Toy Story Gang

We had a Trunk or Treat Halloween party at our church this weekend.  It was a great opportunity to show off the kids' costumes.

I made my daughter's Jessie costume.  I have to say that I am not a great sewer- I really had no idea what I was doing.  I made my own pattern pieces for the yoke (the yellow part of the shirt) by laying paper over a white dress shirt and tracing the approximate shape of  what I wanted onto the paper.  It took some refining, but finally I got a shape I was happy with.  I chose to sew it onto the shirt, but you could probably fuse it on too.  For the cuffs, I again made my own pattern based on the shape I wanted, then sewed them to the existing sleeves.  I used yarn and hot glue for the embellishments, and felt circles for the buttons.  For the pants, I fused cow print fabric onto a pair of old jeans.  The belt buckle was made out of craft foam- I traced the bull on from a picture I found online.  Her hair was red yarn, braided and attached to her hat.  The hat, we already had from a dance recital.  You can't see them, but we bought cheap-o boots at Walmart and spray painted them red with glitter.

Buzz's costume was store bought.  I'm not talented enough to make one of those by hand!  Plus it was only $14, so I figured it was a good buy.  I did have to hem the legs and sleeves, so he got a little mom TLC out of it.

For Mr. Potato Head, I used a picture online to determine what his face should look like.  I made the body into a bib, since my son hated the jumper I originally made.  I used brown broadcloth and used an existing bib for a pattern.  The face pieces were made of felt and attached using glue.  I originally used Heat n Bond, but he kept pulling the pieces off.  Babies......

I thought they turned out great.  Jessie even won Best Overall Costume at the party.  Are you ready for Halloween?

One last Fall Craft: 2x4 Pumpkins

Thank you to Janet at Today's Fabulous Finds for the inspiration.  I have bookmarked about five different homemade pumpkin projects, and haven't made any of them!  When I saw her 2x4 pumpkins, I knew I had everything on hand except the paint, so I decided these were the ones!  Plus, they are just adorable.

Here's how mine turned out.  I followed her directions exactly, and it took me just a few hours (interrupted by phone calls and the needs of small children).

I put them in my kitchen to add just a touch of fall decor.  So far, it's been pretty neglected as far as seasonal decor goes.  

Thanks again Janet!  

I'm already starting to feel the need to move on to Christmas decor.  It's either the list of handmade Christmas presents I am planning, or the creeping decor in the stores that is starting to call out to me.  Either way, I'm pretty sure this is my last fall craft of the season.  But, you never know when inspiration will strike!

Swag with me!

Do you Swag?  I have been earning swagbucks for about 2 months now.  I don't sit at my computer all day- I just use it for my search engine, take a few polls and surveys, and occasionally complete a (free) special offer.   They also have bonus codes through the day.  I don't always get them, since I can't be glued to my computer.  If there is something I want to buy, I buy it through Swagbucks.  So far, I have earned enough points to buy $150 worth of Amazon Gift Cards.  I intend on buying Christmas Gifts for my kids with that cash!  

It is totally legit- one of the few out there- and though you have to be careful what you download, and be willing to get a lot of junk mail/email, it is worth the few minutes of my time each day.  

Anyway, if it sounds like something that interests you, sign up today!  You will get bonus bucks just for signing up, and today they are offering extra if you click through the widget on my sidebar.  There is an info section on their website with more details, or you can email me (check my About Me page) with any questions.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Wicked

I LOVE this stitchery- and it was FREE!  Head over to YouCanMakeThis.Com for the free pattern!

Image from YouCanMakeThis.com

They also have a free stitchery handbook if you are new to this kind of craft.  It took me about an hour, and I just love how it turned out.

The only thing I changed was that I could not find the teardrop-shaped crystal, so I just filled in the space with 2mm crystals instead.

I also need to buy some ribbon.  It's on my to-do list.
I am addicted to stitchery.  I have some great stitchery projects for Christmas.  I can't wait to get going on them.

Also, hello to anyone stopping by from the blog hops.  Leave me a note if you're a new follower, and I'll follow back!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is my sweet baby's first birthday!  This is a great occasion to be a little crafty for someone else- so, I took a deep breath and braved my FIRST EVER FONDANT CAKE!

I used the Make-a-Cake Series tutorials from Make It and Love It to create this cake, and I must say, these tutorials are easy to follow and have great results!  There are also some great reader tips in the comments.  I have never done anything like this before and I think it turned out pretty cute.  

I also made him a cute little shirt to wear for the big day.

It's been a tough year for me.  We've had a lot of challenges together, my grumpy baby and me.  The days went so slowly sometimes, but the year went so quickly-- if you are a mom, you understand what I mean.  I'm so happy we made it here, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us.

Cherry On Top WINNER!

Are you ready to see who the winner of these cute bows is?




Here goes:  The Results have been generated by Random.org.   And the winner is:

#11- Michael Creations on September 29, 2010 5:19 AM said...

Too cute! I'm a new follower! Thanks for stopping by and following my blog! :)

I'm sending you an email- please reply within 24 hours to claim your prize.  

Thanks to everyone who entered.  Have a happy day!