the road runner

My oldest in really into the Looney Tunes right now (the new one, not the old one so he says)  So when he requested the road runner costume idea I first looked online for one.   Not to be found. 

I thought his would be the most challenging so it waited til last (didn't I mention this boy seems to always get his homemade thing last sometime before??)

Shirt, shorts and yellow leggings were the basics.   Add flannel/felt/batting/interfacing layers for wings like the penguin.

The hat and tail plume were going to be difficult.   

 The hat is a regular knit hat with a half-circle piece of styrofoam stuffed inside.  Each feather is poked through the knit to the styrofoam and secured with a little hot glue.  

 The beak/bill had a few pipe cleaners around the edge so it would have a little shape and it stuffed lightly with fiberfill.

 

The tail was formed with wire coat hangers (thank you TWOPEAS!)  stitched to the back of a round pillow form, which I super stuffed to the brim and stitched closed instead of using the zipper.  

I wrapped pipe cleaners around the wire hanger, then wrapped 2 different feather boas around them also. 

Big velcro strap to hold it tightly around his waist.   The shirt is large enough to cover the white belt. 

In running action :)

 

There you go - Millie, Penguin, and Road Runner!  Everyone looks pleased and can't wait til Friday!

little boy and his penguin costume

I don't really know what it is about penguins that this little boy loves so much, but he does so here's his costume.....

 Hat = knit hat, felt eyes, felt beak stuffed lightly with fiberfill

 Belly = 1 layer white flannel, 1 layer heavy duty interfacing, 1 black t-shirt, and 1 small 9" round pillow form for the big belly!

 Wings = 2 layers black felt, 2 layers heavy duty interfacing plus one more layer of quilt batting in the center.

both sleeves and a tail piece were pinned in place on the child when he would hold still :)

 feet = 2 layers felt plus fiberfill, elastic to hold it to the ankle and around the bottom of the shoe

That's the penguin!   They all promised me they would model them tomorrow.   We'll see.

One penguin, almost finished.  :)

Halloween - easiest to most difficult

I've had requests from my children this year that are as follows.   Big boy wants to be the Road Runner (as in Road runner and coyote fame).   Little boy will not go along with the coyote theme and wants to be a penguin, then a race car driver, then a penguin.   Baby girl said Millie (from team Umizoomi)

Let's see if I can try to make some costumes, shall we? 

First Millie  - she's cute.   She wears patterned dresses and sings a "pattern power!" song.   Her hair can also be measuring devices.  

I see, pink shirt with pattern on it.   Maybe pink sweatshirt?  and pink tights - got those, check.  Hair things?  maybe a headband? 

 2 pairs of toddler pants from walmart. 

 cut legs off to make arms on the t-shirt

 remove short sleeve and trim a little extra to make more of a dress like neckline

 pin sleeve to body of shirt, right sides together, lining up the seam on the shoulder with the seam on the pants leg

 sew on both sleeves, turn right side out and poof!  Millie's shirt dress. 

Now the pattern power!    Found this idea on pinterest - foam sticker on a plastic lid (brilliant!)

 dip into fabric paint - called a "soft" paint because it will be flexible when dry

 stamped butterflies for a pattern on the dark pink part of the shirt, and on the knit hat

 

For Millie's measuring hair pigtails, I braided together 9 strands of yarn plus 3 strands of Twisteez wires so it would stand up after I stitched it to the hat.

 

I have yet to get an action shot of it on her!   Soon I hope......

Next up - Penguin Herbit

Word Wall

Did you know you have limited storage space on blogger with which to post photos? Yeah, I didn't either.

Now I do. With my new upgrade (translation, forked over some cash) I can post again.





One day last month I was looking through pinterest and found some word walls.   Instantly decided I wanted  needed one, and went on a little search to find one.

I've always wanted to do a word wall somewhere in my home. I just never had the perfect spot in mind before.  Then I realized I had a big blank spot heading upstairs on the landing of my stairwell that would be a great spot for a listing of family rules. Since it really just applies to the family, and it's a "welcome" kind of list, I decided this would be the perfect spot!
I found JanDeeCrafts on etsy and picked out this list of "family rules", adding one or two that we use a lot here (like - never run out of smootches :) )

 

This is the final wall, top of the stairs on the landing (with my meyer lemon plant soaking up the sun)

So easy to apply, here's how...

 

First, each strip was separate so you  arrange the phrases in any order you wish.

I put them up on the wall with painters tape to get an idea what it would look like

 

You take each strip and warm the backing with a hairdryer for 2-3 minutes

Then peel off the backing

If the backing sticks to some letters, you haven't warmed it long enough, but it's easy to peel off by hand too.

 

Put the strip on the wall and smooth it out with the edge of a credit card

The longer you let the phrase on the wall, the stronger the stick is suppose to be, so I did several at a time before testing one out.   Peel the cover paper off slowly to reveal your letters. 

 

Easy, cute, and did I mention easy?? 

Here's the landing.  I love it!  

Thanks JanDeeCrafts!

Easily, the most helpful item to add to a quilting arsenal. Walking presser foot.