Costuming.

(Is that even a word?  Well, it is now!)

This year for Halloween, I had two little girls who wanted to be something that was going to stretch the creativity that lives in this house.

Peyton said over and over that she wanted to be “Bo”.  For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about.  At first, I thought she was saying, “Boo” because she had been watching Monsters Inc., but that wasn’t it.

It wasn’t until I put Toy Story 2 on for the bazillionth time that it clicked.

She wanted to be “Bo-Peep”.  In the movie, Woody calls her “Bo”.

I based my sketch of this off of pics of her online, but couldn’t find the exact anything as far as material went.

 

I made everything totally on my own.

If I had to do it all over again, I would most definitely find a pattern.

(That and a more cooperative model.)

I even made her staff.

(It was impossible to find one of those, let alone a blue one.)

I made her bloomers out of blue flannel (can you say warm?) and also lined the top with it.

She loved it, and she did look cute!

Lynn was having trouble with deciding on something fun to be.  I showed her a book that my mom gave me, one that I used to look through when I was little, dreaming of the day I would be a mom, and she fell in love with the jar of jelly beans.

I knew that if I were going to make this, it was gonna have to be good.  It would also have to be reusable.  So I started off with a sketch.  I was pretty happy with just the sketch!

And here’s the finished product.

The details are my favorite part!

 

I created labels in Photoshop using Crystal Wilkerson’s Playful Font, and editing that just a bit (I had to erase the centers of the letters “a” and “e”).  I also used her Artisan label templates No. 1 and lobster font on the “Pitcher Brand” label.  I mirrored them, printed them out on iron-on transfer paper, and ironed that onto my fabric.  The “a fat free treat” got cut down into a circle and put through the Xyron and stuck to the vinyl “package”.

 

I even created a “Nutrition Facts” label, and ingredient list in Photoshop for the back.

  

For the “jelly beans” letters, I used the same font, “Playful”, and didn’t mirror it, printed it out, ironed it on the wrong side of my fabric, peeled off the backing, then ironed on my heat and bond.  I peeled off the paper backing from that, and then cut out my letters and ironed them on.

 

We spent one evening, watching scary movies and blowing up a bunch of water balloons. 

(Okay, Merrill inflated, I mostly tied.)

It was all worth it!  A fun, unique costume that we can use over and over again!

(She just wished the kids at school hadn’t chased her and popped her “jellybeans”.)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Not just because of our lovely (yet typical) Utah weather!!
No, it is this darned designer I am working with at Jessica Sprague!
She has me seeing Christmas.
(It is only fitting for our weather though!)
Another yummy creation from Elle’s Studio:
Meet, the Advent Calendar…

Cute, fun, stuff!
It is brand new in store today!!
Of course, I embellished the heck out of it..  that’s what I do!
I used glitter and flocking powder this time, but used my Xyron sticker maker instead of wet glue.  Much easier on bigger areas.  I also got to raid my ribbon/fiber drawer to tie these cuties up.  (Using remnant supplies that I can’t bear to throw away is a huge plus.)  Other than that, I used the typical glue dots (both regular and craft) and scissors (large, medium, and small tipped), a hole punch, and rhinestones.
Elle makes it easy and fun for you.  She even includes a list of activities for you to use as ideas for your calendar activities.
We decided on ours, calendared them in, so when that day comes, we know what we are doing, that and we can re-use this again and again and again..
Or you could write or tack on your own activities on the pieces.
(I have to admit that it was more than a little weird working on this, cutting it all out while watching Halloween movies!)

I {heart} brackets

With my craft room in working order again, I have gotten to some long awaited projects..
My magnet board in the kitchen just needed a little "something"..
So I added a "P".
But then the "P" needed a little something too..
That is where the {brackets} came in.

But did you know, that with all the fun wood cut-outs that are out there, there are NO BRACKETS?!  What an atrocity, I know.
I took my Alphalicious Font cartridge and new Cricut Expression, cut out some brackets at 7 and 1/4 inches, traced them onto some scrap wood, and went to visit my scroll saw.
I love that thing..
After some sanding, and a quick coat of spray paint, I ran the paper brackets through my Xyron (with permanent adhesive, of course..) and adhered them to the black brackets.
A little more sanding, some cute trim tied to one, and PERFECT!!

I guess the only thing I would be missing is a calendar for the year 2009..
But I have made it this far in the year..  why bother? ;)

Flocking fun..

Nope, not meant to be a pseudo-swear :)
Real, crushed velvet flock from Doodlebug Designs.. one of my newest toys.Still catching up on the family album (I won't say how far back I REALLY am..) but am trying to hurdle over Peyton's birth pictures.. without crying on them.So here's the down-low on crushed velvet flock (if you don't already know.. it was new to me!)..
You can use glue pen, gluey stamp pad, double-sided tape, glue stick, or even your Xyron (I used my sticker maker).
1- Apply glue to whatever you desire to be flocked, you can even stamp an image, but don't make it goopy.
2- Over a scrap piece of paper (or other nifty tool used to catch extra stuff..), sprinkle your crushed velvet onto the glued area.
3- Shake extra off. Press the crushed velvet into the glue (see why you don't want it to be goopy :)..).
4- Transfer left over product back into the storage jar.Now I am off to fold more laundry (the never-ending task), and then enjoy some Double Stuffed Oreos with SKIM milk.. so do those two cancel each other out or what? :D

QUICK!!! A gift...

I thought I was on top of it all... snack for Ashley's pre-school Christmas party: check. Green shirt laid out for her "wear green day": check. Then I came across a well-timed e-mail from her teacher....
GIFT EXCHANGE!!!!
It was nearly 11 pm... I had spent the latter part of my afternoon running errands, and I did not want to go back out. What did I have at home?
Think, think, think...
Triangle crayons... (did you know they aid in the development of small children and their writing skills?) I bought these for one of Peyton's gifts, like she can really use the crayons, yet...
What to go with the crayons...
I had these little notebooks on hand. Cut cute paper, used the Xyron to attach it to the little book, ink the edges, tie a ribbon, and punch a cute little name plate...
There it was... my LAST MINUTE gift.
P.S. The little girl who got it, put both items to her cheeks and said, "I love them!!" She was even more excited when she discovered she could put HER name on it. And I was afraid it would be lame-o...

Latest craft...

This is the first project I used my new Xyron on...
The Xyron is awesome... you can feed paper through, and depending on the cartridge, put permanent adhesive on the back (which I did to these letters), put re-positionable adhesive on it, laminate both sides, laminate top with adhesive on the back, or laminate the top with magnet on the back. It uses no power or batteries, and is awesome!!! I have had the smallest version for years and loved it but was limited to using about 1 1/2 inch things. It makes these projrcts a lot easier, it takes up to 9 inch wide paper. Cut drying time on this. I didn't have to modge podge letters on and then wait for it to dry before applying the diamond glaze...I did get inspiration from Julie's pantry door...
And found a new use for these embellishments..

My monthly allowance...

I've already spent August's allowance...
Let me explain:
I love to scrapbook (and craft)...
Mer loves music..
We needed to put a limit so we both don't go crazy, or one go crazy and the other one resent it, so we introduced the "spousal allowance program" in our home. Seems silly since he earns just about all of it... ;)
$50.00 that's enough...
I've spent mine, on the first day of the month...But I did it for a bargain... Retail price: $119.00.
Robert's coupon for 50% off one item (Xyron NOT being an exclusion...)
I got it for $60.00... the sales women was quite certain that I couldn't do it... but I could!
Not bad!