Browsing Tag

crafts

October Makes: Halloween and Birthday Parties!

Personal November 3, 2018

October = so many crafts!

Isabel made a semi-last minute costume decision. Originally she wanted to be a witch, but she’s been watching Teen Titans Go with her Dad and decided Raven was a way cooler costume.

I figured it would be easy enough, and the sewing was! I used a basic gymnastics leotard pattern for the bodysuit, some plain grey leggings, and made the belt and “gem” closure out of glittery foam from the dollar store.

Finding purple fabric for the cape turned out to be ridiculous! I have two large fabric shops near me and neither of them had anything except for purple broadcloth or really over-priced velvet. I ended up ordering some neoprene from fabric.com which ended up being perfect for the cape!

 

I took the picture and just moments after she fell in the dirt and got her costume dirty, which lead to a full blown melt down. She insisted she didn’t want me to clean the costume, she just wanted it to be the way it was before! It’s tough being 4!

Speaking of being 4, we just celebrated her birthday. She’s really into LOL Dolls (I know, the over packaging is terrible), so we did an LOL Theme. Isabel was able to help me out putting stickers on glittery stars that we cut out and hung up around the house. I made big LOL doll cut outs that were ridiculously fun to make. I used a projector to trace the shapes on foam core then painted them with acrylic paint. I made one of them with removable clothes and accessories that attach with with velcro, which we used to play “pin the clothes on Curious QT.”

I’m really loving this age. She’s so funny and has lots of fun ideas. She decided she wanted a bubblegum cake, so I made a trusty old boxed cake with buttercream frosting with a little bit of bubblegum flavouring in it. Not such a hit for me as I’m more of a chocolate cake girl, but Isabel loved it!

Funny enough, despite the piñata, cake, treats, and games, the kids favourite thing was doing a colouring contest. We ended up doing three rounds! My favourite thing that I made was the party favours. I made bath bombs with surprises inside.  I have to admit, my first attempt was a total fail. I added too much liquid and the bath bombs just kept expanding. So I started from scratch and the second round worked perfectly!

Occasions like these make me so glad I’m crafty and have some basic photoshop skills. Pretty much all of the basic supplies are dollar store purchases that I was able to craft into something fun and cool. I re-use a lot of our decorations each year too. I hate hoarding too much “stuff” so I always try to make the most of it.

I really love this time of year because it gives me lots of time to do crafty things that aren’t lingerie related. Between birthday parties, Halloween, and making Christmas gifts, I have lots of opportunities to make different things…

Which leads me to my question for you. What are your favourite things to make for holiday gifts? Slippers, sleep masks, and make-up bags are always a go-to for me. For Isabel, I always make her clothes and little stuffed toys. Any suggestions for projects I should try this year? What’s on your holiday “to make” list?

Is it over yet?

Uncategorized December 24, 2011
I am officially having a pre-Christmas, pre-move freak out!

I spent most of this morning packing… and just now remembered I have 1 christmas gift to finish sewing and several to wrap. Luckily, the wrapped gifts were all wrapped in haste so I don’t need to worry about making them look pretty at this point… Though I am sure I will go back and add bows and ribbons before the day is through.
Why is it that no matter how much stuff I give to Goodwill, I always feel like I have way too much stuff when it comes time to move. I swear, around here we do a Goodwill run once a month, getting rid of old, unused clothes, dishes, pots, pans, etc. I don’t feel like I shop enough to warrant giving away so much stuff! And still I’d like to get rid of half of what I own.
Yesterday I made marshmallows and hot chocolate mix to add to a couple of my gifts. I have officially decided that I am crazy.


I used Martha Stewart’s recipe for Candy Cane Marshmallows and Vanilla Marshmallows, and a recipe for hot cocoa mix I found here. I used fair trade organic cocoa to make it a little extra special, and added some cinnamon to my mix (because I like it). I’ve never had home made marshmallows before. They are VERY sweet and very tasty and sooooooo melty, ooey, gooey good in mug of hot chocolate! I found some cute printable tabs from Ellinée Blog and Lovely Design’s Blog. I just printed them out, wrote with black fine-tipped marker on them, and tied the tags on with twine. I think they look pretty good (and taste even yummier).

I normally love Christmas, but this year I will be happy when it is over. We have too much crammed in too little time this year. Today we are going to Dan’s brothers, then to my parents, then home, then sleep & wake up, then my parents, then drive to Toronto, then drive back home, them pack, then move… I will be happy when I can focus on one thing at a time! 🙂
Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and gets to spend lots of time with loved ones and good food and all that jazz. I will likely be “out” until our closing date and will be back at that time with lots of pictures of MY Christmas Present – a New (OLD) House!

*I Think Sew* slipper patterns

Uncategorized December 22, 2011
I found http://www.ithinksew.com/ through pinterest and immediately bought about 5 different patterns.

I made up the Kimono Slipper for myself a few weeks ago, and at first was frustrated with the fit. However! With 2 small tweaks, I think I perfected an already adorable, comfortable pattern.

First, I removed 1″ from either side of the “heel” and inserted 1 2″ piece of stretchy ribbing. Second, I reinforced along the top with a piece of sturdy, 1/4″ elastic, pulled taught and zig-zagged on. This created a “Smocked” effect on the back, but allows the slipper to stretch on your foot, while the elastic holds it on tight. I HIGHLY recommend doing this if you make these slippers. I found, when I made them as it, they were either TOO tight, or falling off my foot. I found that this was the best method for making the slipper the most comfortable and wearable.
On the moccasin slipper, I added a cased-elastic along the heel to hold the slipper on snug. I also experimented with just adding a piece of elastic along the back. Both of these methods work, but I found that the method above was the most comfortable.
I appliqued non-skid “hearts” to the soles of all of the slippers. Over all they were very easy to make and cute to wear! I am definitely going to be making more of these.

Getting Excited!

Uncategorized December 19, 2011

PHEW! I am exhausted! But I feel accomplished.

More orders will be going out on Monday and I finally am almost done my Christmas Crafting. I made my nieces Dress-Up Tutu’s (I kind of want one!) last night out of about 10 yards of tulle each. Aren’t they fun? Wouldn’t you like to frolic and spin in one of these? I know I would.

Remember all of the hand-embellished linens I got from my mother-in-law? They have found new life as heirloom cushion covers. They are made out of 2 pillow cases with crocheted lace trim, embroidered placemats, handkerchiefs, and handmade doilies. I’ve combined the handiwork of myself, Dan’s Great-Aunt, and his Grandmother. I am really in love with these. I hope the recipients like them as much as I do.
I made them envelope style with bridal buttons up the back. I have about 35 buttons to sew on tonight so I will keep this breif…

Knife Edge, envelope pillows are very simple to make and do not require a pattern – you can find simple tutorials for them online, or just wing-it (my method).