many ways and many places.  This particular one I saw in a Better Homes and Garden magazine.  I didn't have any sealer to seal the paint on the outside.  Otherwise I am sure the candle holders would last longer.  Also, the magazine recommended using the battery powered tealights.  I have some somewhere....I could only find one, so I used real tealights.

Day 68: Project Runway

I am a fan of Project Runway.  I am not a big fan of reality T.V. but I like this show.  I think it is mostly to see someone else's creative process and how it evolves in such a short amount of time.  Right now season 10 is on and tonight's episode they are designing for children.  Awesome!  Heidi Klum gave them baby dolls to take care of while they work and also to help inspire their designs to still be functional. HA!  I love it.  It is making me laugh but also showing how difficult it can be to be creative while taking care of your little ones.  I am a stay at home mom right now and I love it.  At times when I want to be creative it can be very difficult.  I am one of those people who love alone time to be creative, especially when I am on fire. This is not something that is easy to accomplish when you have little ones around.  I am not always creative during nap time.  Inspiration and drive can hit me at anytime during the day. I want my kids to be first, which means my creative ideas get put on the back burner, at least until they are teenagers and no longer interested in my attention. (That will be a very sad day for me.)  This is the main reason I use patterns and such while crafting.  I only have so much time in the day and as much as I would LOVE to spend all of my time being creative and crafty, that just isn't a reality.  So if you haven't seen Project Runway, or are a big fan, and have little ones at home I recommend this episode.  No, today I didn't get a project done.  I did get another few steps complete on a quilt for my daughter though.  This design is a mix between what I have in my stash, my four year old's wishes and my tiny bit of creative input.  Humm... this will be interesting to see how it turns out!

Day 66: Dr. Seuss Quilt

Finally!  I have completed the Dr. Seuss quilt! 

Here's the back!

 

Too bad I bought the fabric and started sketching before I realized there was a cute quilt pattern out there already!  No worries, I like to make things more challenging!  I first bought the Cat in the Hat panel and six fat quarters of the fabrics I liked the best.  Then I sketched it out.  After I knew how big the blanket was going to be and what other fabrics I would need to complete the design, I went back to the quilt store to get the other fabrics.  Unfortunately they were out of most of the great fabrics, just remnants left.  That is why I ended up using two different patterns for the back.  I think I goes with the vibrant colors of the quilt! Right now I am still trying to figure out how to best do this Blogger thing, otherwise I would post more pics.  I just can't seem to get them right.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 63: Wine Cork Crafts

Today my friend Nicky and I went to a charity craft event. Awesome! Wish I could do things like this more often.  We made wine cork crafts with a group called Acts of Kindness.  They will sell the crafts to raise money for the Aid for AIDS of Nevada.  What a great way to give back to the community!  Nicky found the meeting through a website called Meetup.com. I think I'll be researching more to find out if there are other craft projects I can make for local charities! Below I am going to post some quick little photos I took of the projects I made.