Sewing Halloween costumes

There is something vastly pleasurable in the sensation of sewing fleece fabric on a brisk autumn morning.  The fabric is so soft and cozy beneath my fingers, and I smile knowing how warm it will keep my munchkin in the days ahead.  The print is a bit wild, though.  I am sewing a tiger costume for my wee girl.



Unfortunately, my girls seem to have inherited my procrastination gene.  They only decided last Friday (under duress) what their Halloween costumes will be.  Of course, we cannot buy them.  For one, everything good has been sold out for weeks anyway.  For another, making them is so much more satisfying.  Thankfully, we have three whole days left before the deadline (ha!).

After much debate, our sweet Eleanor decided she wants to be a black bat.  She wants the costume to be as simple as simple can be "because my teacher doesn't like Halloween and I don't want my costume to upset her."  As thoughtful and sensitive as that reasoning is, I couldn't accept it and insisted she at least look at some grander ideas, still on the simple theme.  I want her to like it, not just her teacher.  Luckily for me, her friend was over when I pulled up this bat costume tutorial on MADE, and her friend gleefully proclaimed we had found the perfect costume.  Ellie scaled it back (wearing a hood or sewing shiny material on the inside were out), but then proudly participated in the making.  She helped draw the pattern onto the felt with chalk, cut as carefully as she could and then loved her first experience sitting at the sewing machine with me standing by (rather than her in my lap) as she sewed the detail lines in dark grey.



I added the arm loops and attached bat ears to a headband with a hot glue gun, and voila!  Now, I just need to track down a black long-sleeved shirt and pants for her.  I have two more days, right?



Stephanie wants to be a tiger.  Of course, not only are there no tiger costumes to be found, but there are no tiger costume patterns to be found either!  All sold out weeks ago, the sniggering lady at the fabric store assured me.  No matter.  I'm winging it.  I bought some tiger-print fleece from JoAnn's and am sewing a tunic, pants, a hood (similar to the MADE bat hood) and possibly mittens, if I can get it all done in time.  The pants are my favorite basic pant from Happy Handmade Vol 2, and the tunic is a basic peasant dress adapted from this tutorial.  Everything is cut and the pants are sewn.  If I plow through the school day today, I might just get it done!



My favorite part of Stephanie's as-yet-unfinised costume is her creativity applied to the idea.  When I brought home fancy fabric hoping to inspire Eleanor to bat wing enhancement, Ellie rejected it...but Stephanie loved it!  She immediately declared she wanted to be a flying tiger and promptly drew me a picture.  I love love love this.  I can't wait to see the result!



Will your family be dressing up for Halloween?  What costumes did you choose?

Fun with frosting

This weekend, I baked an excessively complex recipe for double chocolate cupcakes (from the Miette cookbook).  You know the kind of recipe that requires you to separately prepare ingredients into 5 bowls and gradually add bits of each into the running KitchenAid (and don't even dare attempt it without a KitchenAid, lest ye be deemed unworthy)?  I had to know what all the fuss was about.  Well, it turns out that recipe is pretty darned fantastic (alas!).  The batter was like chocolate pudding, and the cupcakes...de-lish!

When you have such fabulous cupcakes as these, the frosting is not overly important (not that kids believe this).  I just made up a basic American buttercream (butter and powdered sugar) and piped it on top.  Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone.  I dripped 3 different colours of liquid food colouring down different sides of the piping bag before filling it with the frosting.

 

The result, when swirled, was fairly weird, but it looked awesome when just piped into stars.



Wouldn't you know the kids sulk about having to eat the plain white ones I made first?  Don't make that mistake at home.

Glassblowing date

Planning gifts for Hubby is often a challenge, because he is simply not a stuff guy.  He likes experiences.  I wracked my brain trying to come up with the best idea for his birthday this year until I remembered a mom friend at school saying she had taken her kids to a glassblowing studio at Christmas to make ornaments.  I contacted Gallery G Glass in Pittsburgh, and Gary offers a "date night" for two, which includes a private session in the studio making paperweights, ornaments and drinking glasses in the colours of your choice.  So fun!







Gary and his wife Erica are awesome!  The studio is closed on Sunday, but they let us come in anyway since that was the only day we could do it.  We had such great fun!  Once our projects are cool enough, I'll go pick them up and we will have three objects each to keep and use.  I love the thought of sipping cool drinks from these glasses we made ourselves (yes, with a lot of help, but still), remembering this birthday and the fantastic date we enjoyed in Pittsburgh.

Glitter in progress

With the Muses parade less than a month away, I am woefully behind on glittering shoes (as in, I hadn't started yet!).  I was starting to have bad dreams in which I showed up late for the parade, without my costume, without any glittered shoes, on the wrong day...trauma!

What am I talking about?  The Krewe of Muses, a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe (club) with the most popular parade for several years running!  The first part of this blog name is "a muse", because I am a member of the Krewe of Muses, made up of the most fabulous, diverse group of women in New Orleans and elsewhere.

 

I joined Muses when we lived in New Orleans and experienced my first parade as a rider the following year after Katrina (2007).  That's me in the photo, looking ecstatic (because I was!).    When I signed up, I thought it would be a bucket list experience, riding in a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade.  Who gets to do that?!  I had no idea how amazing it would be, how much positive energy and thrilling excitement radiates from the crowds, or how wonderfully funny and supportive would be the women on my float.  They have stuck with me through four international moves, sending me a very heavy and expensive care package with all the goodies to make red beans and rice and other treats while I was in Holland, holding my spot without reservation despite the fact that our float itself has a waiting list because so many women want to ride with them.  I flew from Australia to ride with them again last year, and it was even more incredible that I had remembered. Now that I'm back in the States, I could not miss the opportunity to be an official rider again.  The parade rolls on February 7.  I'll be up top on float #18 on the driver's side, so make a big sign and hold it up for me so I can throw you something good!



So, what's this about glitter?  Aside from all the plastic beads and toys and assorted whatnots we throw to the crowds, the most highly prized score from the Muses parade is a glittered high heeled shoe.  We can't throw them for obvious reasons, so parade goers who score a shoe are usually handed one directly and feel very chosen.  It's funny (and wonderful!) how much sheer joy is associated with getting a shoe from the parade.  But of course, before they can be given, they have to be made.  That's where this post comes in.



Last night, I had two girlfriends over for wine, cheese, chocolate and glitter!  I had purchased and collected (thanks, Grandmary!) simple pairs of high heels in good condition from thrift stores (I've never paid more than $5 for a pair).  We spray-painted them gold or silver, and then the glueing and glittering could begin.



Now I have glitter all over myself and my house, even in my refrigerator.  I've given it a good clean, but I think it's a lost cause, at least until Mardi Gras is over.  Keep calm and glitter on!

Homemade hot cocoa elf-ing

Our wee one's school finishes for the season this Friday, so we needed to get busy on little gifts for her classmates.  I was inspired by this post on Angry Chicken to make homemade hot cocoa mix in jars.  This is easily something our 4-year-old can do for friends with a minimum of adult help.

 

Amy's recipe was similar to Martha Stewart's: just sugar and cocoa powder.  She filled each jar about half-way and then topped it with mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows.  We followed that pattern, but we used a different recipe.  I wanted something richer, and we found it here.  First, I double-checked with class moms to be sure no one had a dairy intolerance (otherwise, the sugar and cocoa recipe would be just fine).  Since it isn't an original recipe, I feel it's okay to repost.

Rich and fabulous homemade hot cocoa mix

3 cups non-fat dry milk powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Pulse the blend in a food processor until the white chocolate chips are reduced to a powder.  Store mix in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.
To make hot chocolate drink, stir 1/3 cup of mix into 1 cup of hot milk or water.



If you are interested in encouraging independence in your wee one, most stages of this project can be done easily without adult intervention:

• pour the measured cups into a large bowl
• stir the mix together
• pulse the food processor or simply press the "on" or "off" buttons
• use a small scoop (like a 1/4 cup measure) to scoop the finished mix into clean glass jars
• sprinkle the mini-chips and mini-mallows on top to fill
• place the lids on top
• screw the lids in place 

Photo gift tags

Scrambling to make the international shipping deadline, I wrapped these gifts today and realized the girls hadn't yet made gift tags for them.  On a whim, I selected special (several years old) photos of the recipients and printed them out as a contact sheet.  I cut wide borders around each and simply taped them onto the package.





Now, it's very simple to see whose is whose, and the photo memories are so sweet.
How is your elf-ing coming along?

Art project testimonial

Yesterday afternoon, we hosted an artsy playdate with two new friends.  Before they came over, I flipped through the Autumn Crafts ebook from Artful Parent, and the tie-dye leaf project grabbed my eye.  Simply drip liquid watercolors* or food colouring onto coffee filters cut into basic leaf shapes, and watch the colors spread and mingle.  So easy and oh-so-fun!

 

 Some comments direct from the kiddos:

"This is soooo cool."
"Ooooo, did you see that?"
"Isn't mine the most magicalest leaf in the whole world?"



When my little one initially soaked each leaf with color, I tried to shift her to painting with her watercolor set, but that was far less satisfactory.  The colors were not nearly so intense, and they didn't spread as well.  The drip method was much more exciting.  Even the paper towels we put beneath each coffee filter look amazing.  We have no idea what we want to do with them, but we don't really want to throw them away.  Collage fodder, perhaps?

As for the leaves, we ran them through the sewing machine and made a garland for the girls' room.



My 4 year old is obsessed.  She loves this, loves with a capital M as in "Must Do This Right Now."  We were back at it right after dropping off Big Sister at school.



The possibilities for this are pretty limitless, but don't overlook the easiest one of simply dripping color onto a plain old coffee filter.  The water makes the curves of the filter flatten out, so you'll have big circles in the end.  The special paper makes the liquid spread so well, and the kids love that effect far more than they care about the shapes.  Enjoy!

*I had seen posts about similar projects on Jean's blog in the past, so I knew I wanted to own liquid watercolors and droppers.  I ordered them from Discount School Supply, using the link through her site to support Artful Parent.  Thanks for the inspiration, Jean!

Journaling in the new year

After years of journaling hiatus, I feel it's time to start journaling again...but where to start? How to start? The truth is, it isn't easy anymore. My thoughts run faster and longer than my opportunities to record them, and frankly, sometimes it just feels like one more thing to do (and who needs that?).

Magically, today in my inbox was an email that should have gone to junk, but somehow didn't. It was from the stationer kikki.K, all about journaling in the new year. The blog offers up a stream of great journaling prompts to get you writing. The most meaningful tips came from this entry. The essence (in my words):

Get going! No rules!

Realize that habits take time to form. Every time you skip journal time makes it easier to skip the next day and the next...

Take the pressure off an outcome and simply put pen to paper, even if that means doodling or even simply drawing a grid on the page.

Ideas: Record a quote. Print out and glue in a photo from the day. Draw. Doodle.

Making that time for yourself and your journal is what really counts.

Have you been toying with the idea of journaling?

What has your new year looked like thus far?

Making a habit of it

I've been participating in the open month over at habit, and I'm delighting in the ritual. Participating has made me take the time each day to capture small moments on camera and in words. With a single image and 30 words or less, I am required to make just a few minutes each day to pause, reflect and record. A beautiful habit indeed.

This week:

7 November

I woke to the sound of something shattering. A sad accident. Wildness that would not cease...until it did. They colored and sang together, and the day was renewed.

8 November

They say it is the worst allergy season on record. It must be a banner year for Kleenex.

9 November

Too cautious to join in, too enraptured to sit down.

10 November

Not much about this day worked out the way I planned, but it was a good day nonetheless.

11 November

We decided to turn Pupil Free Day into our own personal holiday.

favorite things

Tonight is my post-birthday dinner out, and I'm sooo excited! At first, I'd planned a fancy-pants 5 course sit down meal at a wonderful place nearby, but it was expensive and planning-intensive and a bit joy-sucking. My most indulgent husband suggested I change it over to our favorite local Italian restaurant and treat everyone (his gift). Now, it's a no-stress, bring-your-own-wine girlfriend fest, and I think it will be a blast!

Rather than getting all stressed out about Martha Stewart perfection and planning of gift bags, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to host a "favorite things party" (inspired long ago by the beautiful inchmark blog). I asked everyone to think of her favorite item that costs $5 or less and to please bring 5 of that item to the dinner. No matter how many people come, everyone goes home with 5 new things. I love this idea! It has inspired some real creativity. Some guests have taken it completely in stride, announcing "Done!" without hesitation. Others ask brilliant questions like:

"Can it be living?"

"Can the average cost per item be $5 as long as the total of the 5 items doesn't exceed $25?"

"Do the items have to be identical?"

and my favorite...

"I was going to be all intellectual and creative, but what I really love is chocolate.

Can I just bring that?"

One creative friend has worked herself into a frenzy, choosing the ideal $5 items and then packaging them to the hilt. She gets bonus points for presentation.

I love this idea. I think it would be incredibly fun to host a favorite things party twice a year. It's a great way to share little indulgences, and twice per year would take the pressure off finding the ideal item the first time around. I know I've gone 'round and 'round with it. A pre-paid coffee in a nice cafe? Chocolates from my favorite local maker? Homemade granola in nice jars? Recently, I've been making my own laundry detergent (that's another post), and I can get about 100 loads out of $5. Hmm...

This time, it was nail buffers. $4 at The Body Shop for beautiful, healthy, shiny, no polish nails.

I'm also cheating a bit (hey, I'm the host and it's my birthday!) and also giving everyone magnetic bookmarks from The Netherlands (purchased at the Mauritshuis when we lived in The Hague) and an Anne Taintor postcard. Just because.

Happy Birthday to me!