a shirt for a buck

holy cow what a busy, busy holiday season it's been. lots of overdue posts but thought i'd start with an easy/fast one.

rarely do i find anything cute and adorable for the boy. i saw this and knew he had to have it. right when i was about to click on the "buy me" button it dawned on me that i could possibly make something similar at a fraction of the price.

i found and modified a deer silhouette. used this technique from a few years ago. made a quick bowtie and done.


and here it is on the boy. spiffy huh?

wired wednesday

first facetime

steampunk duo

the first suggestion husband had for our costumes this year: dolly parton & kenny rogers. me as kenny and him as dolly. as much as i know he wanted to dress as dolly, i had absolutely no desire to dress as kenny. i love making an effort with my costume and kenny seemed didn't seem like it be much of a stretch. suit, wig and beard...boring. maybe we'll save this one for another halloween. anyways.

husbands next suggestion: steampunk. (steampunk: works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc.) yes, we would be explaining this to pretty much everyone who asked what our costumes were. our best explanation, "have you seen wild, wild west or the league of extraordinary gentleman? we're sorta like that."

so once we knew what we were gonna be, we scoured the internet for ideas and photos. here's my main inspirational photo.


we hit up the local thrift stores and even went to mountain city, tn to hit up an army surplus store. luckily we found bits and pieces at each place and our costumes started to come together.

breakdown of my costume. jacket: $8 off ebay, hat: borrowed from a friend, goggles: $7 off ebay, white shirt: mine, corset: borrowed from a friend's wench costume, green skirt: mine, white petticoat: $4 at goodwill, belts: $2 at goodwill, utility belt: $5 at army store, canteen: $3 at goodwill, skirt hikes: homemade, spats: homemade, shoes: mine, hair: $9 extensions, gun: $1 at goodwill.

i would breakdown the husband's outfit but i don't know what he paid for everything. most of his costume is also from his own wardrobe. i know i paid $3 for his nerf gun at goodwill and he paid $2.50 for his goggles at the army surplus store.

i think we both were really happy with the end result. the husband went so far as creating alter egos for each of us and coming up with a history for his own character. i know - NERD!

as you can see from a previous post, the aviator costume the boy wore sorta tied in with ours. this was the main reason i decided to make his costume this year.

next up: pumpkin carving party.

wordless wednesday

boy and his new hat

transformation

luckily we figured out what we were gonna be for halloween early on and i was able to search high and low for costume parts. 75% of my costume i already owned or made but there were a few things i had to purchase. this post will be about the transformations i performed on two pieces of my costume. this is my $8 ebay find. super bright but perfect in every other way.




a quick dye job and the color issue was resolved. unfortunately since the thread was coated it did not pick up the dye. i ended up taking a sharpie marker and just coloring the thread. i'm sure there's another method to fix this issue but i knew it would be dark at the party and i didn't want to spend too much time worrying/fixing it. although coloring thread took a lot longer than i initially thought.

the second transformation was my weapon for the evening. a $1 goodwill find.



i'm really happy with how this turned out. a total transformation. it's amazing what a little paint will do. i added some nuts, bolts and gears and about a million layers of paint. tomorrow will be the costume reveal.

the aviator

this will be the first of many posts about our halloween holiday. i thought i'd start with the little man's costume. or i should say one of his three costumes. yes, my parents and aaron's dad both sent costumes for him. and since he had two to choose from i decided there really was no reason for me to worry about making him a costume. both were adorable and warm. (see above photos) but while out searching for bits and pieces for our costumes, i found a little bomber jacket for $2. and *ding, ding* i knew i'd be making him a costume now. especially since it would sorta tie into our costumes.


i was able to find a generic pattern to make an aviator cap. i lined the ear flaps and headband with fleece to make it a little more comfortable for him to wear. i also knew he probably would not wear goggles, so i made a pair using black felt, gold paint and clear plastic all of which i happened to have lying around. i attached them to his hat and used a piece of crepe paper to to make the strap. (i would probably modify this part since it was pretty much shredded after the second wear. but it served its purpose for the most part.) his scarf is actually part of the slip from my costume. the slip was too long for what i wanted to use it for so i cut it down and used the excess to make his scarf. his pants are his normal pants. and the last thing i made were his spats. i found a pattern on the internet to give me a general idea of what i needed to do. of course i had to modify them to fit a much smaller person. i also made these using the fast a furious method meaning i used velcro for the closure and instead of real buttons i used paint. i didn't finish the edges either, i decided painting those would seal them and save me a lot of time.


finally the last thing i made was his candy bag. i knew he'd be using this more than once so i didn't want it to be costume specific. right now i'm all about monsters, the cute and adorable kind, so i just went with it.

ave did great wearing his costume. i was a bit worried he'd refuse to wear the hat since we're just now transitioning from the summer to the winter hat but it wasn't an issue at all. his costume was a big hit and i'm glad i did decide to make it in the end. i'm already thinking about next year...well that is if he lets me pick his costume again. fingers crossed.

halloween illustrated

with halloween around the corner, it's been a crazy madhouse around here. which is both good news and bad news. the crafting/designing bug is back after a super long hiatus. nothing like my love of the holiday to do that to a girl. but it does look like a crafting bomb exploded all over the house. creating costumes, planning and decorating for a party, and keeping after an active toddler has got me burning the candle at both ends.

once again we're doing our annual pumpkin carving party. this year the party is a little bigger and a whole lot better. at least i'm planning more than i did last year. tonight i spent some time working in illustrator, probably more time than i should have, making labels. i'm pretty happy with the way they turned out but it took me a whole lot longer than i expected. i'm so out of practice it's pathetic. hopefully i'm back in the game cause even though it took me long, i actually enjoyed it. yay graphic design!

i'll post pics after the party so you can see them in action as well as all my other creepy food and costume creations. happy halloween everyone!

way back wednesday

@ 4 months

@ 21 months.

time is definitely flying by! as you can see, he's a little less prone to letting mommy have her way. i'm sure it's a sign of what's yet to come.

spicy goodness

if you ask my husband he'll tell you i rarely venture into the realm of cooking. our meals usually consist of something out of a box. (either the at-home kind or the to-go kind.) now with the little one i've been trying to make more of an effort. and with recipes literally at your fingertips it's making it a lot easier. tonight i made spicy thai noodles. a friend posted the recipe on pinterest and as soon as i saw it i knew we would be trying it. and i must say it's the first time i was VERY happy with the end result. and it's also the first time my husband has ever uttered the words, "this could be served in a restaurant."

conveniently being of asian descent i had most of the the ingredients in-house. i did modify the recipe by adding cooked chicken during the tossing of the noodles phase. we also ate it warm which we both preferred. i'm saving the left over sauce and i'm hoping i can cook up some noodles tomorrow and have a ready made lunch.

on my make-shift star scale i would have to give this recipe a 5 out of 5.

wordless wednesday

"boys being boys"

ok, not so wordless. thought i'd ease myself back into blogdom.

here is the first i hope of more to come.

no sleep for you

one thing the boy is not: a good sleeper. rarely does he sleep for 10-12 hours straight. most nights i'll hear his little night light turn on a few times without a peep from him, and within 10 -20 minutes he's fast asleep again. lately this hasn't been the case. at his 18 month appointment the doctor said we could do away with the bottle (he refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup so we're still doing a bottle in the a.m. and p.m.), limit his use of the paci (from having it all day to a bedtime thing), and we no longer needed to use a monitor.

ok, a part of me was not ready for him to give up all these things at once. it's about the only strings to babyhood still left. and with all the traveling we've been doing, we haven't even attempted any weening. the only thing we have tried is giving up the monitor. the doctor said if the boy needs us he'll let us know. well no sooner were the words uttered the self-soothing nights have pretty much been a thing of the past. lately he's been standing, screaming, crying non-stop which he's rarely done before and now it's a nightly routine. tonight, went to bed at 8 and woke up at 12:40a and has been getting his freak on for 30 minutes now. so the monitor is back so i can make sure there is no real reason for him to be crying. but this cry-it-out method, yeah, not working.

i'm hoping it's all the traveling that's throwing him off cause if it's a permanent thing we might have a problem. mama can do okay with little sleep but no sleep that's a different story. off to comfort the little son of a gun. ugh!

bieberaholic

testing the tweet feed with a video of the little man. yes, i am actually working on updating the site, technology first and then maybe a new look.

child-free?

a few weeks ago we ventured back down to new orleans to celebrate rocky and marie's nuptials. this was supposed to be our first child-free weekend. little man on the other hand, begged to differ. granted, as the time approached i was having some reservations and he may have sensed my anxiety.

a few days before we were to depart he decided he was no longer sleeping through the night. one sleepless night and i would have probably been okay leaving him. he decides to not sleep the rest of the time leading up to our trip. so that left us with three options: 1) both go and leave him with a sitter, and pretty much worry the whole time we're gone. 2) awes go and i stay home with him or 3) we all go. well i can't leave him and burden our sitter with an uncooperative kid. awes doesn't want to go without me. and since we already have our tickets and hotel purchased and it wouldn't cost us anything to add the tyke he ended up tagging along. the little weasel.

we were THAT couple on the plane going down. you know, the ones with the screaming/inconsolable baby. luckily most of the passengers were sympathetic to our situation. thank goodness. he was still off the first night/day we were there. but soon after he was fine, back to his happy self. he slept through the wedding ceremony and we were able to attend the reception without incident. so the boy has been to the big easy three times in his short, little life.

overall we had a great time. were able to see friends we hadn't seen in a long time. do a little sight seeing with the little guy. and most importantly, we got to see our friends start their new life together. congrats rocky and marie!!

quick and easy pillow

well not so quick but pretty easy to make. i've been wanting to recycle a sweater into a pillow for some time now. with my $3 recent thrift store find and scissors in hand i went to work. the reason i thought it would be quick, i believed all i had to do was cut it to the shape i wanted then sew it together. but when i went to sew it together there was no way the thick sweater was fitting under the foot of my machine. this meant i'd have to hand sew it. i decided it was best to use the yarn from the sweater so i unraveled one of the sleeves. (contrary to what weezer says, it's not so easy to unravel a sweater at least not with this one.) then with a simple whip stitch i was able to make this new/old pillow for our couch. a very easy way to update your throw pillows and only cost $3.

this is just one of the pillows i made, i'll be sharing some more in the upcoming days.

owl stop

so much for blogging more. after a serious flux in crafting the last month preparing for the boone handmade market things are finally starting to settle down. i was pretty much burning the candle at two ends. chasing a one year old around all day then trying to craft after he went to bed. i have tried crafting during daylight hours but the wee one has made it virtually impossible. with a minor freak out at the sound of the sewing machine and getting his hands on all my non-kid friendly craft supplies i have decided it best not to craft while he is conscious. burning the midnight oil has become a norm around here. (not really anything new if you know me)

so in my attempt to keep the blog and craft thing going, i'll post the new things being created by a rude girl and start updating the shop as well. i'll also go into a little more detail about craft shows and all the new things people noticed in my booth pic in another post. for now i'll let my little owl stop tide you over.

we've been using a bottle of laundry detergent to hold open the baby gate at the top of the stairs. on sunday i decided to make something a little less of an eyesore and voilà a hootie was born. i used fabric i got from my grandmother a few years ago, some felt and a few buttons from my stash. i left the opening at the top, filled a 1/4 of it with rice and the rest with reclaimed pillow stuffing. i was able to put a flat bottom on him but i'm still learning how to construct a pattern so it's not exactly as nice as i'd like it to be. it probably took me a little more than an hour to make and i didn't do all that i would have liked to have done. if i do another, i'll probably add some wings and a few more decorative accents. but for a quick and easy project, i'm quite happy with it. and little man noticed it right away, brought it to me while i was brushing my teeth the next morning.

coming soon

lots and lots of craftiness. stay tuned

spring is in the air

or at least teasing us with a stint of warm weather. we've been taking full advantage and getting out as much as we can. i was actually able to walk 4 days last week. (need to whip this body back in shape)

the boy absolutely loves it. he's still a little shaky on his feet, but loving it nonetheless.

spaceships and laser beams

website wednesday: spaceships and laser beams

for the boy's first birthday we did a low key party with just my parents and siblings who were here for the holidays. with his birthday so close to christmas it's hard to pick the right time to actually have a party. people have their own holiday schedules and throwing a birthday party in the mix, i know it wouldn't be on the top of everybody's priority list.

for his second birthday i've already started planning. looking at dates, themes, etc. (i know, who are you and what have you done with procrastinator sue!) i only have a couple of years before he'll want batman or some other licensed character party. *cringe* so i better get on it asap.

i was thinking about going with the robot theme i used for his nursery. and in my search i came across the spaceships and laser beams etsy shop. i love the fact that it's geared to little boys and that the art is bold and graphic. i hate that they've got me thinking monsters now instead of robots. i mean look at this adorable cupcake! how can you not want this to be the center of attention at your birthday party. i know the boy is the most important person there but this little guy would give him a run for his money. :)

hmmm, i guess i can look at it as having his next five birthday themes in the bag.

what's your sign?

awes and i have been teaching the boy a few basic signs. he's been picking them up pretty easily but i'm not sure he's associating the meaning of the sign with what it actually is. for instance, when i tell him "please" he walks over and points to the graham crackers. i've shown him the sign for cookie but he prefers to use the "please" sign. if anything i'll have an overly polite boy who says "please" for everything. i guess it's close enough.

and his first "official" word. one where he associates the name to the object and can actually say it. nope not mama or dada. it's ball. he is his father's son.

hmmm, i just thought about it and my mom didn't put a sports option out when little man was choosing his destiny. i think he may be trying to tell her something. she may have a professional athlete as a grandson. ;)

baby steals

here's wednesday's website of the week.

"At BabySteals.com we sell one quality baby or maternity product every day at up to 80% off until it sells out. It's not just a deal, it's a steal! A 'BabySteal'! No, we're not stealing and reselling babies. We drop one amazing steal a day at 9am MDT and another at 9pm MDT until it's gone, and they sell out fast. Once we're sold out, you lost out. On the weekends we give you a second chance on steals we still have, and you might get lucky and find more than one Steal a Day!"

i've only purchased one item from the site. stonz booties for the boy. with the winter we've had i thought it best we invest in some type of foot protection. i like these cause they can slide over his regular shoes, they're fleece lined, water-resistant, and they can be worn through a few shoe sizes. so he'll be wearing them next winter as well. we just got them in the mail and most of the snow has melted so we haven't tried them out yet. but i'm sure we'll be using them sometime in the near future.

restraint

so it's taking every ounce of my being not to get the boy a pair of creepers. of course, these are a slimmed down version of the real thing (no platform). but they are cute nonetheless. awes absolutely hates them, at least the adult version. but i think if he saw these he might change his mind.

yes, i might be pushing my shoe fetish onto the boy. restraint seems to have flown out the window when it comes to the boy. so don't be surprised if you see him sporting them in the upcoming months.

lord help us if we ever have a girl!

website wednesday

as if i didn't have enough going on, here's my latest love. if you love anything and i mean anything crafty this is a fantastic site to check out. fair warning, it can be an inspirational overload, at least it has been in my case. so enjoy my friends.

slope slider

so the boy has already gone sledding three times this winter. i mean three separate weekends where we've had fresh snow. and this is not including christmas weekend. (i was too lazy to bundle him up for two minutes of sledding that weekend.) we really can't tell how he feels about the activity. he seems to be indifferent. at least at first. i'm pretty sure by the end of the season he'll be sledding down on his own. :)

you would think living in the mountains people would be prepared for this much snow. but apparently we live in the "south" and this is a ridiculous amount. poor kids, i think they'll be attending school well into the summer to make up for all the snow days they've had.

we are definitely having a white winter. surprisingly enough i'm not sick of it yet. ask me again in a month. the man, on the other hand, has been looking at beach vacations this week. anniversary in the caribbean this year! thanks snowy winter!

tweeting today

please b a 24 hr bug. please have started 12 hrs ago. please don't ruin my date nite. u r, however, more than welcome 2 take 5-10 lbs when u go. thnx.

feral child

apparently my child prefers anything dog related. kisses, toys, food, and i'm pretty sure if our dogs barked, avery would be barking as well.

by kisses: he opens his mouth to let the dogs lick inside and out. by toys: he would rather sit and play with their toys then his own. by food: the only baby gate we use upstairs is to prevent him from playing with and eating their food and water.

i've gotten rid of all the raw hides as well, he's decided they are tasty enough to gnaw on. i should have gotten video of his reaction when he got caught in the act. you'd make eye contact with him, i'd chirp something like "un-uh!" he'd keep gnawing, i'd stand up, he'd throw the bone and quickly crawl away, i'd sit back down and he'd go right back after the bone. he's a smart little bugger.

so if you want to get anything for the boy, might i suggest something canine in nature.

ginger kids

if you couldn't tell, one of my resolutions is to keep up with the blog. to at least post a few times a week, if not every day. one of the main things i want to post about is crafting. what's on the agenda, what's in progress, what's completed. i'm hoping it'll motivate me to keep things in motion.

this year my family came to visit for christmas and it's always nice to have activities for everyone to do. and if it's crafty in nature, it's even better. one thing we did was decorate gingerbread houses and cookies. while out shopping before christmas, i found a gingerbread house kit that contained 5 houses. i thought this would be perfect - everyone would get their own house to decorate. little did i know the houses were pretty much the same size as the images on the box. they were TINY. the roofs were the biggest surface to decorate and they were about the size of a credit card. i'm a stickler for detail and it was a challenge to do anything on these houses. i think we're done with kits, next christmas we'll do everything from scratch. that is if i can get my act together in time.

we had better success with decorating the cookies. i found a cookie cutter that's shaped like a house so that made up for the tiny house fiasco. here are a few of my creations. as you can see, my cookies tend to be somewhat non-traditional in nature.

he's one!

omg! the boy turned one. where has the time gone? my precious little baby is now a little boy and a smart one at that. cute, loving, inquisitive. his personality is getting bigger by the day. love this boy to death!

i wish i could keep him small forever but i love seeing him grow!