Lemon’s Purse

Since I actually finished my costumes with time to spare, I decided to procrastinate on Christmas presents by making a matching candy bag for Serenity’s costume!  In one of the books Lemon had a cute little lemon purse, so I just made mine a lot like that. 

I cut a four inch by 11 inch strip of yellow felt and then cut two yellow semicircles about as big as I could make them using just the two pieces of yellow felt I had left after all this lemony goodness.  That’s about a seven inch diameter. Then two white semicircles, slightly smaller, and six teardrop shaped pieces of yellow.  I hand stitched it all, I think I’m completely over my avoidance of hand stitching.  It’s just easier to manipulate felt by hand, and so soothing! 

Then I used a little bit of the ribbon that I’d used for the belt to make a handle, covering the end of the ribbon with a little rectangle of felt.  Then to make it a bit sturdier, I lined the bottom with a four inch wide strip of cereal box cardboard.  Then I thought, that doesn’t look finished, so I added a little flap of yellow felt on top to cover the cardboard. 

It works great!  She’s been using it as a purse all week, and although my husband voiced doubts as to whether it will hold enough candy, it will certainly hold as much candy as we should let her eat. ;)  

Here are the rest of the Halloween posts:  Check out the rest of her costume!

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Lemon Meringue Costume and Accessories

Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.

I nearly did this costume for Serenity’s first year, but finally decided on a flower fairy for her.  Hey, I don’t think I posted that here yet.  Something to look forward to!  Anyway, since then I’ve had this costume in my mind and so I’m so glad I got to do it this year!  Eric really makes the perfect Man with the Yellow Hat.  He’s so tall =)  And Donovan is a perfect monkey. 

The only thing that held me back from this costume is that I already have an adorable monkey outfit.  I got this sweater off Crazy 8 and still just adore it.  It’s cute, comfy, and useful, which I think makes it a perfect Halloween costume.  But since I want to give it my own touch, I decided to make George a little accessory: a banana!  I made it just like the tutorial here, except since it was for my baby I added a nice rattle.  I just took a drinking straw, filled it with quinoa (I didn’t have any rice, and besides, quinoa fit better in the straw.)   Then tucked that down inside the banana before stuffing.  It’s perfect!  And Donovan really likes it!  When Serenity isn’t running off with it.  She has lots of monkeys to feed besides Donovan. 

Today (last Thursday now) I finally got over my procrastination on the yellow hat.  I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to build it out of cardboard or what, but finally I decided that I needed to use some of that huge piece of yellow felt hanging out in my closet.  I stole it from my Mom to make Peeps but only finished one pink one last year.  So now it’s a yellow hat.  This tutorial worked just great, although since I did it in fleece, it’s a lot floppier so I stuffed the top part to make it stand up. 

If I get time I’ll add details, like yellow pants, maybe a tie, some black detailing, but the main point gets across already, it’s all about the Yellow Hat.

Lemon Meringue Version Two

And here it is, Lemon Meringue version two!  I absolutely loved this Cascading Ruffled Skirt Tutorial, and had it starred and unread in my Google Reader for weeks.  (That’s my version of a to-do list, at least until I started with Pinterest!)  And so when Serenity wanted Lemon Meringue for her costume, I thought, this is totally something Lemon Meringue would wear!  Stylish and cute!  So I got a couple knits and went for it.  The only thing I changed is that after I made it according to instructions, I realized she said it was 5t, and Serenity is a 4t just because of length, not because of waist.  That’s right, way too big.  Plus, I completely failed at putting the elastic on the way she does it in the tutorial.  I stretched it too much at the end so it was all uneven.  So I just turned the top part into an elastic casing instead!  Then I could use an elastic the right size for her waist, and the skirt looks just like it should still.  Those ruffles are very forgiving.  I totally recommend this tutorial for the novice clothing maker, it was fun and so cute!  And no finished edges so no worries about my lack of serger =) 

Here are the rest of the Halloween posts, just one more two go, for the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George!  Coming up Tuesday =) 

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Lemon Meringue Costume and Accessories

Lemon Meringue Costume

Serenity’s Halloween Costume is finished at last!  She decided to be Lemon Meringue from Strawberry Shortcake, and here is our inspiration. 

Source: squidoo.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

So cute =)  I bought her one of the dolls before she was even interested in dolls, just because I loved them when I was little.  She enjoys them now too and it’s such fun!  She wanted to be Lemon because she has yellow hair and eyes just like Serenity’s.  The best part about the costume is that Lemon wears all kinds of clothes, they just have to be yellow and blue!  So I got to play with all these great patterns and tutorials I’ve been seeing around the internet!

I started with this great pattern for a raglan sleeve dress from Lier at Ikatbag.com.  She has fantastic ideas!  I will probably never sew clothes that well but I really enjoy playing at it. Sewing like this makes me long for a serger, but I only do this once a year, so I get by without =)  To adjust it for lemon meringue I just had to add the lemon details that I hand sewed in felt at the neckline and pockets.  Then I made the little belt out of a ribbon with a simple snap, and did a gather in the skirt so that her little blue skirt shows underneath, just like the doll!

I didn’t find striped knit fabric, and the only yellow striped leggings I found were twenty dollars.  At that price I might as well have bought the store bought costume!  So I figured out how to make my own.  =)  I took an old white t-shirt, and ironed on stripes that I cut from my leftover yellow knit.  I just took a square of steam a seam (the softest kind with the sticky back) and attached it to the yellow fabric, then used my rotary cutter to cut strips.  Then I just had to line them up and iron them down!  If it was more than a costume I’d probably reinforce it with a little stitching, but it will last well enough for now!  I used this tutorial on simple, two piece leggings from Make It and Love It to figure out how to make it.  The only problem with this is that t-shirt knit doesn’t stretch as much as the pants I used as my pattern, so it’s a challenge to get them over the heel.  I either needed to use a wider leg or cut a slit at the ankle, but as it is we’re just going to use them as they’re perfectly comfortable when on.

Eric was trying to teach her to curtsey... didn't quite come out right =)

Then there are the accessories!  I made the lemon headband, using hand-stitching to make the lemon and leaves.  Working with all the felt food recently has cured me of my phobias about hand-stitching.  I knew I could do it, but I always thought it’d be stronger on the machine.  Well, some things are just easier by hand, especially felt!  Here’s a link to my details on the headband. 

And if you’re still hunting for easy Halloween ideas, here are my previous posts on costumes! 

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Saturday you can see the alternate Lemon Meringue outfit! Stay tuned!  Or be a follower, I would LOVE that! =)

Carnival Game Ideas!

Serenity's school is having their annual Halloween Carnival soon!  Each class is responsible for making a booth and the parents from that class run it.  I won't be able to go to the carnival, but I'm still helping to figure out the games and ordering prizes!  So here's a list of my favorite Halloween Carnival ideas.  Now I just have to decide which one to go with.  I hate making these decisions on my own, any opinions? 

1.) Plinko. 

Source: familyfun.go.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

2.) Tic Tac Toe Toss

Source: tradingideas.orientaltrading.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

3.) Pumpkin Bowling (Can do this with toilet paper or empty 2 liters decorated as ghosts.  Probably a craft pumpkin so it's not too heavy.)

Source: jeanetics.net via Chrissie on Pinterest

4.) Cornhole Game ( I actually have one of these already that I made for Barrett's Jedi Party, so it might be good to just paint it Halloween-y and use it.)

5.) Quidditch Pitch.  Hang Hula Hoops and have people try to throw balls through them while "riding" (holding) on a broomstick.  Maybe give out bouncy balls with feathers to be Golden Snitches.  This would be fun but one of the classes does a chicken toss through a hula hoop so I think it would be too similar.

6.) Craft Booth? Paint Pumpkins, http://www.orientaltrading.com/craft-and-hobby-supplies/craft-kits-and-projects/magic-scratch/halloween-a1-388811+1237-7-1.fltr

   Ghost Suncatcher http://familycrafts.about.com/od/ghostcrafts/ss/ghostsunc_10.htm

7.) Putting Green

8.) Dinosaur Dig… Dig for a dinosaur egg… either find a dinosaur in the egg, or a number for a prize.

9.) Donut race… (Hang mini donuts or pumpkin cookies? From a string, and contestants have to eat with hands behind back

10.) Ping Pong Toss (Also known as the Grand Prize Game! for those of you who remember Bozo the Clown. =)  I love it, especially with hollowed out pumpkins as the cups.  

And here are some extra ideas that I don't think would work this year...:

Pin the Tail on the Turkey… (write names on them so they can be hung?)

 Blow the duck

http://kidsparties.about.com/od/partygamesandactivities/qt/BlowTheDuckGame.htm

Cake Walk?

Kids loved hitting Darth Vader with a Light Saber… some version of that?  Throw balls at masked guys?

http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Home/Crafts/Halloween-Craft-Knock-Em-Sock-Em.html

Silly String (need a tarp…)

Floating Pumpkins – Before the party, blow up lots of orange balloons. Pass them out at the party and let the children try to keep them in the air without touching the ground! Have some extra blown up in case some get popped right away.  (We don't have enough space but it looks like fun!)

Easy Halloween Costume: Max from Where the Wild Things Are!

My nephew Casey loves playing dress-up, and one year out of the blue he wanted a Max costume!  I was living in Cali at the time, and it happened to be summer so the hardest part of this costume was finding the sweat suit!  So it’s perfect for Halloween =)  I just sewed some white ears from felt and top stitched them into the hood.  Then I found the perfect fuzzy tail from Jo-Ann’s and attached that to the bottom of the suit.  I also made a little gold crown out of poster board that I glued the extra part of the fuzzy tail around to make it furry just like Max’s crown, but I seem to have lost those pictures! 

If you want to go the extra mile, get white gloves and sew some felt claws to the end, and maybe even do little shoe covers with more claws for the feet.  Casey loved growling in his Max costume! =)

If you want other easy Halloween ideas, try my:

DIY Care Bear for adults and children

M&M costume

Ballerina Costume and Ballerina Basket

Easiest Halloween Costume: The M&M

Here's a little blast from the past... my nine year old nephew's first Halloween costume.  My sister couldn't find a costume his Daddy would approve of and was sad that he didn't have a costume for his first Halloween.  This is where my Mom's amazing fabric stash came in very handy.  We just cut out a couple of fleece circles and stitched the M to them, and sewed the top at the shoulders and voila!  An M&M, very cute.  We also made a pair of pants modeled on a pair he happened to be wearing that day, and a blue hat that he refused to wear, but that made a very handy Halloween candy basket.  So there you go, thirty minutes to a Halloween costume if you need last minute inspiration =)

Ribbon Headband for the Ballerina and other details

Well, I intended to get this posted BEFORE Halloween, but better late than never =)  And honestly, she's still wanting to play dress up in her costume.  We like costumes anytime!

The costume didn't really need much, as we already had a tutu.  I bought a long sleeved shirt and leggings set from Target, figuring we could use them anytime.  (And we have, even after she finally gave up the tutu the pink pants and shirt were her pajamas for several nights...)   I sewed a few silk flowers to the shirt.

She has pink crocs that I tied some ribbons to and then wrapped them around her legs, and stuck them with a little sticky velcro where I tied the bow.  If I did it again I think I would just sew the ribbons directly to the pants, as they wanted to slide down, and when we needed to take the shoes off so she could play in the bounce house at the carnival they kind of got in the way.  Cute though.

And finally, the headband.  I am really excited about this because it is the first piece of hair management that she has willingly left on her head!  I may make a whole bunch more because her hair has gotten to the point that it annoys her.  I found a tutorial here, which made it so simple.  Just two hair ties tied together, and then sew the ribbon through the loop.  I embellished it with a few more silk flowers, and voila!  A cute ballet headband =)   

Ballerina Basket

Ballerina Basket

Serenity decided that she wanted to be a ballet girl for Halloween this year (like Isa in Dora’s Costume Party).  That meant that I didn’t have much to do for her costume as she already has two adorable tutus.  But of course I couldn’t let Halloween go by without a little crafting!  So I made her a Ballerina Halloween Bucket to go with her outfit. 

I started with a 1 dollar purple bucket that I found at Michaels, and a roll of 25 yards of pink tulle.  I chained three rubber bands and hooked them to the handles of the bucket, and then tied the tulle onto it just like you do for an actual tutu. (Stick a loop under the rubber band and pull the two ends through)   I tied the knots pretty tight, I think if you leave them a little bit looser it would take less tulle.  I used every bit of that 25 yards. 

I added in some ribbons and sewed on a few flowers to match the headband I made her.  And there it is!  It was very easy!  I’m not sure that Serenity gets it though, when she saw it she wanted to climb in the bucket so she could wear the tutu…    

This would also make a really cute flower girl basket, although I would start with a container that's not so large(maybe cover it with fabric too so it's dressier), and use elastic that I could actually tack down instead of rubber bands. 

Pumpkin Decorating

Today's activity was making faces for the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch last week with Serenity's cousins.  I made a paper with choices of shapes, and Serenity decided what would go on each pumpkin, and after I cut out the sticky foam she put it on all by herself!  She's getting pretty good at placing eyes, nose, and mouth in a reasonable position =)  And we added leaves for hair.  She seems to like the shapes to match, if she uses triangle eyes she wants a triangle nose, if she does circles she wants everything in a circle.  It's cute, she has such an organized soul.  Where on earth did it come from? =) 

The big pumpkin had two sides, it was so much fun once we started we didn't want to stop =) 

Sewing: DIY Care Bear Costumes

Sewing: DIY Care Bear Costume

For Serenity’s second Halloween costume, I decided to make her a Care Bear costume.  We have a Funshine and Wish Bear stuffies that live on our bed, and she loves to play with them.  So of course, I needed one for Eric as well.  For Eric’s costume, I lucked into finding a teal colored sweatsuit from Old Navy.  It was fairly cheap, and I got it in my size so I could use it later (although I don’t wear them together… and I removed the tail ;)  So for his costume all I did was make the Care Bear symbol on a big piece of white felt using iron on steam a seam, and then stitching it down on the machine a bit.  I just tacked this onto the tummy, and we added a pillow as he has no padding at all.  Then I added simple ears and a tail, using a piece of pipe cleaner so I could shape them a bit.  And the finishing touch was the little heart on the bottom!

I did a little more sewing on Serenity’s costume, as I couldn’t find a sweat suit in the right colors.  I just used some of her own clothes as a very basic pattern and made them out of a nice warm fleece.  Here’s a bit of advice, fleece does not stretch as much as you think it should!  So it was fairly snug even though I made it bigger than I thought she should need.  But I added the details the same way I did to Eric’s costume.  He wore his costume to work and we met them for lunch, it was fun!  Although Serenity did not really get the idea of trick-or-treating this year, it was great fun and easy!