Little Miss Mary Poppins

I made this one with that string Alissa was talking about....

We are on a serious budget so I was looking for the absolute cheapest (and quickest) way to make this little ditty - I used scraps, felt and solid colored t-shirts because they were cheaper than buying fabric and I could keep some of the already made seams and hems - which made my life a lot easier! All in all I'm happy with how it turned out even though it's definitely not the best made costume - but that was my plan - quick and cheap and UNIQUE!

And here is the little cheekiness herself showing off her duds!
She went for more of a modern Poppins with the cell phone accessory.


I was also inspired my Alissa's homemade decorations from last year and created these silhouettes... representations of our family using altered frame & silhouette designs from the web. The frames are made from stiff black felt and the rest from paper.

Belle and Crazy Old Maurice

When I first started doing Halloween with Evelyn, I envisioned many years of clever, funny costumes held together by shoestring and tenacity. This year, however, Evelyn staged a coup and overthrew me as ultimate decision maker. Apparently, over the last year she has developed opinions and very strong ones at that. So she informed me in no uncertain terms that this Halloween she was to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Belle with the yellow dress. Mind you, Evelyn has never seen this movie, so where she got this brain wave is beyond me.

Dan had to convince me that we should probably let Evelyn make her own decision on this non-moral issue so I gave in. In spite of the fact that I was to be the shoestring and tenacity provider.

Anyway.

I started with an old pair of pants, courtesy of Goodwill, and a modish yellow dress, courtesy of my maternal grandmother. (I only sacrificed this dress because it was not salvageable for adult consumption. Otherwise, I would have worn it about the house for no good reason. Except that it was awesome. The picture does not do it justice.)

So I took in the pants about 5 sizes and converted them into shorts. With the remaining material, I made a vest and Josephine's costume was about done.

Then I just added some tucks in several places and VOILA! A Belle dress. Not hard, but time consuming as can be. I stayed up Friday night finishing it only to find that I had done too good a job and it was now about 3 inches too short. So I took out about 10 tucks and did them over. But luckily, it turned out great and Evelyn was so happy. It might as well have been straight out of the movie for as much as she loved it.

I didn't reckon on Josephine having any opinions but apparently she is chock full of them too. She did not appreciate her vest at all (she kept ripping it off) and she was a little floored by the mustache. But all in all, it was a pretty awesome Halloween. I hope everyone else's was too!

Gussied up: Desk Edition..

One of our friends writes for Apartment Therapy, a home design website. They always feature such lovely workspaces and nice organizing tips. If I had used half the time I spent admiring other people's clean spaces on the organization of my own work area, I don't think my desk would have gotten so utterly out of control.


Pretty sad, right? Well that space is supposed to be where I organize the family finances, plan menus and shopping lists, keep kid crafts, homeschooling and sewing supplies, not to mention all those camera and cell phone type gadgets that can drive you crazy! I was going to do the cool vintage hunt for fun bins but I needed to get this under control fast. So with a 20% coupon, I made my first ever trip to the Container Store. Lawdy, that place is beautiful! Things to rein in chaos of every kind! I'm not sure, but I think I teared up when I saw their sample display desk. They can be a bit pricey, but with coupon I found their prices comparable to Target or TJ max. All I needed were a few boxes to help motivate me to get organized and boy what a help!

Try to destroy this one, Lyla

Okay, who am I kidding.

When Lyla succeeded in bypassing her crib bumper and getting her arm stuck in the slats of her crib, I went on a quest to find a sturdier bumper. Never found one I liked, so I decided to make one. Of course, I bought foam, cut it up, THEN read the package where it said it is "toxic when burned, DO NOT USE FOR BABY CRIBS."

So I ended up using NuFoam. Not quite as studly as I was originally going for, but it should take Lyla a few days at least to break through to the slats again!

Has anyone here

made an advent calendar? I want to make a very simple one and I could use some pointers.

Kathleen's Krazy Krafts: Safety Tip #1

When using an improper tool such as a steak knife to dislodge a staple from an old wooden frame, don't put your finger in the path of the thrusting knife. You may get injured. I'm just saying.

Christmas prep

I am making this quilt for my mother-in-law. We are on a very tight budget so I am soliciting sugestions for a nice fabric and where to buy it. I think it looks nicer than your average quilting cotton but I don't have a very good eye. Where do you ladies buy fabric?