Tag: halloween

So Many Projects

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So last week I ordered some fabric. It arrived the other day, and my little helper was very excited to help me open it. And then he asked, “Who is all those people?” Which lets me know I need to bust out the special episode tapes as we enter the holiday season.

I’ve drawn a quick flat, mostly to make sure it will look good to cut all the pieces on the bias, since it is quilting fabric and I want it to have some stretch. I like comfy clothes. I think it should turn out well:

Then, there is the issue of Halloween being a month away. One of the boys already has a Harry Potter costume, and now the other big brother has decided he also wants to be Harry Potter. The littles are a little more challenging. One wants to be a “vampire giant tarantula” and the other wants to be “mighty eagle from Angry Birds,” but I think I have those figured out. Just have to actually write a list of what I need to make them.

And, with Halloween only a month away, that means Inktober starts on Saturday. That is my 30 page notebook, which I have gouached the cover of to make 31 pages. Saturday will be creating a cover for it. I’m obviously going to be posting pictures to Instagram every day, but I’m also going to post a round-up here every Friday.

There is one more project that I am also working on. Actually, a few, but this is the first of a mini-series of Christmas presents. And, not meaning to cause panic to anyone making presents for Christmas, there are only 88 days left until Christmas. So I need to get moving on this. Or these. Not panicking. Yet.

Gutting Pumpkins

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For some reason, the pumpkins that got carved on Sunday rotted by Wednesday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen. But, to help the five-year-old feel better, we carved a new one today. The one that rotted was Good Cop/ Bad Cop from The Lego Movie, so we replaced him with Lord Business.

I was in charge of scooping the insides out. I think that might actually be my favorite part of carving the pumpkin. Except this pumpkin had a non-existent stem to pull the lid off with.

Luckily this house is full of wine bottles and cork screws. Best makeshift stem ever. And of course we had to cook his guts once they were removed.

And we ate them all within the afternoon. While those cooked, the five-year-old “helped” me carve the face. As in he held the knife while I actually did the cutting. But he tried to do it on his own a couple times. That’s just a really difficult (and dangerous!) thing for him to do on his own.

In the end, we have Lord Business as he was falling into the pit. That happened in the movie, right? I’ve seen the blasted thing at least five times and can barely remember anything past Milhouse and quoting Batman’s “I only work in black. And sometimes very, very dark grey.”

Happy Halloween, Everybody!

DIY Friday: Halloween T-shirt

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One of the little ones I watch is at the age where he is really starting to get into holidays and recognize their signs. This leads to a lot of, “I know why they have pumpkins/ghosts/skeletons. It’s almost Halloween!” every time we are out. Not just once a trip either, but every window or yard we pass that is decorated.

All this talk of pumpkins and Halloween gave me an idea:

Halloween T-shirts for both boys. And they were so fast to create, I thought I would share step-by-step instructions. Click here to download a PDF complete with templates to cut out the felt pieces.

All you need is a plain, dark t-shirt, some craft felt, embroidery thread, scissors, and a needle. If you know how to do a basic running stitch, you are good to go. If you don’t know, here is a good tutorial.

Let me know in the comments if there are any issues with the file. Also, leave a link in the comments below if you make one of these or tweet me pictures @caseykayb. I’d love to see your version.

P.S.: I’m thinking of starting a weekly series of posting either my own DIY tutorials or links to some I’ve found that I’ve done. If you have any suggestions of things I should check out, let me know!