So You Think You're Crafty

If you're not already following So You Think You're Crafty I suggest you take a look. "10 Weeks - 10 Crafters - 10 Challenges. Who's the craftiest? You Decide!"

My amazing friend Dana is one of crafters. She won last week's challenge, which was "Harvest". This week the challenge is "Leaves." The projects are all so inspirational. And how fun to make it into a game!

The Ghost of Halloween Present

...One of the Little Green Men from Toy Story!








You already know I'm a big Toy Story fan. This year I added this little alien to our family's growing Toy Story costume collection.


Here's my youngest little monkey, looking adorable, even with a third eye.I'm surprised he let me put it on him!


"The Claw!" "The Claw is our master!" "The Claw decides who will stay and who will be chosen!"


The fabric is super soft and plush on the inside and out. Perfect for snuggling a little Martian. Or a former resident of Pizza Planet.


The alien head is a little big on him, otherwise the antenna would stay up straighter, like it does when his brother wears it. I used the monkey pattern I told you about before to get the shape of the head. The ears and antenna I made up as I sewed.


Speaking of the brother, here is our little friend with his big brother Buzz Lightyear (a purchased costume--only my second ever). Together this duo will conquer the Universe! Or at least their Halloween candy.


...Which was collected in these personalized flannel Buzz Lightyear Trick-Or-Treat bags.


For the jogging suit I used pattern pieces from this old pattern from 1985. My mom must have used it to make some fashionable baby clothes for my youngest sister. If only Toy Story had been around back then!

Only 7 1/2 months until Toy Story 3 comes to theaters. Are we excited?

I (really) Love Grograin

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Limoncello Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Noah and Lilah GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Vivi Reborn GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Yellow Finch Designs GIVEAWAY!!!!

Becky Mae Poppy Fields Necklace and Earring Set GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Ghosts of Halloweens Past: Part Two

Brace yourself for the next round of previous Halloween hauntings.

The Ghosts of Woody, Woody Two, and Jessie



2007 - We had so much fun doing this family costume theme. We got these pictures taken at Target since our regular Halloween pictures are usually dark.


Yes, there are two Woodys. Here's the story: I had told Marito a few years before that we should be Woody and Jessie. By the time we got around to it we had a kid. I really wanted Monkey One to be Woody, so I started planning. When Marito found out he said, "But I thought I was going to be Woody!" in such a sweet, sad way that I had to let them both be Woody. Who'd have thought that Marito even cared? I just think he's a good sport for letting me get him all dressed up in the first place. And by the way, here's the secret, I figure: If you make a big effort to make family theme costumes he won't want to (a) spoil it for everyone one and (b) waste all that time I spent sewing.


Here's the pattern I used for the shirts. I've found it's just as effective to make your own patterns from existing shirts, so this is the only time I've used the pattern.


2007 - Jessie detail. The yoke and cuffs are actually separate from the shirt. They just button on top of any white button-down. I love the cuffs, but I forgot to wear them for the Target pictures. I was so bummed when I realized. So here they are in their full glory on Halloween night. Cuffs, you shall not be forgotten! The faux Jessie chaps are just safety pinned to the front of my jeans. The Jessie pin is from Disneyland. I also got the boys Sheriff stars with their names from Frontierland.


2007 - It was impossible to find any variation of yellow and red plaid fabric that year. So I made my own. I used red Sharpies and a ruler to draw lines on plain yellow fabric. It worked pretty well!

The denim trick-or-treat back I made from a pair of Marito's old shorts. The Woody hat and holster came from the Disney store, and the boots were from Old Navy. The Toy Story fabric for the bandanna came from Walmart.


2007 - This wasn't necessarily for Halloween. It was just a fun dress up shirt to wear anytime. Again, it was just a plain yellow tee that I drew stripes onto. The knit "cow print" (if you look carefully you'll discover it looks more like dalmatian print) vest was sewn right onto it, along with the big white buttons.


2007 - Want to know how to get your kid attention at Disneyland? Dress him up like his favorite character. Of course there are crowds of little girls in princess costumes, but it's less common to see boys dressed up. My husband would say there's a reason for that. But I'll ignore that hypothetical comment and keep gushing. Isn't this picture the cutest thing?

These are "professional" pictures a Disneyland photographer took.

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

In honor of Halloween tomorrow, I thought I'd revisit some older costumes I've made. These ghosts keep reappearing every other year or so. You may have seen them in my Flickr photos. If they are haunting you here for the first time then I hope you enjoy.

The Ghosts of Tarzan, Jane, and Monkey



2005 - The Tarzan wig is made from fancy yarn. Marito was a good sport for wearing it. Also, that leafy thing is supposed to be a vine. When we walked into the Halloween party someone thought he was a tree! Tree, indeed. Hmmph. The Jane costume is so much fun to wear, but has so many pieces to it! There's a bustle pillow and a fluffy petticoat under that flounce in the back. Just in case you thought that was me. I just want to keep that clear.


2005 - Jane detail (this monkey costume was purchased).


I used this pattern for Jane. It is a very complicated costume, so I simplified it a bit and made it shorter like Jane's. I also made a puffy petticoat for fun.


2007 - Here we used the costumes again (we had moved to a different state, so these was new to everyone who saw us). This time Tarzan wore his costume leopard-side-out.


2007 - Here's the monkey costume I made.


Here's the pattern I used. As you can see, I modified it for an older toddler (he's almost 3 years old here). I left off the obnoxious fringe.


2007 - He still frequently wears this costume around the house.


2007 - It's difficult to see in this picture, but there's a curly tail in the back. It's attached to the top. That fuzzy white part is just a camera thing.

Indian Family Peg People

I remembered to take these pictures before I put the finish on so there wouldn't be a glare. The woman's clothing is from a painting in a library book about Plains Indians. The little boys' clothing is from a costume pattern we are using to make real costumes for the boys.




My son and I made these as a homeschool activity. I keep finding them in his pants pockets. These would be fun to play with together with the Little House on the Prairie play people I made for my niece.

Olive Kitchen Set and New Look!

I love this Santorini olive fabric. I hope my mom does, too, because that's what she got for her birthday. I made her two hanging kitchen towels, and since I was having fun I made a couple of reversible hot pads. I have a little fabric left over, so I'm hoping to make some for myself, as well.

The little white ball trim came from (curtains? A bed spread?) something I got at the thrift store, which I bought only for the trim. As soon as I got home I pulled out my handy dandy seam ripper and yanked the trim off that ugly fabric. It's cute on the towel, don't you think?

And speaking of Jack the Seam Ripper... I fixed up my blog! I've had a makeover in the making for a few months. That's one reason I haven't been posting much. I couldn't decide on the many slightly varying versions I made of the header. Finally I decided just to pick one. It's much better than before. My amazing, wonderful, brilliant brother Will made the seam ripper for me. It turned out even cooler than I hoped or imagined. I'm sure I'll keep fixing up the layout as time goes by, but I'm just glad to have something new, fresh and cute for now.

(By the way, can anyone see the favicon? I'm having trouble with it, as it only seems to show up in Chrome on my own computer.)

On the left are some of the other headers I was considering. I almost chose the one with the green rick rack but in the end decided to go for the chosen frame for it's retro look. My "about me" picture looks a little freaky, but it's kind of fun, too. It's from a picture of me at my sister-in-law's wedding this summer. So now I need some feedback: Which header do you like best? Do you have any suggestions for my blog layout? Are you having trouble seeing the images? You love the pot holders and towels so much you want to go visit my mom this instant so you can see them in person?

Play Shoes

I'm on a shoes kick. Can you tell?








This little monkey desperately needed new play shoes, as his old ones had wholes the size of silver dollars in the toes. I think I've finally gotten down a good pattern and method for making these soft shoes. The key? Simplicity. I love them. I made these out of vinyl because I needed something more durable than the soft leather I used for his green and brown church shoes. This is marine-quality vinyl so water won't soak through it. Although the vinyl is not very breathable I'm hoping the vents on the sides will help with that.

Soft Baby Saddle Shoes

Hurray! Success! I finished Monkey Two's saddle shoes.


Yes, you saw right. They are light green on brown. Fun! I snapped these pictures after church today, where the little squirt wore them for the first time.


For inspiration I looked at some older leather and vinyl baby shoes we have and, of course, classic saddle shoes. Usually the "saddle" part of the shoe is darker, but I wanted the toes to be dark, since that part gets the most dirty and scuffed. I loosely used this pattern, but I had to resize it, with many attempts in paper and scrap fabric. The shoes are perhaps too wide in the toes, so I might take them in a bit. But better to have them too roomy than unbearably tight!


I made the shoes with some of the leather scraps I was telling you about before (purchased here). You can see I haven't trimmed the elastic on the inside yet. I want to make sure it's the right length first.


The next pair of shoes I make will be play shoes. I'd like to keep this somewhat nice for church.

Saddle Shoes, Take One

These shoes are made from soft vinyl, with cotton fabric lining (the banana fabric you saw a few posts ago) and leather soles.



Adorable, right? I intended to had some faux laces to the top, but I never got that far. Here's why: They are too small! I made a cloth sample one first that seemed to fit, but in the end it just didn't work out. Monkey Two wore them once, to church. They only fit on his cute chubby feet with a lot of trouble and without socks. Afterwards his poor little feet had such deep dents from the shoes that I knew they needed some serious reconstruction.

I added a little wedge to one, thinking that would do the trick. It helped some with the width/girth of his feet, but it was still a little too short. And his feet are only going to get bigger. So I think I'll just have to add the wedge to the other one too make them match, then pass them along to some other lucky little boy (who's a little younger). Monkey Three, perhaps? (No, I'm not making any announcements)



For the next pair I'm going to go all leather. I have mixed feelings about buying dead animals skins, but the leather came from remnant scraps so I somehow feel justified. The leather is more breathable and pliable than the vinyl. I think will be more comfortable for my guy's little feet.

"Why are you making shoes?" you may wonder. Monkey One had a couple pairs of leather Robeez that I LOVED. I like how the soft shoes let my kids feel their own feet as they walk, instead of trapping them into some stiff, bulky boxes. They are so simple, I always thought I could make my own (I've actually made more difficult shoes--two different pairs of vinyl baby/toddler cowboy boots--somewhat successfully). I like the challenge of figuring out how to make something and customizing it to the way I want it. Plus, I got enough leather scraps to make several pairs of shoes, all for 1/3 of the price of one pair of Robeez!

Today I traced a larger pattern piece and cut out another cloth sample. So look forward to a (hopefully more successfully-fitting) new pair of adorable saddle shoes in the next week or two.