Halloween Crafting

We had these grand plans of carving pumpkins, some beautiful banners, a couple of black window silhouettes and of course some popcorn balls. But that didn't happen! Why? I don't know! Maybe because of the last-minute costume sewing, work, or life in general!?

 

Yesterday morning (45 minutes before having to leave for work!) Martin realized that we didn't carve the pumpkins. So he drew a quick face and started to carve away! Pasha even told him: "Good Job! LOL!" It's not pretty but it does it's job!

 

 

I had the day off to bake cupcakes and help out at school. I wanted to clean the guest bedroom (my mom is going to visit for a week!) and work off my chores list. Did that happen? Nope! I didn't get home until 15.45! I realized that I still needed to roast the pumpkin seeds and put out the halloween candy for the neighborhood kids who come by while we are out trick-or-treating on post!

 

I quickly grabbed this book and found a wonderful craft:

 

Searched for my orange paper, cut out some circles and voila

 

 

Some cute wrapped up candy that doubles as outdoor decoration with our carved pumpkin

 

But it was all for nothing! We didn't have one visitor while we were gone nor at any time after we got back! Dang it, I could have relaxed and cleaned the guest bedroom instead! But you know, if I wouldn't have had that out there... Karma would have kicked my butt and sent a dozen kids by with toiletpaper, eggs and ketchup!

 

Now I need to do some relaxing sewing tonight and maybe clean the guest bedroom! :-)

 

Take care,

Me

Halloween Cupcakes

Today I had to make 24 cupcakes for the school's halloween monster math party. I just followed the basic chocolate and vanilla cupcake receipes which you can find in "Vegan Cupcakes take over the World". They are so delicious that I had to make extras for us at home!

I made a greenish tinted sugar glaze instead of regular frosting and put a little plastic spider on top of it! Simple yet cute!

I was supposed to help out at the halloween party. But since so many parent volunteers showed up, I decided to sneak out with Martin to enjoy lunch at our favourite Italian restaurant!

I didn't leave though before I took a couple of pictures of the funny headstones which were made in art class a few days ago!

Tonight it's "trick-or-treating" with a 4, 8,9 and 13 year old. I don't think I will get any candy at all!!!! LOL

Take care,

Me

It's finished! Simplicity 4055

Here is Pasha in her costume

Doesn't she look gorgeous? Looking back at it I find that it was worth all the time invested in this costume. it made her happy and she looks absolutely beautiful in it!

But as innocent as she looks... she can be the devil! Look what I found on my tv stand:

That's right! She permanently carved a star and her initials in my tv stand! And not even small carvings either. I placed a Euro 5 cent piece right next to it so you could see the scale of it. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry when I found it!

Take care,

Me

Simplicity 4055 Status #3

Tonight is the dance. How far did I get?

I was able to attach the skirt portion last night. It actually resembles a dress now :-)

 

 

 

What's left to do before tonight?

 

1. Bind the armholes with bias tape; they are the only seams left unfinished! I don't want to zigzag them since the fabric of the overlay and the lining seem to fray quite a bit!

 

 

 

2. Add 3 button holes and buttons

 

3. Potentially shorten the dress. I held it up to Pasha  last night and I think it might be a tad too long! We'll see when she tries it on when she gets home from school!

 

Is it doable? Yes!!! I am off from work as of 12 due to the plumber coming to our house. So I have a few good hours to sew :-)

 

By the way, Pasha has her jewelry already picked out and ready to go :-)

 

 

Are you done with your costumes?

 

Take care,

Me

 

 

 

Simplicity 4055 Update #2

I was able to finish the bodice yesterday evening!

The is some gathering on the bottom of the front as well as on the top and bottom of each sleeve. I also had to do some hand sewing when I attached the arm bands. Would you believe that I have already invested about 10 hours in to this costume? Granted the 10 hours include the tracing and cutting of the paper pattern, cutting out the fabric pieces and the sewing of the bodice... but  still 10 hours? It's a costume for crying out loud!!! :-)

Next up is the skirt part with  the insertion of a placket as well as the buttons (which reminds me that I still need to buy them!), bodice trim and ribbon attachment. I am also thinking about finishing up the inside arm seams with bias tape. But only if I haven't gotten sick of this dress by that time :-)

Take care,

Me

Simplicity 4055 Status

This pattern has a lot of pieces! A lot more than I thought! I traced off all the bodice pieces in a size 10 to create a muslin. I was really  relieved that there weren't any fitting issues and that I could trace the rest.

 

I don't want to complain (since I volunteered to make this dress!) but this pattern is a lot of work!!! Not difficult just lots of pieces and  quite a bit of fiddling.

 

Last night I cut out all the pieces from the main fabric, lining and the overlay. Just thinking about it makes me dizzy all over again! Here is how far I have gotten last night:

 

I pin-basted the overlay to the main fabric. Tonight I am going to baste it with the machine and make the bodice and sleeves.

 

Pasha wants to go to the Teen Center Halloween dance on Friday... I hope I'll get it done until then!?

 

What are you working on?

 

Take care,

Me

Pride & Prejudice

Do you know of Jane Austen? I am pretty sure you do! Her books have been widely popular. They play around 1800 - 1820 and are set among the gentry in England. My favorites are Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion. I own all the movies ever made and might have several copies of her books. :-)

 

My love for those stories has been passed on to Pasha. For Halloween she decided to be Jane Bennett from Pride & Prejudice. There is this particular ball gown that she loves! Here is a picture (second from the left) of it:

 

I think that Simplicity 4055 will work best for it.

 

 

What do you think?

 

Take care,

Me

 

"Trick-or-Treat"ing

Halloween was really low key this year. My parents came to visit us and walked with us through housing! 

It gets to be less with each year! But who can blame them? I know how expensive it can get because it's not just the local community that comes out trick-or-treating. Nope, there are a lot of Germans who get signed on post through other Germans that work there. I remember spending at least $60 just on candy each year! 

We always take candy with us. So for every piece of candy Pasha gets we drop off a bunch in their bucket :-)

This is what she ended up with tonight!

Way to much! But that's a mom's opinion! LOL

We also left a bowl full of candy next to our door! Guess what, not one person came by to pick any up! We were really surprised by that! Last year we had a bunch of German kids come by... But that's not bad at all (at least according to Pasha) because that means more for us! :-)

How was your Halloween night?

Take care,

Me

The Devil's Daughter

Pasha is going to the Teen Center's Halloween Party tonight! After much deliberation she decided that this year she wants to be the Devil's daughter. I was brainstorming with her on how we she would look like and she wanted it simple yet playful! 

So I bought two cheap t-shirts (black and red) from C&A. I cut the the red one apart and placed the front piece under the black shirt. 

Then I wrote "Daddy's Little" and drew a devil on the front of the t-shirt. I sewed around it by hand and cut away the black part.

Here is a closer look!

That's six hours worth of work :-)

I took the back of the red shirt and sewed (freehand) the devil's tail. That is being pinned on her black jeans with a safety pin.

I got her a pitch fork, some little devil's horns and some skull elastics to round this all out.

And this is how she looks all dressed up!

It is such a simple costume. She debated about going with a store bought costume but really wanted this one. I spent Euro 17 on the horns and the two t-shirts and 13 dollars on the pitch fork and the hair bands. I think, no, I know that a purchased costume from the P.X would have been about $20. But I prefer the hand made one! She put some thought in it instead of letting someone do it for her! I love it when she is creative!

Are you going trick-or-treating this year?

Take care,

Me

P.S. I messed up on the hand sewing. I don't think the t-shirt is going to last very long because I forgot to tie a knot at the beginning of each thread! Oh well, it's just a costume! But this gives me more ideas. Just look up images on google from "Alabama Chanin". It will blow your mind....