5 Minutes with Keira

Life of the party face (often accompanied by shrill chirping sounds)...

Poopin' face...

Sweet baby girl face...

Surprised face...

Normal face...

Serious face...

Cheeky monkey face...

Winky face...

...and Owl face???

Rainbow Loom - The New Friendship Bracelets

When I was a kid I loved making friendship bracelets - so of course I had to jump on the rainbow loom trend - so much cooler then silly bands btw. 

I didn't buy a loom but you can make regular bracelets, fishtails, and dragonscales without a loom. Chase was even able to make them himself - as you can see he made a zillion of them. 

It's So Fluffy!!!! DIY Unicorn Costume

Here is another Halloween costume peek!  I am going to be Agnes and Keira is going to be the fluffy unicorn.  This is the first time I have sewn anything with this type of fabric. 

Luckily fluffy fabric is very forgiving so your cuts and seams don't have to be that exact.  

I modelled the hood after a hoodie and just embellished with a mane, ears, horn, eyes, and mouth. Everything but the horn and eyes were sewn into a seam of the hoodie (and the nostrils were embroidered on at the end). The body is just a tube of fabric with elastic at the top and bottom with a tail out the back seam (for the tail and mane I used loops of fabric that I cut into thinner strands after sewing them into a seam). The pants I modelled after some fleece pants and the sleeves were taken from another pattern I have. I sewed circles of fabric to the bottoms of the pants and sleeves to make them look like hooves. 

The hardest part about this costume is going to be getting Keira to wear it (she hates it).

Smiles

Smores

We had smores and told "scary stories" tonight - it was so fun!

Chase looks like he is throwing fireballs in this picture. 

Chase had to spend awhile pretending his pants were on fire and that he was peeing out the flames. 

Halloween Sneak Peek - DIY Despicable Me Minion Costume

I haven't made a costume since Chase's superhero birthday party so this year when he said he wanted to be a minion I decided that I wanted to make a costume (the ones you can buy aren't that great).

So after much Google searching and a few ideas of our own here is the final product we came up with. I am really happy with it!

Here is how we did it:

- We used a domed trashcan for the form (found one at Home Depot).  To prep the trashcan you have to tape the rotating flap closed, cut off the bottom of the can, cut arm holes in the side of the can, and cut a hole to look out of (we used a jig saw to do that).  We also drilled little holes in the top of the head to put the hair in later and we used sandpaper to scuff up the plastic so that the spray adhesive would hold better.  Lastly we drilled sets of holes in the front and back on each side to use to loop ribbon through and create shoulder straps to hold up the costume on Chase's shoulders.

- We used spray adhesive to cover the trashcan with fleece.  We did two layers (a white layer and then a yellow layer).  The fleece stretches pretty well so we were able to get it around the dome and the trashcan with just a single seam up the back.

- I made the mouth out of craft foam and then we used some fleece wrapped around the edges to create the lips.

- I sewed the overalls out of denim (the bottoms I made like PJ bottoms and then I just sewed rectangles on the front and back and straps and a pocket).  For the logo I used black material and double sided fusible webbing.

- The goggles are made out of two styrofoam discs with the middle cut out and then covered in silver Duck tape and the strap is just black fabric - I may add silver thumbtacks around the sides if I have time.  We used white foam behind it with a hole for the eye.

- The hair is pipe cleaners stuck through the holes in the trashcan.

- Accessorize with black shoes, black mittens, and a yellow long sleeved shirt underneath.

I hope you have fun if you are making your own costume - it is really fun and worth the time and effort!  Just beware that it costs a lot more to make this costume then it would have to buy one.

Here is a picture without Chase in it...still hilarious...

Too cute right???

Gaia Design Studios

If you are looking for a baby announcement check out Gaia Design Studios - they have really cute stuff.  They send you a jpg that you can have printed (I had mine printed on heavy weight card stock by Walgreens and they looked fantastic).  

Here is Keira's announcement.

 8 weeks old - wow time flies!

11.1.13

So excited!!!

The Greatest Show on Earth

We took Chase and a friend to the Barnum and Bailey circus today. I am a huge Cirque Du Soliel fan and this wasn't nearly as spectacular or polished as that but it is aimed more at young kids and was really well done as far as that goes. They had a pre-show so kids didn't have to wait for the show to start and Chase was definitely amazed and entertained. 

I had a great time too - I think the poodle show was my favorite part. The only warning I have for parents is to get ready for the prices of things - it is CRAZY. Easily could be renamed The Most Expensive Show on Earth ($14 for a bag of cotton candy). 

Fall

It is finally boot weather!!!  Hooray!!!

Here is Keira all bundled up and ready to go out.

Vintage Inspired Ring

I don't typically like vintage inspired stuff but for some reason I adore this ring (London Blue Topaz is one of my favorites). I found it at gemvara.com which lets you customize stone types / metals which is fun - you can get a ton of different looks. 

Herringbone Quilt Top

It is definitely fall...my itch to sew and knit is back.

I made this fun quilt top for Keira. I bought the fabric one night while I was pregnant and needed a pick me up. The colors were so summery and fun. 

I have a pile of about a dozen finished quilt tops waiting to be quilted. I better get to it!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

...unless you are a breastfeeding mom with an average supply working on a freezer stash...

This morning when I knocked over 1.5 oz of breastmilk I may not have cried but there was definitely cursing involved!