Just a little fallish

I finally got around to putting a few fall decorations up.

I saw a felt leaf garland in this book.

I made this one in fallish colors.

Thinking I will have to make one for Christmas too.

It was SO quick and easy.

And in the dining room a few non traditional pumpkins.

I found these great fake pumpkins at Target.

I decided to spray paint them white.

One got the polka dot treatment and the other some embellishment.

I used glue dots to attach the trims as I didn't want to commit to leaving them forever.

Plus some of it is vintage lace that I may want to use for something else later.  ;)

And lastly, in our playroom.

This one the kids made.

The idea from here.

The kids really loved making these.

Then I punched holes and put them on a string to hang up.

This weekend I hope to paint our pumpkins like this.  :)

My littlest veteranarian, aka animal doctor

Costume #2 for this one.

Her preschool class had a community helper party today in lieu of a Halloween party.

When she decided to be an animal doctor I just couldn't help myself.

I found this adorable kitty fabric and made some super simple scrubs and doctors coat.

I used an old pants pattern for the bottoms.

I just used a shirt of hers to trace to cut out a simple top.

I learned the hard way not to use a knit tee.

Cotton tops need to be much more wide.

As you can see I just cut the sleeves in.

This ended up being too fitted.

So I added those strips you see to the left all along each side seam.

This made it perfect and was easy to do.

I didn't take a picture, but I cut a vneck top and after sewing the shoulders and sides,

 I used bias tape for the edges of the neck.

For her doctors coat, I bought a size large boys white button up.

I cut all the buttons off.

Then I cut off the sleeves after the entire cuff and hemmed.

The bottom I cut evenly across and hemmed.

Then I used a scrap of the shirt and wrote Maressa's name with a fabric marker.

Sewed it to the pocket.

Yes, now I'm officially bonkers.

I reasoned by the lavish costume that she can use the scrubs as pjs.

The lab coat can be used for play.

Luckily, I don't have to make anything much for the others.

Kalla is going to be a black cat.

Black tee, black yoga pants, ears and tail from Target and we'll make her a cute collar.

Micah is going as Flash and the mailman brought his costume.

Zachary is going to be Robin.

Couldn't find a proper fitting costume for him so I'm transforming a tee and sweat pants to the Boy Wonder.  ;)

Course will have pics of all next week.

What are your kids going as this year?

Make this: Unicorn costume tutorial

This was Maressa's halloween costume request this year

We went from Hello Kitty, to Wonder Woman, to girl gnome to a pink unicorn.

She saw a doggie unicorn costume at the pet store. 

She wouldn't budge after that.

I saw an expensive, but not super impressive one at Potttery Barn kids.

I finally decided to tackle a home made one.

It was really easy actually.

Just a plain sweat suit with hood and felt.

I didn't even need my machine.

She liked it just a little bit.

She kept it on all day once we tried it on.

Her sister and her played princess and unicorn for a while.

So here's how I made it:

The hardest part was finding a plain pink hoodie and sweat pants.

I actually ended up finding this set on Amazon.

Then I cut a bunch of white felt for the mane and tail.

Then black felt for the hooves and bit of pink trim for the feet.

I'm not sure how long the strip of white felt I used.

I cut 2 long and wide strips like above.

Then I sewed them down over the hood, one on top of another, with white embroidery floss.

The mane was too long so I cut it off where I wanted it to stop.

I used those pieces to sew a tail at the bottom hem of the jacket.

I added felt hooves to the hem of the legs and arms of her sweat suit.

I didn't take a picture, but I added the pink scalloped felt over the top of the stitches.

Then I added ears to the top of the hood in pink felts.

I used glitter white felt for the horn.

I simply cut a skinny cone shape. 

Then sewed the sides together and added a little stuffing.

Using white embroidery floss I sewed it to the top of the hood.

And a big thank you hug from my own unicorn.  :)

Photo courtesy of Kalla.

Mirror Glam

Recently we unbunked the girls beds and there was no more room for the big mirror in their room.

Plus honestly I really wanted it for my dining room.

My dining room is smack in the middle of my house with no windows so not a lot of natural light.

And a big wall perfect for a big mirror to reflect what little light does come in from the playroom.

Anyway, I wanted to spruce up the plain mirror a little.

I simply hot glued glass rocks around the edge.

It took about 5 bags of the small rocks and a little bit of time.

I'm really liking it.

Little something, but nothing too overwhelming so I can put anything in front of it or hang on it as seasons change or parties we have. ;)

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Anyone else a Netflix 80s/90s shows junkie??

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Tune in tomorrow for unicorn costume how to!!

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Will post girl's room redo soon too!

Make an easy and quick cookie cake

I made this super quick and yummy cookie cake a while back for Zachary's birthday.

I totally cheated and used break n bake dough from the grocery store.

To make your own, take 2 packages of refrigerated break n bake chocolate chip cookies.

Break off a few at a time and press together into a cookie sheet.  I happen to have a round one that fit the cake perfectly.  Bake according to the directions.

Then I used a homemade frosting to decorate.

This one works well:

1 C shortening

1 tsp vanilla

4 C powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk

It was easy to pipe and was very comparable to what they use at Great American Cookie.

The cookie cake also stayed nice and chewy like theirs.

Don't think I'll be ordering any more and will make my own.

Too easy and yummy not to!

Sloppy Joe and other random stuff

Made sloppy joes for the family the other night for the first time.

I cannot eat nor make these without singing this song for hours afterward.

Had leftovers for lunch.

Sloppy joes feel much more gourmet when served  on a buttered and toasted bun.

I have to eat my slppy joes with a fork.

Little OCD there with the messiness.

Anyone else Pirate's Booty fans?

My kids love them.

They have now came out with sour cream and onion flavor.  YUM!

My boy played massive amounts of baseball yesterday.

FIVE games total for a total of 8.5 hours of actual playing time

 (one game went an hour over from extra innings due to a tie).

They battled hard and came in runner up.

My Z man pitched a total of 5 innings.

This girl may have daddy's eyes, but she has my freckles.  :)

Our 6 month old bearded dragon Rex is getting big!
He loves strawberries, dandelions, yellow peppers and crickets best.

Beardies are nearly the perfect pet in my opinion and I've had nearly every kind.

Gus is cute, furry and kinda silly, but oh so STINKY!

Working on a few projects.  Will share soon!