DIY: Play-doh Halloween Loot Bags for Times when you can't Give away Candy...

Our school has a policy of "no food sharing".  So when it comes time for special events like Halloween and Birthdays, it's a little more challenging than bringing in a birthday cake or buying mini chocolates.  We, like other parents, have been giving out pencils and erasers.  By now, we have given and received enough pencils to last for years.

The other day, hubby and I were at the store and we saw the perfect little non-food treat. Play-doh!

While it should be enough to just hand it out at school, hubby and I like to go the extra mile.  Or as some might say, "we've got too much time on our hands".   Hence, we did a little extra work to try to make the play-doh a little more "halloweeny".

Supplies:

• Play-doh
• Small clear plastic bags 
• A hubby with photoshop knowledge

Here's what we did:

Measure the width of your plastic bags and design a graphic that will fit the width.  The height is up to you.  We wanted ours printed as a 4" x 6" photo so our graphic was approx 2" tall.  This allowed us to squeeze 2 graphics onto the 4" x 6".

Once the graphic is done, have it printed at a photo lab.  At $0.15 a photo, it's affordable and nice!    This is is what it looked like before it was folded.

Here's what it looks like when folded.  The words are the front and the graveyard is the back.  Make sure you orient the back properly when you design the bag label so that it is right side up when folded.

Line up your supplies.  Then place the play-doh into the plastic bag and seal it.

Staple on your label and you're done!

Make sure you have enough for all the kids. 

 
Ta da!  Put them in a bag to take to school.  Done and done!  No candy and no pencils!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Costumes: Easy Skeleton DIY and Obi-Wan

We get pretty excited about Halloween over here for a couple of reasons:  1) dress up time!  and 2) it's getting closer to Joshie's birthday. 

For Obi Wan - It was really easy to put together his costume.  Unfortunately I didn't make a tutorial because part of this costume was made this past February.  Both kids were invited to a Star Wars themed party and I made him a raglan sleeve Obi-Wan robe.  While I might have grumbled a bit (a lot!) while sewing Josh his robe, I am so thankful now that I didn't have to sew as much.   All I had to do was make a vest and a sash to go over the vest.  This costume is great because it can go under his winter coat, or over it!

I wanted Teo to be a knight so I could re-use this costume.  But, he wears hand me downs all the time and Halloween is his chance to decide what to wear.  For months, he said he wanted to be a vampire and he ran around the house wearing last year's bat cape.  Then he decided he wanted to be a skeleton. Yay!  We had everything at home to make his costume except for pants which I ended up buying at Walmart for $6.

So here's how to make it.

You need:

• Long sleeve black t shirt
• Long pants 
• White jersey scraps
• Heat n bond

Before you start, find your inspiration.  This was mine.

 
Make a template for the bones.  Then draw your bones into the heat 'n bond paper.  Remember that you need to draw the picture on the inverse as you will fuse the paper to the back of your jersey.  I forgot, so I had to redraw some of the bones.  Make sure you keep the template in a ziploc bag in case you need to make another costume. Once you have the bones drawn, fuse the heat 'n bond to the back side of your jersey fabric.  Cut out your pieces.

Layout is important so peel off the heat 'n bond paper and line up your bones on the shirt and pants.

Make sure that the "arm" bones go on top of the arm vs on the side.

If it all looks good, iron it on.  You don't have to sew on the bones.  As the hip bones are close to the opening, I used a straight stitch to sew around the bones for added strength.

Now we have a skeleton to go with our front yard's graveyard.

The kids have worn their costumes 3 times already.  Once to their grandparents, and twice for pre-Halloween trick or treating at Bruce's Mill and the Museum.  Hey Batman!!

We went to the mall yesterday and Josh pointed out this costume at H&M.  Sigh...  Although I have this thing where I have to make the costumes, I have to remind myself that it's ok to buy one once in a while.

Happy Halloween - I hope you have your costumes ready!

Summer summer summer time... about the shop

Hey all,

It's been a while since I posted here or on my Facebook page.  It's been on my mind to post a note to let everyone know what's been going on over here and in the shop.

Summer finally made it here and I have both kids with me.  Joshie has a lot of energy and wants to do everything.  Teo is starting to come out of his naps and he's starting full day kindergarten in September.   I want to spend as much time with them before they are off in school.  Now that they are both getting older, they are also much more enjoyable because we talk and I get to hear their opinions.   So in the spirit of having a good time, this is what we've been doing so far...

We're having ribs because it's the summer of ribfest. 



We got those from these guys... I will never go to another vendor again.  These were made just the way I like it.

We're cooking together quite a bit.

We're climbing trees like monkeys, learning TKD, riding our bikes, and swimming a lot!
(We're swimming because someone is going to have to save me in the pool)

We're going to the museum for classes.  Kids love it there and so do I! 

I'm letting them stay up a little later some nights.  We saw our first outdoor movie (Back to the Future).  By the time we were in bed, it was past 11pm.  Shocking!

I was fortunate enough to spend a lovely weekend with a great group of ladies for our annual girls cottage weekend.  What a view! 

With everything going on around here, I didn't really feel like I could put the appropriate attention to the kids and to the shop.   Hence, I made a conscious decision to leave the shop closed until October which means there will not be any toddler backpacks for back to school this 2014.

I am going to use these next several months to assess what I would like to do with the shop, have FUN with the kiddies, and sew for the pure joy of making something with my own hands.

Take care and enjoy the nice weather!  xoxo