Copy Cat Bats!

It's okay to be a copy cat right? Especially when you are copying Dana. Head on over to MADE and check out the complete tutorial for this and where she found the idea over at BHG.

I just want to share with you that I laminated mine so they will last for years to come!!!

And then the easiest way I found to fold them. Take your sewing guide and place the bat underneath it so the end of the guide is down the center of the body.

Fold the half that is sticking out straight up. It kind of snaps up when you do this.

It gives it a nice crisp fold in the middle.

If you try to di it by hand without using a sewing guide it looks like this. Not so attractive.

And then do as Dana did and fly those bats... In the garage door and out the front door...

Sneaking around the corner...

And sliding up the cieling...

They add such a fun touch for Halloween...

My three boys are mesmerized with them...

And it was super easy to do.

Our bats even flew right into our upstairs window...

I actually had it pictured in my mind totally different... But once I climbed out the window and onto the roof to put them up I just wasn't quite tall enough. I was hoping I could have them come down from the left, the point of the roof, down the big open space and into the window... That was not going to happen. So this will do. And I probably looked like I was crazy while putting them up standing on the window ledge hanging out to try to get taller!

So a big THANK YOU to DANA for the fabulous idea and inspiration!

Giveaway!!!

Do you want a chance to win a gift credit to my vinyl shop? Of course you do! Well head on over to my friends place at the Pretty Poppy and give it a shot! While you are over there check out their total awesomeness...They have some fabulous ideas...many of which I have borrowed.

And their jewelry is to die for...with Christmas just around the corner what are you waiting for???

The Ninja, Second Costume down, one to go!!!

My oldest son chose to be a ninja this year for Halloween! His request was to have a blue belt and a thing that could put all his tools in, and a dragon on it. So I got to work. I picked these three capes up at the goodwill store for $1.50. Can't beat that. I only ended up using two of them. The third I am going to use for the bat costume...

Take your cape and lay it flat. I then folded over the front of the cape at the seam. The seam will then serve as the side seam in your pants. You pretty much are just skipping a step in the pant making process. Which makes it so much easier, and faster.

If you know anything about real ninja's...lol...there pants are tighter at the ankle and are a little looser towards the top. To make my pant piece I measured from his hip to his ankle and then added 3 inches. This will be the long side of the piece below. And then I measured his ankle and halved that measurement. That is the shortest length you see coming off of the long side. This is the ankle opening. Then the other side coming off of the longest seam, which is the waist, is half of their waist measurement. Then coming down from that is the measurement from the bellybutton to just above the knee. I measured mine three inches above the knee. And then measure 4-6 inches across depending on the amount of hang you want in the top of the pant. I did 4.5 inches. And then cut a diagonal line connecting this end to the ankle end. (I sure hope that made sense...maybe next time I'll draw it out...) You need two of these pieces. Note. The folded line with the seam is the long edge.

Turn the pieces so they are right side in and put the two pieces on top of each other. Sew the sides together. This is the side that you measured from the belly button to above the knee.

Then put the seam you just sewed in the middle now on both sides and lay the pieces flat like pictured below and sew up the legs, across the crotch, and down the other leg.

Fold the top down and sew a 1 inch casing, leaving a small opening. Feed your 3/4 inch elastic through it, and sew it closed. I also had my son try them on and it was too lose in the crotch area so I rounded mine out a little bit instead of straight across. It kind of looked to MC Hammer for me than Ninja!

Now for the shirt. I took one of my sons long sleeve shirts and used it as a pattern. I cut two of the sleeve pieces by laying it out like below.

And then I did the same thing with the front and back of the shirt. Next I sewed the sleeves on to the front and back of the shirts.

Fold the sleeves in half and line up the front and back piece and then sew from the bottom of the shirt clear to the end of the sleeve. Do this on both sides. And yes, my picture is blurry. Sorry about that.

Take the hood from the cape.

Round the top part and trim off the square point. And then measure to the length you need it. I put mine on my son and then cut it off an inch below his shoulder.

Here in this picture I have placed a pin at the center back of the shirt which is right sides out. The hat is above and the seam line to the left is the center of the hood.

You are going to pin the right side of the hood to the inside of the shirt starting from the middle out. Go all the way around the neckline until you run out of hood in both directions.

It will look like this. There will be about a 4-5 inch space in the front of the shirt.

Sew around the edge to attach the hood. Now have your son try on the shirt and place a pin on both sides above his nose where you want the face piece to be.

Cut a square that will fit in the area. Mine was 7.5 inches square.

Attach it to the inside of the hood on one side. The inside of the hood is to the left. So the edge of the square is facing into the hood.

Fold it across and do it to the other side of the hood. Please note, you are looking at the inside of the hood, so the shirt is inside out.

Turn the shirt right sides out and sew across the square piece attaching it to the neckline. Their might be some extra fabric like mine has below. It's okay. You can leave it or just trim it after you sew the line.

Turn it right sides out. You can see the line we just sewed at the bottom of the square face piece and the top of the neck.

You can slide your hand down and this piece should lift up. This is what covers the nose and mouth.

I then screen printed a dragon onto the front.

Now for the belt piece. Take a rectangle of the fabric that is 3 inches larger than the waist measurement and double the height you want the finished belt to me. Mine is 8 inches.

Fold it in half and sew around the edges leaving one edge open. Turn it inside out and sew it closed.

I then layered the two short sides on top of each other and sewed a very fast and uneven rectangle to hold them together. Note, you can also sew Velcro here to remove the belt easier if you would like.

I then sewed two little squares of fabric in a diagonal onto the front. Sew down the two sides. These will be to place the daggers.

And then next to one of the rectangles on the side, I sewed a piece of the tie from the hood. This is so he can put in his numchucks.

Take a rectangle piece of fabric, I did mine 5 inches by 12 inches. Fold up the bottom leaving a 2-3 inch flap at the top. Sew the sides.

Flip it inside out and sew it to the bottom of the other side of the belt just above the opening to the pocket. This is to put in the chinese stars.

Have your son put it all on. And then take scraps of contrasting fabric and tie it around his upper arms, waist, and lower legs.

And he is good to go...Except...I was informed by the man of the house he needs one long sword.

So I will be picking that up today and adding it to the attire...

The boy is pretty proud of his Ninja costume...because it looks so real, he keeps saying.

As if he knows what a real ninja looks like...

But then again, maybe he does. He seams to have all the ninja moves...

Stay tuned for the bat...It's coming soon!!! If this tutorial was way to confusing. I am so sorry. It's a little more difficult one...after these costumes are complete...I will be back to my regularly scheduled tutorials and crafting! Hurray...I can't wait...

George Brown Paper Mache Mask

My son has a monthly book report. His book report for this month was to create a mask representing the main character from the fiction book he read. He chose to read George Brown Super Burp. And it just happens to be that in the book George runs across an incident with paper mache. So it fit perfectly. This was such a fun project for my son and for me to supervise!

First I mixed a large bottle of Elmer's Glue with 1/2 cup of water. I blew up a balloon and placed it sideways in a bowl. My son then covered the side showing with torn paper covered in the glue mixture. He then rolled a piece of paper into a nose shape and using a piece of tape he bent the end and taped the nose onto the face. Note: This project was EXTREMELY hard for me to not step in and take over. I am such a perfectionist. Note. The nose. Is NOT in the middle of the face...I had to convince myself it was okay and not move it.

He then crumpled pieces to make the eyebrows...(note...they are not even...let it go Shannon, let it go...) and the cheekbones. I held the cheekbone in place while he got the tape and taped it on.

He then crumpled more paper for the lips, the chin, the ears, and the crazy hair that George has. Please note, you can clearly see the tape that is holding these pieces on. (See the crooked nose and the uneven brows...)

Here is a side view.

Then I dipped pieces of paper in the glue mixture, handed them to my son, who then covered the entire face in the strips. The smaller the strips the easier it was. He did have some trouble with the hair, so I helped him with that part. I was so proud of him! He did such a great job and was very determined the entire time. It was fun to spend time with him crafting.

And then we waited overnight for it to dry.

My son's favorite part. To pop the balloon.

Then I trimmed up the back edge to make it smooth and even to fit on his face.

Then he got to work!

He thoroughly enjoyed every minute of painting his face.

Please note for those curious. If you use this kind of paper mache paste the paint cracks. I knew this. It's the look we were going for! If you don't want it to crack, make sure to use real paper mache paste.

So after he painted the peach color, he painted the white. We actually left the teeth the actual paper mache. So he painted on the eyes. I tried to convince him to do circles like the George in the book, but he didn't want to, and hey, it's his project. Then he did the brown. He painted the hair and the eyes himself. He did ask me to help him do the eyebrows, it was hard he said. Then we painted the lips together with red.

And he let it dry.

Until it was completely dry. And then we sprayed it with a clear coat sealer.

It looks so fun in real life. He is so proud of himself, and I am too! I love the uncentered nose, and the crooked eyebrows. It makes it so fun and so much my son! Taught me a great lesson...it's good to let it go and let them do their own thing!

We then punched holes in the pupils so he could see and two holes right behind the ears. I then cut an elastic band and put them through the holes behind the ears and tied the ends into knots.

And here he is in action!

Isn't it just so fun!

He's so darn proud of himself! And so am I!