Halloween, Autumn & The Hunger Games.

So here is what I have been up to!

I have finished my 3 year old’s Tinkerbell costume (Simplicity 2872), and I’ll post pictures of it after I take some on Halloween. (My 5 year old is going to be Dorothy, a costume from her Grandma.) So this was a difficult pattern, at least for a beginner like me. There were numerous layers of tulle, sheer organza and other fabric... it became slippery and confusing and at one point I stopped being careful and just put the pedal to the metal and basically sewed without looking. And it showed in the end, but I put a big tulle bow on top of the biggest mistake and it looks just fine!


Here are some beautiful autumn leaves from my neighborhood. I thought that it would be nice to walk home from school with the girls, since it was a stunning fall day, thinking we could admire nature’s bounty and record these precious moments together. Or we could annoy the heck out of each other all the way home. Which is what we did. This photo about sums it up:
Oh well, we tried : )

Today the girls were both home from school, Five was sick and so we just did a ton of crafts. Here is one of many that I found through this awesome site, The Crafty Crow, which pointed me to No Time for Flashcards who originated this neat idea. I love the Crafty Crow because it’s a collective that includes a) super cute & clever ideas for crafts and b) a way to search crafts by kids’ ages. So here is Cardboard Tube Frankenstein, perfect for three & five year olds:


If you want to read an amazing story, try these books (third book in the trilogy not yet released):

The cover designs make them look like spy thrillers, which they are definitely not: here is a review.

Doll Clothes & Renegade Craft Fair.

I finished up two more dresses from another Simplicity Pattern (5785). It’s getting a little easier and I think I’m getting faster. Maybe. And although she has changed her mind a dozen times on her costume, I started my 3 year old’s Tinkerbell dress for Halloween. For my 5 year old, I’ll just be mending a few tears in a Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz dress that was given to us by Grandma.


Today I went to the Renegade Craft Fair, which was really awesome. From the website: “Over 300 artists are traveling from all over the country to participate and sell their handmade goods: from clothing and accessories, to stationery and concert posters, with everything from bath-products, ceramics and housewares in between.” Wow! Organizers handed out a booklet with the names of all the participants and their websites so now I can check out every last one online : ) Pushing a stroller through that crowd was a little challenging, but honestly, it was just fun to be there with all those crafty folks. And the weather was gorgeous. Chicago is the greatest city.

* p.s. I bought a really cute headband with a felt heart from Get Felt Up.

Barbie Dress.

I’m going to squeak this entry in so that the month of August has something to show for itself! I’ve been busy with different projects, but really have been negligent with the picture taking, so tonight I finally put batteries in the camera, and took a photo of the Barbie dress that I made. When I was young, my Grandmother sent me a bunch of hand made clothes for my dolls, which made playing with them so much more fun, and I thought that maybe my girls would enjoy that. So first, I went on Ebay to find some clothes, but they were selling for $25 to $80 per lot, and the clothes looked tired. And some were just not cute. Then a light bulb went on, and I figured I’d give it a go making them myself. At the 99 cent Simplicity sale at Joann’s, I found some patterns for 11.5 inch dolls, and started with a dress from “Sewing Patterns for Dummies” (Simplicity 7073). It was straightforward, but still took me about 5 hours (yikes!) from start to finish. Hopefully I’ll get faster with practice!

Homemade Princess Castle.

Thought I’d post this even though it was made awhile ago... This was so easy to make and worked out just as well as something you’d buy. I cut a box and painted it white and the girls decorated the walls with flower stickers and markers. The castle turrets are mailing tubes (I cannot for the life of me think of the real word for those things!) They played with this castle a lot for a few months but have since slowed down. I’m still hoping they will use it more, because they still play with the dolls (seen in the doorway) and now I am sentimentally attached to it.

In the meantime I’m continuing to knit my nephew’s gift, and I also made a mediocre tote bag that will probably never see the light of day. It was meant to hold current knitting projects but it turned out too small.

We’re also getting ready for this...

Source

Mural.

I’ve decided to paint a mural of the Twelve Dancing Princesses on my 2 year old daughter’s wall. Above is the sketch, and the first two of twelve princesses. When I was a girl, I was never big on princesses or dressing up like one – or dancing for that matter. But my daughter enjoys all of the above, so I thought it would be really fun to try and draw & paint this story. I’ll just have to post progress photos because this is going to take a looooooooong time!

Good Clean Fun.

We went bowling last night for my Daughter’s 5th birthday, just the four of us, and it was really, really fun for everyone. We had pizza & beer & juiceboxes, and we had practically the whole place to ourselves. 101 Dalmations and ESPN were on at the same time, and the girls were in heaven combing eating with an activity... they loved zooming back and forth between the couches and bowling. After bowling, we ate some cupcakes and headed home totally stuffed, exhausted and the kids were on a crazy sugar high.

Did you know that they make bowling shoes for 2 year olds?

I love it with the fancy socks! Well, now all we have to do is make it through her party on Saturday (why do these birthdays seem like they are week–long events?) The weather forecast says 70 degrees. In the middle of July. That is Chicago weather for ya.

Party Favors.

Wow, summer really charges by, doesn’t it? I guess time in general does. This has been a strange few weeks with some odd things going on, both here and in the world at large. My mom and I were discussing that there are times in life when things just seem out of whack... But anyway this is mainly a craft blog, so here it is: My daughter’s birthday party is next weekend, and we found these plastic canisters which I decorated with paint markers. Candy, playdough, bouncy balls, etc. are inside, along with a little picture drawn by my daughter.

*And I am happy to report, at 1:05 am, I have completed the design project for my husband’s company. Now I won’t feel guilty for working on other things! Hooray!