Halloween 2010

Phew, what a crazy day! We spent Halloween day putting the finishing touches on all 4 of the costumes. While there was a constant loop of Alice in Wonderland on in the background. Just so we could get into character!

At the last minute though (Friday) I decided my costume was kind of lame and wanted to go a much brighter and more colorful route! SO my hubby found me this cheshire cat costume at the Halloween store. I stopped at the wig store an got a purple wig and Target on the way home and grabbed a pink tee. I then spray painted purple stripes on it! Because the top on the cat costume was a bit too revealing! Why can't a there be any not so sexy but oh so cute costumes?! really? Anyway I used this tutorial for my makeup and it came out great!

I also used Ms. Kandee's tutorial for Hailey's makeup! And it turned out insanely cute...if I do say so myself! And you can't forget sweet Belle. Her wig really made the outfit! We did not do any makeup on her because she just doesn't sit still long enough and I don't really think her costume called for it.

We always go trick or treating with my brother and sister in law and this year was no different. Although we got to my BIL's house and realized we had completely forgotten the girls dresses! AH! So the hubby ran back real quick (as quick as a 20 minute drive one way can be!) and saved the night for us.

All in all had a fun night and I'm sure the girls will have a great time for years to come in those sweet little outfits playing dress up and letting their imagination run wild!

Hope you all had as much fun as we did this Halloween! Now on to the family picture outfits...

Love and Hugs,

Her Royal Highness

The Queen of Hearts is NOT the Queen of Hearts without a proper crown. Awhile back I stumbled upon this tutorial on how to make a dress up crown. I followed the directions but changed the shape and assembly quite a bit to achieve that tiny little crown for the Queen of Hearts.

You see I didn't need it to fit around her head rather on top so I left the velcro out and just stitched the two ends together. I also didn't need it to be quite so large so I made my own template instead of using hers. Although I still really think that her original crown is so completely adorable and will be making a few for some homemade Christmas gifts out of fun scraps!

Finally, I hot glued it to a head band which can be covered up with some hair from the wig. It will look like it is just sitting on top of her head. Which is exactly what I wanted! I was a bit unsure how I would bobby pin it and was leery of how well it would stay.

Eventually I will get pictures of all of us all dressed up and in full makeup! Maybe Sunday before we go trick or treating I'll have my talented photographer sister in law snap a few pics of all of us together.

Oh yah, almost forgot to mention that I also think this would make an excellent Frog Prince Crown! Just in case any Princess Tiana's out there have a Prince Naveen little brother! You never know...

Linking up with...

 

Love and Hugs,

Chirpy D Photography

I finally got around to putting up a blog of some of my latest photography work. I have shot for people (only friends) here and there but I wasn't officially for hire. I am still shocked anyone even likes my photos!

Chirpy D Photography

Check it out if you have a minute. This is all stuff that I've shot this year even though I've been doing stuff here and there for about 5 years. I thought if maybe someone wanted me to take their picture maybe just maybe I could make a little bit of extra spending money doing it!

So if your in the greater Tucson area or Phoenix area even (we go back and forth a lot) I'd LOVE to take your picture! Photography is right up there with sewing, my two favorite things to do.

I am so thankful that we can afford to have me stay home with the kiddies, therefore enabling me to be as creative as I can be and pursue things that I truly adore.

Love and Hugs,

White Elephant Wednesday Vol. VI

So I admit I have been a wee bit distracted with sewing Halloween costumes lately. And well, it's finally getting cooler here in Arizona. I am absolutely enamored with the weather and how much fun the babes and I have in it!

I realized I've been severely lacking in the board game department so I've been on the hunt for some. I found some at Bookman's (a book/magazine/movie/game resale/trade-in kind of store) but even still they were not much less than what I would pay for them new so I kept searching. And hit the jackpot this week at White Elephant!

We got Life - Monsters Inc. version. The girls just love Monsters, Inc. so this was right up their alley. I opened it up and it has ALL of the pieces. I am really amazed at how many games contain all the pieces because we seem to loose them left and right!

We also found Sorry (the 1972 version) which is only fitting! Also with all of the pieces AND all of the cards according to the directions.

Finally Monopoly, again with everything. Maybe missing some money but I wasn't about to count it all out.

We found some pretty and unique pillow cases that I thought would make fun pillowcase dresses.

And finally tons of fun colored vintage lace and one blue zipper (used for Hailey's costume, so it is not pictured). Also some off white vintage lace that has disappeared....hmmm. I better go check the babies kitchen which is where they usually stash stuff they aren't supposed to have. Anyway, I just love getting my notions at the White Elephant they are soooo much cheaper than buying at JoAnn's (even with a coupon) and often times even more unique and fun!

All in all I spent a whopping $11! Woohoo!

So have you guys found anything interesting lately?

I'm still on the hunt for a cool old crate (or two or three), an old radio flyer wagon so that I can make this, maybe some glass candle sticks, glass apothecary jars so that I can make these, and whatever else strikes my fancy while hunting!

Love and Hugs,

Who's been painting my roses red?!

Finally, finally, finally finished Hailey's Queen of Hearts (Red Queen) dress yesterday! Oh dear Lord I was drowning in that costume. But it was a good challenge for me! I often do things that are safe and not daring, new, and challenging. This time it was all new and challenging. The ONLY pattern piece I used for this dress was part of the bodice (front and back) from Belle's Alice costume. Only I didn't include the yoke in the bodice piece. I was planning on doing a tute but it was really complicated and it is almost Halloween so maybe I'll save that for next year.

I based this costume off of Tim Burton's Queen of Hearts. Here are a couple screen shots from the movie.

And of course Ms. Kathleen's version that she made last year for her little pumpkin!

When I finished it and showed Hailey she said in a very firm voice, "I am NOT trying that dress on one - more - time! Until Halloween..." and then pranced away to do something incredibly loud with her partner in crime (Bellie and Bailey)! Hence the reason for pictures of it hung up instead of on my actual little model.

The collar proved to be the most difficult part for me. I wasn't exactly sure how to make it attach to the back bodice without making the zipper run up the middle of the back of it. So I made it removable! I added a bit of fusible velcro to it (btw, never used this before and was pleasantly surprised at the hold! seriously you gotta try it sometime!) and I can just snap it in after I get the dress on Hailey! To me it still isn't quite right but it will have to do. I botched 2 of them and this was the least offensive of the 3. I'm sure that Hailey could care less, she loves it all the same!

I added the beading using some coin embellishments by the yard as well as pearl embellishments by the yard. Hailey really likes how it kind of jingles when she walks! Also, to make the deep v-neck I made a bit of pintucked fabric just like Tim Burton did in the original Queen of Hearts dress. These weren't difficult at all and I may just use them again in another little girls dress because they really do add alot to the dress!

For the sleeves I used some black lace with red ribbon and a couple buttons around. Finally, I added some off white vintage lace for the cuff of the sleeve.

And these cute little heart buttons to the upper sleeve cuff that I found at the craft store! The upper sleeve part is super puffy and has strips of ribbon every couple inches. I opted for a fitted armband over an elasticized arm band because I liked the way it looked!

The back is complete with zipper (thrifted for 20 cents! Woohoo!) and big red bow to cinch it in at the waist and accentuate the fullness of the skirt.

I know, kind of hard to tell by the pictures but it really is full especially after I put that pettiskirt on underneath it!

The outerskirt is twice the length of the inner skirt and I used pickups to make it look all full and bunchy! I may go back and do a couple more after looking at the pictures.

All in all I am happy with the way it turned out and Hailey loves it so what more could I ask for?! She keeps saying, "Mom, after Halloween can I keep it as dress up?! And wear it everyday, whenever I want?!" To which of course I reply with an enthusiastic,  "YES! Of course, baby!" I am so proud that she will cherish this costume and love it as much as I enjoyed working on it! Even though it was long and drawn out and challenged me in new ways I really did enjoy making it.

Linking up with...

 

Love and Hugs,

Rice Box

Since I finished my skirts on Saturday I decided to finally finish my rice box on Sunday and start the Queen of Hearts on a fresh week. This little rice box was a welcomed change. No thinking involved just painting!

I took this thrifty find:

And turned it into this!

A cute storage container for our rice. We buy it in 10 pound bags from the Asian store and I am always worried that I am going to get bugs in it. Because we just keep it in it's bag in the pantry with a little clip on it. Kinda like a massive chip clip. Only since the bag is so big it makes the clip look kinda small. I'm sure a bug can weasel it's way into it!

I gave this sucker a good scrub down. And let it dry followed by several coats of dover white spray paint. Finally traced the oblong bracket shape thing onto it and painted it with black chalkboard paint free hand. I really like the way it turned out and I can't wait to fill it up with rice!

Love and Hugs, 

Well, well, well...look what the cat drug in!

Haha! Me of course! I have been MIA for awhile I was busy making TWO pettiskirts for the girls Halloween costumes. Let me tell ya I now remember why I vowed never to make one again. They take ALOT of time and patience. The later I dont have much of lately.

I did not do a tute on them however because there are so many amazing ones floating around out there in blogland. Like here, here, and here. The skirts are relatively straight forward and simple just time consuming because there is so much yardage involved.

I purchased my yardage from a lovely little lady on etsy of course who I've purchased nylon chiffon from before because NO ONE in Tucson actually carries nylon chiffon. AH! She will sell you yardage, cut it and/or ruffle it for you or even make it for you. But the most cost effective way is to just purchase yardage from her. I got 10 (5 for each) yards for $33! Which makes it about $3.30/yard plus shipping. Not bad! Not bad at all!

I did learn a few things since last year when I made them.

1. Work from the bottom up.

Start adding the ruffles to the bottom tier first. Then add the bottom tier (with ruffles attached) to the top tier. Finally add the top tier to the waistband. It cuts down significantly on the pile hanging out on the side of your sewing machine while trying to make sense of what is actually going through the machine to be sewn.

2. Dont stitch the tier closed until you've stitched it to the other layer.

That way if you have too much you can just cut it off. You don't have to worry about gathering it tighter to make it fit onto the other layer. SO you only join the tiers together in a circle at the very end. Makes it much easier trust me!

3. Ruffle everything first if you are using a ruffler foot.

That way you aren't wasting precious time switching between feet. Which on my machine means completely removing the shank that the foot fits into.

Next up, Hailey's Queen of Hearts dress! My goal: to be finished with it by next Sunday. We'll see since obviously I missed my goal of Wednesday for pettiskirts....

Love and Hugs,

White Elephant Wednesday Volume V, er...antique hunting!

This week I was on a mission! I have been wanting some blue ball jars with the original zinc lids for a while. I had been hunting the white elephant and they never had any (next week I'm sure they will! haha). I was starting to get impatient so I went around to some other antique shops while the babes hung out at Grandma's house.

I stumbled upon a little shop called Christine's Antique Shop or the "Elegant Junque shop"! Cute name huh?! They had an adorable little red 1960's radio flyer car out front that first caught my eye. Along with some other randomness that made me think this might not be such a froo froo (high priced) antique shop.

While the little car ($100) was a wee bit out of my price range ($20 buckaroos) I decided to look around some. This shop had some REALLY cool stuff. And the owners are trying to consolidate to one store (currently two stores side by side). So anything that didn't say "firm" on it was 50% off and/or negotiable!

They had some really cool vintage crates (on my list of wants). But I was on a mission! "Ball jars, ball jars, ball jars," I kept telling myself. So I quit looking around because I was about to spend ALOT of money and asked one of the shop keepers if they had any of the jars. YIPPEE! They had some. In fact he told me that he had an unlimited supply of them in their stock room. I MAY go back and get more since they were only $5! Maybe I'll go back next week and get some crates too!

You might be able to tell they are all a little bit different. The first one on the right is the blueist and is a bit more bullet shaped than your typical canning jar. The second one in is what they call "sea foam green/blue" and still bullet shaped. The third one they have now added the word "perfect" instead of just "mason" and it is now starting to take on the typical shape of a canning jar. The last one is about the same as the third except the font and placement of the wording is slightly different. From what little research I've done this basically means they are all from different years. From what year exactly? I'm not sure but this seller on etsy has a list and I may just be cooky enough to buy it to find out exactly what year these jars were produced!

See how the first one is more bullet shaped? Up there towards the lid it is more rounded!

Your probably asking yourself WHY exactly I want blue ball jars?! Well my friends let me show you! You can make handy dandy really cool soap dispensers out of them! Shown here. Or you can put a few little flowers in them and use them as a vase. Shown here. Why yes, you can make lanterns out of them! Shown here.

I suppose they don't NEED to be the blue ones. But I heart them. There is no rhyme or reason... you could do any of these things with regular clear ones. The blue ones just give it a more rustic, vintage feel. Don't ya think!?

I'm off to finish those pettiskirts! Today is my deadline I set, I'm pretty proud of myself though I just need to finish assembling. All the ruffles are ruffled for BOTH skirts! And I'm starting to remember why I vowed never to make a pettiskirt again. :)

Love and Hugs,

Yes, Ms. Alice

I finished Isabelle's Alice costume today.

I really like the way it turned out. I may still embellish it a bit. I thought some off white lace trim on the bottom of the apron would be pretty. I also need to finish her off white pettiskirt that will go underneath of it. But the dress and apron are complete. Woohoo!

I used this simplicity pattern. But I purchased it from this seller on etsy for $4! She was amazingly quick at getting it to me and it was a wonderful transaction overall. In the end I remembered why I don't care to sew from Simplicity patterns. I made some changes to the pattern because I was too lazy to make didn't have any bias tape to match. I'm more of a make it up as you go kind of sewer. But it did help me kind of think about the structure of and how to tackle Hailey's dress. 

I am feeling a little bit better about the deadline of Halloween. I have 28 days left! I have started setting some goals and a time line as to what needs to be done by when. I want to have the pettiskirts done by this Wednesday. We'll see how that goes! Then I will start on Hailey's costume all the while searching for things for my costume. I think we finally decided with the March Hare because he goes well with the Mad Hatter (for the hubby).

How is your Halloween coming?

Love and Hugs,