Lorax costume with Trufulla Tree candy bag!

Ha ha....my son is 7 and he is all about being funny ;). If it is goofy, whacky, silly....he's on board. Getting him to stay still so I could take a picture of him-----he wasn't on board with that!

 He was DYING to be the Lorax this year but it was so much harder to find good fur than I thought! He wanted to be a "neon" Lorax since he loves neon colors (if you know him- see his Nikes ;)). Thankfully I found this luxury orange fur off Fabric.com and the yellow fur off Amazon. Both are actually super soft and easy to slide into. Fur is tricky to sew though!

To make the eyes I wrapped fabric over Styrofoam balls and then painted the eyes. I sewed the eyelid and then glued it on and hand stitched the yellow fur for the eyebrow. I did the same thing for the nose (used a teeny weeny Styrofoam ball) and stitched the mustache onto elastic that he can pull over his head.

We thought it would be cool to do a Trufulla Tree candy  bag so I actually painted that onto canvas and then put the bag together.

He also has a book report/character development project due so he did it on the Lorax as well. Here is his stuffed Lorax animal that he made for it. First he made a drawing then I cut a pattern for him using the drawing. There were several parts where I had to take over the machine for him since the fur is so tough to sew but he did most of it on his own. Stuffing those teeny legs and arms was difficult but he figured it out eventually! It turned out so darn cute!!

The "rainbow-mermaid-fairy-princess" costume

 I let my kids pick what they want to be every Halloween and then we make it- usually together if at all possible. Even though my little girl is strong and opinionated ;)- she can be indecisive at times. So when she told me last spring that she was going to be a "rainbow, mermaid, fairy, princess" for Halloween, I wasn't surprised! Shopping with her takes forEVER!

So this is what we created! First I made her mermaid skirt out of super stretchy knit- like a T-shirt. It's crazy comfy and light. Then I cut out the scallops and sewed them on. Laci actually did her bodice (except straps and elastic) on her own. She cut rainbows out and appliqued them on. Her sewing skills have really taken off lately. I don't have to thread the needle for her and she doesn't jam my machine anymore- it's incredible!! And she LOVES it. For her princess crown she used Elmer's paint pens on shells that we collected on a vacation and I glued them on with Gorilla Glue (good stuff!).

I made her seashell bag super big because last year we were running out of room (ugh....too much candy).

I hope you all enjoy getting your own kids dressed up for Halloween!! I'll post my boys soon.....
xo,
holly

Mr. Mint!!

SO....my children decided on their own that they all wanted to be Candyland characters and I have to admit that my husband tried to steer our 6 year old away from Mr. Mint over to Lord Licorice ;). But he wasn't about to be swayed! Mr. Mint was sticking. I smoothed my husband over with the work gloves and axe and I am SOOOO glad that it came to fruition because I will always remember these days of his newly toothless grin and the red and white stripes.

I swear this boy gets bigger every time I look at him. He is the sweetest, cutest, Mr. Mint on the planet!!

Princess Frostine costume

Princess Frostine was a HUGE hit in our house- in fact, I'm pretty much sick of looking at this costume because Laci puts in on every day and waltzes around the house, bossing around her brothers like she is the queen she thinks she is in her mind ;). I'm just happy she liked it!
xoxo-
holly

King Kandy costume from the Candyland game

For Halloween my kids chose to be Candyland characters. I'm so happy that I got them done in time for all of our Halloween events that started this weekend and that they love dressing up in them (I was worried one of them would change their mind at the last minute!). This King Kandy is for my 2 year old and the look on his face as he pats his "big belly" (I sewed in stuffing) is worth all of the effort I put in ;).

Pink Fairy Costume

This is the other costume that I made to go with the pink clown costume- they are sisters and they are PRECIOUS!! When their mom emailed me their wish list of details for the costumes I received this list for the fairy..............

1-lots of different color pinks

2-sparkly

3-rainbow belt

:)

I hope she loves it!! These were SO much fun to make-
xo,,
holly

The mermaid costume that I made in it's full glory!! ;)

Just a little peek at one of the sweetest girls in the world wearing the mermaid costume I made for her complete with the crown that I decorated for her- seriously, with her mermaid doll-----it melts my heart!! :) :) :) Can you get any cuter???

Candy Corn dress

A new friend of mine from school had a super cute idea to make a candy corn dress so she ordered one for her daughter. As common as they probably are, I have never thought about making one before and I became so enamored with the idea that I made one for my daughter as well and yet another one for my new 1 month old niece ;). Thanks for the idea "A"!!!
xo-
holly

Clown costume

This was ordered by one of my favorite students of all time! Her sister ordered a fairy costume that I'll post soon. Their mom was great because when I asked her what the girls "wish list" was she emailed me their lists verbatim- which is ALWAYS the best because then the child knows their input and requests were important! I hope that the final product was what she envisioned in her head. I'm really into her choice of dark pink with black!!

xoxo "S"- you are such a sweet little girl!!

Mermaid Costume with seashell bag for yummy candy!

I didn't accept many costumes this year- in general my sewing time has shriveled because of my new teaching job at the charter school my 1st grader goes to (fabulous school- we are so happy there!!) but I did take on a few orders and I've been able to throw myself completely into them with very little stress or rush. The experience has been wonderful!!

This is the first mermaid costume I have ever made and I loved every minute of making it.....especially because it was for my BFF, little "M". I've blogged about her several times before. She is precious!

It's a very comfortable dress that has a zipper in the back so it is easy to take on and off. She also requested a seashell bag to carry her candy around so I made it ample enough for lots of trick or treating and made her promise to give me half of her candy.

There is a lot of hand sewn items on this that I added more for love than for money. Much of the seashell bag is hand sewn as well but overall it's a pretty easy bag to make. I'm working on a tutorial for it but I'm sure it will take me months to get it posted. If you are interested in making one of your own send me an email and I'll send you a rough version of the tutorial.

I'll keep my blog posted on the Candyland characters I'm making for my own 3 kids ;)- my 2 year old is King Kandy and I'm going to eat him alive in the costume!

Happy October everybody!

xoxo-

holly

Playing dress up with fairy tale classics- Little Bo Peep costume

My friend Jenn brought up to me a couple of months ago how cool it would be to get dress up clothes that were not always Disney princesses, made of itchy fabric and usually downright tacky...instead inspired by the original fairy tales and classically pretty and fun.I was HOOKED by the idea and have spent the past weeks pouring over fairy tale books, dissecting my daughter's dress up clothing and looking at costume patterns.

I plan on doing several characters (if you have any ideas with one you would like to see please email me!) but Little Bo Peep was always at the top of my list. I noticed how dress up "pants" were lacking in my own daughters dress up arsenal. I also realized that my daughter is completely nuts about wearing aprons when she is playing tea party so I thought Bo Peep was a great place to start!

Everything about the outfit is easy-peasy- the pants are lightweight and elastic so young ladies can get them on and off with no problem. It can easily be washed, it's all cotton and very soft and comfy.

I really want to keep these reasonable because I don't think dress up outfits should cost a fortune ;) and role playing is such a rich experience for children. I also think they will make wonderful and unique birthday gifts (which is what this order is for) so I don't want to price them out of that range. I hope to keep all of them around $35-$45, most of them in the high $30 range.

Little Bo Peep comes with the pants and the full apron- the white shirt underneath is NOT included. Little Bo Peep will be $42.


I hope your birthday friend enjoys this "M"!!! Now I need to find the time to make one for your little "m" because I KNOW she will appreciate it ;). Xoxo- holly