Happy Halloween!

Here are Huck and Milo in their completed costumes! Well, mostly completed. I think I may draw some muscles on Milo's shirt. I wasn't sure if he would ever put the costume on, so I sort of got disheartened and didn't finish it. Huck will of course have a sword, hook and eye patch, but he couldn't wear those things to his school parade this morning (no weapons or things that may obstruct their vision).
I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to the guest bloggers who contributed their handmade Halloween costume ideas, tutorials, round-ups and tips throughout October. I hope that some of you were inspired by those awesome posts and made your costumes this year! Please remember to share your pictures in my Costume (link) Party.
Have a very happy and safe Halloween! And come back later this week to see the next big project I have been brewing up!




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A Costume (Link) Party!

The boys costumes are finished! With a few days to spare, too! I'll share pics of them in the costumes (*if* I can convince/bribe Milo to wear his), but in the meantime, here they are on the hangars!
I want to see what you've been working on, too, so please share your work in the Handmade Halloween Costume (link) Party below!

Milo's boxer costume 

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Huck's pirate captain costume

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Your Handmade Halloween Costumes!

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Little Monster Baby Shower!

Last week I co-hosted a surprise baby shower for my friend Maureen. Since her due date was right around Halloween, we went with a Little Monster themed shower. The home where the shower was hosted was already beautifully decorated for Halloween, so we didn't have to add too much to the decorations. My contributions were the cake and the party favors. Since this was Maureen's third boy, she really didn't need any more baby boy stuff, so we asked guests to theme their gifts around "something for Mom." I went with that theme for the favors, too, and filled some brown paper lunch bags with grown-up versions of a kid's lunch. I put fancy crackers and brie into little plastic baggies, individual packs of Milano cookies, Ghirardelli chocolates and the kicker: juice boxes of red wine. Yup. That's what I said! Mother's little helper!




I used a black Sharpie to draw a monster on each bag, with the names in the monster mouths. They were a big hit! Although, I have been too afraid to try to juice box of wine!

Now, of course, you all know I am a freak about gift-wrapping. For my gift, I picked up a pop-up UV-filter tent so that she can shove the baby under it at the park or beach and run off after the other two boys. The problem with it was that I didn't have a box big enough to put it in, so it was an oddly shaped package. So I used some pink tissue paper for the mouth, cut some eyes and teeth out of white paper and threw some yellow curling ribbon on top. It made a very cute monster and was super easy.

And as for the cake I was in charge of? Only half of it came out of the Bundt pan. So I thought I'd try to make cake balls and decorate them like baby monsters. Which was a pretty great idea until the first cake ball exploded in the candy coating. So I ran to a local bakery and picked up a delicious Halloween-themed cake. There were lots of cute details that the other gals contributed, as well, like creepy plastic babies frozen in ice cubes floating in the witch cauldron punch bowl, and little rats hanging out on the food table.

The shower was very fun and the best part was when Maureen's water broke just before the cake was served! A few hours later she had her newest little monster!



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Guest Post! Costume Making Tips with Marissa of Rae Gun Ramblings!

Today I have a real, live pro-fessional costume maker for you! Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings has visited here before with an upcycled dress tutorial of the Summer of No Pants and a crazy Caramel Macadamia Nut Cheesecake recipe (yeah, you should definitely check that one out). Today she's going to share some tips on how to simplify your handmade costumes. Here's Marissa:

 (snow white and her dwarf)

Hi, I'm Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings.

I blog about all things crafty, tasty, pretty and just plain life. I'm an insanely huge Harry Potter fan, food addict, and married to a super talented musician.  I also run a handmade baby and toddler clothing shop on etsy called Rae Gun and I love love love Halloween. Every year I sew hundreds of costumes for my etsy shop and of course a handful for my friends and family. I wanted to share a few tricks and tips for those of you who are still thinking of whipping up costumes for your little ones. I am so busy before Halloween making the costumes I sell that usually the costumes for my own family are left to the last minute so I've had to use some of these ideas myself. I hope you find them helpful.

(my matador and baby bull nieces)

1. If you're are not a seasoned seamstress don't stress yourself out by forcing yourself to sew. You can easily make cute costumes by cutting cheap articles of clothing you already have on hand or find at a store. For example Peter Pan or a Pirate and can be made from an oversized T-shirt and cutting some points out of the bottom and tying it with a sash. And the sash doesn't need to be sewn. A strip of fabric will do the job just fine. Also fabric glue will do the the trick in many instances.
2. Think about how long you need this to last. If it's just for the night or the weekend make sure the time and energy you invest is proportional. Lots of people try to do costumes all out with lining and lots of time consuming detailing. But most of these costumes are going to be on kiddos in bad lighting moving very fast so the detailing might not even be noticed. Don't kill yourself trying to reach perfection if these are just for a day or two.
3. Don't under estimate the power of embellishing premade clothing. Try to use items you already have or can purchase from a store. It's easier, faster and you'll probably get more wear after the trick or treating is done. You can sew or glue fabric or felt to make a contrasting tummy, owl feathers, dinosaur scales or more to a sweatshirt that will probably get more action than a lot of other costumes. 
4. If you've got girls consider taking advantage of the tutu costume trend. Tutus are super easy, cheap and quick to make see my tutorial here. Throw on some cat ears for a cute kitty, make her any princess with a crown and septor.  Pretty much any girly costume can be made with a few accessories and a tutu. Plus you'll have a cute tutu to play with after Halloween is over.
5. Finally if you do want to sew. You can do things simply. There is no reason for crisp clean edges on costumes that are only going to be worn once. My niece's dwarf costume was made in about 20 minutes. I just sewed shoulder and side seams cut a big B and stripe of fabric for the sash. I made the hat with two weirdly shaped triangles and she looked darling. Think about what is necessary and if you don't want/need this to be something fancy smancy save yourself some time and energy and simplify. 

 (wonder woman costume for my friend)



Thanks, Marissa! If you haven't visited Marissa's Etsy shop, you are missing out on the cutest butt ruffles and Halloween costumes (I especially love the Pebbles and Bam Bam costume!). Go check it out!




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Round-Up! Easy Hoodie Costumes

As far as easy, hand-made costumes go, you can't do better than Hoodie Costumes. I think you could wear a lot of these on non-Halloween days, too! Here are a few of my favorites from around the Interwebs. Be sure to click on the little "Source" links under each pic to see the tutorials for how to make them:

Source: fiskars.com via Marigold on Pinterest

This is a great tutorial for a monster hoodie. I love the tongue sticking out!

Source: kirstyneale.typepad.com via Marigold on Pinterest

I love this dino hoodie just for every day wear! Pair this with the dino tails and you've got a great costume!

Source: marthastewart.com via Marigold on Pinterest

This Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf would be a great couples costume, too!

Source: evilmadscientist.com via Marigold on Pinterest

This bat's wings are made from an umbrella! Simple idea that looks amazing!

Source: purejoyeventsblog.com via Marigold on Pinterest

This one is an owl costume. Be sure to check out the tutorial, which also has a free template for a felt mask.

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Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms ❀ DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth Hearts & Home A vintage inspired life ❀ Literary Tease Customizable word-based jewelry and accessories

Winner!

Aaaaand the winner of the book Crafting with Cat Hair is..........Adrienneandco.
Congrats! I will be contacting you shortly to work out the details of sending your book. If you haven't heard from me by tomorrow, please check you Spam folder first, then contact me at sadsilver@gmail.com.

Thanks for playing!



My Wonderful Sponsors!
Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms ❀ DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth Hearts & Home A vintage inspired life ❀ Literary Tease Customizable word-based jewelry and accessories