Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Halloween, A Little Late

This year Little Miss decided she would be a detective for Halloween...so I spent a whopping $0.55 and turned this thrift store find...

into this girly detective costume...





I love you sewing machine. Men's shirt - 25 cents, hat - 25 cents, magnify glass - 5 cents.

To complete our family costume ensemble, we stuck Little Man in the money bag outfit his sister wore at that age, and husband and I were the robbers...so the detective was trying to find the stolen money.



Super fun! After seeing all the girls trick-or-treating in princess costumes...Little Miss told me she wants to be a princess next year. Ugh. So predictable. The peer pressure sets in and the creativity goes out the window. Oh well, maybe it'll wane.


Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Homemade Halloween Costumes

Welcome to October! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and let’s face it, I had my decorations up 2 weeks ago. With Halloween just around the corner, it’s no surprise that trick-or-treating has been on my mind.

I’ve already got our costumes planned out, and just started making them. You might be exploring your options too, so here are some homemade costume ideas for your viewing pleasure. If you’ve already got your costumes set, these would make great dress-ups!

1 - Minnie Mouse


This is last year’s costume…I just used black tights, shoes, and a pink sweater we already had, and made a skirt by cutting a big circle of fabric, stitching elastic around the waist, and hemming the bottom. I made a matching trick-or-treat bag out of pink and white felt. I was going to make my own mouse ears, but I found these which were too cute too pass up—and they were only $5 at Party City. A year later, she still dresses up in the skirt and ears on a weekly basis. =)

2 - Owl


I got this pattern from Alpha Mom. Begin by cutting an old t-shirt up the back and adding Velcro so it easily slips on and off. Then cut out feathers, sew them on row by row, and voila! Complete with owl mask!

3 - Mail Carrier


This one is easy peasy! I just bout a little boy’s shirt from a local Goodwill for $2 and sewed a felt envelope on the pocket. I bought a plain blue baseball cap from Walmart ($5) and sewed an identical envelope on the front. Then I made a quick mailbag out of some fabric scraps, attached another felt envelope, and the ensemble was complete!

4 - Little Red Riding Hood


Started by folding my fabric in half, then free-handing the shape of the cape. Traced a hood from one of my jackets, attached it to the cape, then added some ribbon to tie around the neck. I would recommend using a small picnic basket to collect candy with.

5 - Doctor


I cut down the sleeves and sides of my husband’s old white shirt to make this doctor’s jacket. Add a Fisher Price medical kit, and it’s ready to go!

6 - Witch


Another cape I free-handed and a simple witch’s hat (I’ve seen some at the dollar section of Target). I would suggest a black skirt and funky striped tights with this costume.

7 - Cowboy/Cowgirl


I found this hat at the same Goodwill for $2, then used a vest of my daughter’s to trace out a basic pattern for this. I used one of my husband’s old shirts for the lining and pockets, and got a horse-on-a-stick from Dollar Tree. Cowboy boots and chaps would complete this look. Yee-haw!

8 - Blue's Clues


Cut out 4 ear shapes, and attach darker blue spots on 2 of them. Sew front and back of ear right sides together (leaving an opening), turn inside out, then stuff with cotton balls or batting. Attach to a headband, then cover headband with ribbon. I would pair this with a blue shirt and jeans. Blue shoes and blue mittens would be a plus. You could even paint a blue nose.

9 - Princess


To make this hat, roll a piece of paper into a cone, then cover with fabric (I used some purple flannel I had). Add some ribbons, jewels, or any other bling you want. Pair this with a pretty dress, necklaces, fancy gloves and a sparkly wand.

Good luck with your costume planning, and happy Halloween!
________________________________________________________________

Marie is a stay at home mom of two adorable kiddos who keep her super busy! She has a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education and continues to use her degree everyday of her mommy career!

Marie is one of my good friends and someone I look up to very much as a mommy. She has tons of fun ideas for things to do with your kids - so keep an eye out for her future guest posts.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Quickest (Easter) Giveaway Ever!! (closed)

I meant to do this giveaway last week, but...I just barely got these cute Easter baskets done today. Hence, the quick giveaway. I need to mail them to the winners tomorrow so they can get to you in time for Easter!! So...enter to win quick!
I love them. I didn't know such a simple project could be so difficult. Maybe that's because I was making it up as I went. I still have a lot to learn about sewing...I even had a dream the other night how to best construct the girl basket...I dream in sewing now. Strange. But, the dream helped. And, sorry to the winner of the boy basket, but the girl basket turned out way better!
So here's what you need to do to enter to win...leave a comment. That's it. But, if you want to increase your chances of winning, for each of the following that you do (let me know in your comment what you've done) - your name will be entered again!

1 - Grab the button on the right sidebar and link my site up to yours

2 - Post about this giveaway on your blog

3 - Become a follower (see right sidebar)

4 - Post about this giveaway on your facebook status

5 - Become a fan of The Mom Blog on facebook

DO ALL 5, and let me know in your comment and your name will be automatically entered in 5 more times --> you'll be 5 times more likely to win!!

The giveaway will close Wednesday the 31st at 3pm - so start spreading the word! And quick!

{ Have a great business you'd like to promote through a giveaway on our site? Please contact me - barb.themomblog(at)gmail(dot)com }

Friday, March 12, 2010

DIY: Water Barrel Storage Cover

We are currently living in a small apartment and I've had to get very creative with hiding things. Our 72 hour kits for emergency preparedness are under the couch, no problem. Then there was this...

...an eyesore that was far too large to fit underneath anything or behind anything. But we need water storage! So I got a little creative and made a quick slip cover...

...now I have a lovely corner accent table in my kitchen!

I found the fabric on clearance at JoAnn's - I went with something neutral & heavy enough to cover the blue. For a 55 gallon water barrel you'll need 2 3/4 yds (56" wide) cut.

I cut a simple circle for the top, 25" in diameter. Then a 75" long piece to go around the barrel with a 1/2" seam to make a cylinder. First I did an inch seam and then I had to unpick the whole thing...I hate unpicking. So don't make that mistake!

Once the cylinder was done and fit nicely (check before moving on). I just pinned on the circle for the top and did a quick stitch around.

In the summertime we get horribly large hobo spiders & I did not want to lift the cover off to find a colony under there...so I added a hem at the bottom with 1 yard of elastic in a casing. Now it is snug on the bottom, very tight, no spiders will be crawling up underneath to surprise me!

Are you living in a small space and have a trick for hiding the unsightly essentials? Please share!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Do It Yourself: Matching Nursery Curtains

Ever wonder why the crib bedding you bought came with a valance, but no curtains? Me too! It drives me nuts.

So I set out to make my own matching curtains. My trick: the extra, unseen material on the backside of the bed skirt. It doesn't need to be there! No one will know if it's gone. And just like that...
...you have matching curtains. I took the valance to a fabric store with me to match colors. Then I made simple curtains. But they didn't look quite right, they needed trim. So off came the extra material on the back of the bed skirt.
A little eye-balling (I'm lazy when it comes to measuring for projects like this).
A few hems & voila! A finished look.
Another trick to tie the room together - homemade art. I bought four square canvases on sale. Used the comforter to sketch out some ideas on paper.
Bought some matching craft paint - thanks to carrying that small valance around in my purse again. And...
...a cheap, simple way to finish a room.
This project really is for anyone! I am not artistic at all as far as painting goes. I used a pencil to sketch things on to the canvas, that way I could erase when needed. For those circles - I traced glasses, tupperware, whatever was the right size.

Do you have a DIY (do it yourself) trick for decorating on a small budget?
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