Mario

So, the boys both decided that they wanted to be Mario for Halloween. I tried to convince one of them to be Luigi, but they weren’t going for it. So, thinking to “save” money, and based on the fact that overalls in non-toddler sizes are a bit difficult to find, I decided to make the overalls. I have never made clothes from a pattern before, and I thought a Halloween costume would be a good first project because it’s not like they have to be beautiful or anything.

So, this sounded like a good idea at the time. Actually, it’s not going too badly, I am almost done with K’s overalls and they actually look pretty good. And, it’s been a learning experience in terms of figuring out how to use a pattern. I probably should have started earlier though. Because it’s now Wednesday, Halloween is in two days, I’m not done with K’s, and I haven’t even started J’s. And now I’ve come down with a cold and feel like crap. Sigh. Why do I do this to myself?

I will definitely be sharing pictures! Ohhhh, and guess what hubby bought on Friday??! A scroll saw! So exciting! I’ve already made some birdies from that Make Baby Stuff website (when I should have been sewing overalls, but I used the excuse that I had to pre-wash the fabric first).

Acorn Cakelet Pan

The Williams-Sonoma Acorn Cakelet Pan. Okay, this pan is not very versatile since it only makes tiny mini acorn whatevers (brownies, muffins, quick breads, cornbread, etc.). But, oh my. I think I *need* it.

A tutu and fairy wand

With two boys, I don’t get the opportunity to make tutus and fairy wands very often! (Although, I have made the boys “wizard” wands instead.) Well, my niece’s fourth birthday was this weekend, which sounded like the perfect opportunity to make something frou-frou like a tutu! They are actually quite easy, and I need to make another one today to donate to the school fundraising auction. I didn’t really use a tutorial from another source per se, but read a bunch of different tutorials and used a conglomeration of ideas to make one. I used some underwear elastic, 3/4″, made a circle with it, and sewed it closed. I used J as my model to try to make sure I made it the right size. The elastic will stretch when you start tying on the tulle, so you want to keep that in mind. I bought 6″ wide tulle in the bridal aisle of JoAnns in two colors – white and pink. Then, you cut the tulle out into strips which are twice as long as you want the skirt to be. So, I think I cut mine 30″, so the skirt will be about 14-15″ long. Then, I just put the elastic circle around my thigh, sat down on the couch, and started tying on the tulle. I used a double-knot, and just made sure to always tie in the same direction. Some people use a slip knot type of thing, but I didn’t really like that when I was doing it.

You need to not tie them too tightly at first, so they will still shift around as you add more. I alternated 2 pinks with one white. Once, you have all of them on, and you have moved them around to your satisfaction, you can go around and tighten the knots. It uses A LOT of tulle, even just to make one for a small child. I think I must have cut at least 70 strips of tulle. I lost count after awhile. Then, I made a ribbon bow out of a pretty ribbon, sewed the ribbon at the knot area so it wouldn’t come undone, and hand sewed the bow onto the elastic waistband.

The fairy wand is my own creation. I will be making another one today for the school auction, so I will try to write down instructions on how to make them, and post something later on this week. It has a wooden dowel, with grosgrain and organza ribbons in various colors. Then, the star is made of wool felt, and I stuffed it with wool batting. Then hand sewed it on top of the ribbons, tightly around the dowel with embroidery floss so it won’t come off.

I also made some more silk streamer ribbon wands for the cousins. It was the first time that I had done pink (strawberry lemonade Kool-Aid) and it turned out very nicely. The purple is grape, the blue is some sort of Ice Blue Lemonade flavor, and the pink is strawberry lemonade. I also ran them through a cold water delicate wash (no soap) to get rid of the Kool-Aid smell.

Autumn

I have been so busy with guests, trips, and just regular life with two kids and work, that I have not been crafting too much. However, I have several projects that I have deadlines for (including Halloween costumes), so I need to carve out some time from somewhere. In any case, Hubby had a work retreat in Bar Harbor last weekend and I got to go along for the ride. Ahhh…Acadia National Park in the fall. How can you beat that? I bought the annual pass and we are hoping to go up again in a few weeks with the boys.

And when we came home, someone had a loose tooth and quickly became a member of the Missing Tooth Club! I had wanted to make this robot pillow to hang on the door to hold lost teeth for the tooth fairy, but this loose tooth thing came up rather suddenly. So, maybe I will complete it for Tooth #2.