Really Late peek at our Halloween Fun!!!

I am not quite used to a "plan ahead" type of blogging.  And lets face it Life can be so crazy especially with taking care of a family of 6 and running a growing business.  I figured it was still OK to share our Halloween fun!   The older my kids get the more picky they become in the choice of their costumes!  The only problem I did not start preparing early enough  {like maybe 3 days before Halloween}.  

  Lindsay chose to be the MAD HATTER {this required the most creativity as we made it all from scratch UUGGH!}, 

  Kaitlyn wanted to be a HIPPIE {but then when it came right down to it she did not like how her costume came together but by then it was too late, we simply ran out of time!} She forgot to put on the big peace sign necklace we found for her.

 
and then  AUSTIN wanted to be a NINJA 

and JACKSON wanted to be ZORRO {Jackson had become fixated on watching the Zorro Movies, but most of his little friends did not even know who Zorro was!}

So 3 days before Halloween there was no NINJA OR ZORRO costumes to be found!

 Luckily Dad was on a trip that week to Arkansas and near the headquarters of Walmart.com and he was able to walk right in the store and pick up a ninja, a zorro, and some funky tights and make-up for the girls then bring them home just in time for the BIG DAY!   All in all it turned out but not without a lot of grumbling and complaining  :( ...so next year I said, "we will start in September creating our costumes so that if we decide to make something from Scratch then it won't be last minute and take ALL DAY LONG to finish! Too much Stress!  But I have to remind  myself they are only young once! right?!

Ruffled FLOWERS R the RAGE!

Creativity is my Passion and literally what drives me...I love everything about the process....from getting those FIRST inspiring thoughts,  {I can see it literally in "my mind's eye"}, sometimes I will write it down, make a sketch,  or just file it in my brain until I have time to really dwell on it! THEN finally  bringing those thoughts to a reality!  Sometimes it takes trial and error till I can get it just right  {If at first you don't succeed try try again! I have failed more times than I care to admit!}...but I will never tire of the Thrill of Creating and Finishing a Project!

Fabric Flowers, embellishments, and Ruffles are seriously the Fashion Rage and I am loving it!

With an almost teenage daughter, and another daughter a few years behind her this summer has brought on many opportunities for some fun little projects to teach & involve my GIRLS!  So with this in mind I have had this idea to embellish a T-Shirt with Ruffles or Flowers etc.    So here is what we did...I was on a quest to find the perfect white T to add some embellishments!  Luckily while school shopping... I found a white V-neck Tee for the perfect price $6 at AEROPOSTALE!  Once you have the shirt then gather up some white fabric scraps {or colored ones if you would like a funkier look},  if you don't have any then you could go to the fabric store and buy as little as 2 inches of fabric...Make sure you buy at least 3 or 4 different types to add a little dimension to your RUFFLED FLOWER Embellished Tee!  I used
all white, Organza, sparkled Chiffon, Lace fabric, and just a Cotton with a floral pattern sewn through out it. 

First Cut 3/4 to 1 inch strips for Varying Sizes of Ruffled Flowers.
Take your needle and thread and start sewing along one edge and pull as you go to GATHER your flower like an accordion. Once you have gathered enough to make a complete flower cut off the excess overlap the two edges a little and baste them together.

Once you have made varying shapes of flowers to Layer on your Tee...I laid them out on the Tee then pinned the flowers on till I was Satisfied with the look.

{I used 7 different flower shapes and a couple I layered... for example the Cotton patterned flower I put a smaller Organza flower right in the center of it sewing the two together.}  When all of your flowers are made, just with the Chiffon and Organza take a lighter to singe the edges which helps in fraying.  The Cotton will fray a little when you wash it...but it will only add more Character to your Tee.

Now securely Baste stitch with your needle and thread all of your flowers..I sewed them down at differing points on the flowers so that they laid flatter on the Tee! When you think you are finished try on the Tee and look in the mirror, now you might want to add more basting stitches where the flowers may stick up.

This was so fun...my GIRLS loved it!

My Next project will be finding a colored Tee and either Dyeing some Ruffled Fabric flowers to match or just choose fabrics that are similar in color...forget Dyeing!