costume time

I am so proud of myself this year - here it is only the beginning of October, and I've already started on Halloween costumes!  Most years I wait until the day or two before. 
I really love doing it - I love the challenge of coming up with something creative, spending as little as possible by using all (or mostly all) materials I already have, and the adrenaline rush of a deadline! My least favorite part is working with small, wiggly models as I try to design a new pattern.  But I find that hints of a party and candy to come, works wonders...

Here's some pics from previous years...

A Cowboy and His Cow Pony Dog

Wizard of Oz

don't forget Toto!

Little Red Riding Hood

We tossed around a lot of ideas (this is the first year James has been old enough to really have some opinions; that made it a lot more interesting...) and I was all in favor of something really simple, but James had his heart set on this one, so that's what we're going with.

If I show you a few photos of what I've finished, do you think you can guess what our theme is?

Any guesses?

new from old

I've had a plastic wipes box floating around in my car for awhile.  The hinge-thing on the lid was broken, so wipes inside always dried up and I never used it.  Well, last weekend Steve cleaned out the car and I was about to tell him to throw it away, when it occurred to me that it was just about the right size for a pair of scissors.
Now, I often carry my scissors and other sewing supplies with me.  Call it obsessive, (Steve does), but sometimes I go to sew at a friend's, and all those things tossed in my purse just seem to stay there.  So I'm always prepared, right?
The downside is, you never know what might poke you when you reach for the keys, and things can be awfully hard to find jumbled up with my wallet, lipstick, a stray diaper, and who-knows-what-all-else...

So, I decided to turn that little wipes box into a "sewing kit".  Take a look!

fits right inside my purse

 holds everything I might need, and nothing can get lost!

it even looks cute - what more could I want?

How I did it

Start with one of those plain little solid plastic wipes boxes.  You know - the "diaper bag size" ones.  Peel off any labels.

Go ahead and glue the lid shut.  I used a little hot glue.

Now, open the box and lay it upside down,  Brush one half with modpodge and the cover it with a piece of cloth.  Make sure it is laying flat and smooth.  You may have to work a bit to get those corners.   Trim the extras around the edges.  Do the same on the other half.

 Brush another layer of modpodge over the fabric to seal it.  Don't worry too much about the edges and corners, we'll come back to them.  The fabric should overlap a bit at the hinge.  Make sure there's enough room for the box to close!

Let it sit to dry for an hour or two - until the modpodge is still soft and a little sticky, but not dry.

 Go back and make a couple cuts at the corners, then lay the fabric flat.  You can use a little more modpodge to get it to stick.  Now is also a good time to make sure the cut edges are really smooth and straight, and brush more modpodge over any fabric that doesn't seem to be sticking tightly. 

Let it dry overnight.  You're done!

Floral Design 101

It's a gray, rainy day here.  What better time to talk about flowers?!  So today I thought I'd post about a basic floral design.




Remember, you can use anything in "floral" design - fall is a wonderful time for seed pods, grasses, and all sorts of interesting things you can find outside. Add apples or fall leaves for some really good seasonal color!  Or you can get a mixed bouquet at the grocery store or farmer's market for a more summery look- once you know some basic rules, the possibilities are endless!

When working with fresh materials, you need to start with a block of WET floral foam.  At the store, this looks almost exactly like the DRY floral foam, but make sure the package says WET.   This kind will absorb about 100x its weight in water, and keep your fresh materials fresh.

You'll start by soaking the block of foam in water.  It's tempting to shove it down under the water to speed things up, but this can trap air bubbles inside, and any stems stuck into those "dry spots" will end up dying.  So just let it float there until it sinks on its own and has turned completely dark green.

 After the block is completely saturated, place it into your container.  You may need to trim it a little to make it fit, but it's easy to cut with a kitchen knife.   Then tape over it with some waterproof tape (I use green floral tape, but you can use electrical tape too!) attaching it securly to the container, so that once you have all those flowers stuck in it, it won't tip over.

Now comes the fun part.

Choose 5 tall, straight stems for your framework.  You'll want to cut the ends at an angle to maximize water absorption.

Place the tallest one toward the back and in the middle.  1 more at either side at the bottom pointing out should make a triangle.  Put 2 more in the middle of your triangle's sides to get a defined shape.  You should be able to draw an imaginary line from point to point to point.  This becomes your guideline.   You don't want any other flowers going outside of this line.

 Now, start "greening".  This just means to poke pieces of greenery into the foam to hide it.  You don't need to get carried away - leave room for the flowers.  Just enough to soften and disguise the edges a bit.  You will want to put some taller greens in the back to form a background behind the "triangle".

Starting

From the back

 Plenty

Now start filling in with other flowers.  Be sure to get different depths - some tucked down a little more, some  more to the front.  But none going past your framework!

You want to put your accent flowers in last.  These are 3 to 5 larger flowers that anchor the piece.  Remember to keep them a little closer to the bottom, to avoid making your design look top heavy.

 Just about finished

 Now, the back.  You're not really supposed to see this side, but I don't like to leave it looking "naked", so I usually stick some leftover greens and little bits in there to dress it up just a little.

before

 after

The last step is to be sure there is an inch or two of water in the base.  This keeps the foam from drying out.  You'll need to check on it every couple days to add more water as the flowers drink it up.

 Just a warning - any kind of floral work tends to make a mess!  Here's what the kitchen looked like after this project.