Curly Birds

Vintage Costumes - OUR Halloween Pictures

It was the day we looked forward to, prepared for, and talked about. We are proud of some, embarrassed by some, and question our parent's judgement on others. We have a collective memory of awards won, best costumes and beloved characters.

Yes, folks, here is a look at OUR Halloween pictures.

I'll go first...

I'm on the left and this is my only Halloween picture from when I was a kid. Apparently, I was scared of all the spooky characters and so my mum made me a monk costume and gave me a big tin foil cross to ward off all the ghosts and devils! My sister was dressed up as a whitch and was wearing a beautiful cape that my mum hand-sewed years before. Big pumpkins were not available, so we carved sweedes. England, 1982

 

 

Eric, my husband, dressed up as a ghostbuster. He made the costume himself out of a baseball bat and pipe attached to his backpack. As a kid, he scratched the photo to make it a little more exciting! I love the look on his face - perfect 12 year old fun. California, 1984

 

Homemade Halloween Costumes - Kites and Baby Robots

This year Kira wants to be a purple fairy - she has designed her wand and on Friday I took her to the craft store so she could pick out the ribbon and wooden dowel. I am trying my best to take a step back and let Kira make as much of her costume as she would like.  

Nola wanted to be a monster truck, then a monster, and now a ghost. She really wants to be scary. The loveliest thing is that Nola's version of scary is so very sweet!

In case your kids still need some Halloween inspiration, here are a few costumes that we have made...

BABY ROBOTS

Super-easy and super-cute baby robots:

1. Glue cookie trays onto a box (or stick metallic drawer liner to the box).

2. Stick a few glittery shapes on the boxes for buttons. (we were going to the minimal iBabyRobot.)

3. Accessorize with bottles, pacies, pig tails, and silver clothes.

 

KITES

2 yards of felt per kite.   

1. Cut out two squares of felt, turn the squares 45 degrees to make a kite shape.

2. Sew top sides, but leave a hole for the head.

3. Cut off the top point and with the scissors, shape a neck line.

4. To make the skeleton, cut long stripes of brown felt, sew them together, and stuffed with poly fill. Use a lot of filling so they are really hard.

5. Sew the 'poles' onto the front of the kite and embellish with wool.

6. Sew a tail and some bows on the bottom of the kite.

 

Have you made any fun costumes? What about when you were a kid - did you celebrate Halloween and were your costumes bought or made? 

Check back later in the week for a peak at some of my favorite blogger's Halloween costumes. It is sure to give you a giggle!

Pumpkin Spider

I have never decorated the outside of our house for Halloween. The girls are very much into the idea and having been talking about it since this summer. I am letting them take control do most of the decorating.

So far we have lots of spiders - spider webs, spider web lights and this scary little chap - Kira's spider made out of a pumpkin. Here are the directions found on Here Come the Girls.

Pretty Packages with Martha Stewart Crafts

When I first started blogging, I had a dream that one day I would open my front door and there would be a big box of crafting supplies waiting for me. Do you know what? My dream came true! It was surreal – I opened my door and sitting on the step was a big box of crafting supplies from Martha Stewart. Yea!

I was especially drawn to the clay and letter stamps and envisioned lots of pretty packages... 

The Martha Stewart Clay comes with molds that I used to make the leaf and flower. The clay was malleable and easy to mix the colors to create beautiful tones. I experimented with using cookie cutters to create the nibbled ginger bread man and "I love you" sign.

The Martha Stewart Ball Point Glue Pen is perfect for sticking smaller clay parts to packages. The Martha Stewart Set Your Own Stamp Case letter stamps were simple to use. The actual stamp is clear, which makes stamping on small tags precise as you can see the paper below.

 

 

A Quick Craft #3: Encore Post of Mummy Halloween Cards

These mummy Halloween cards were so popular last year, I'm bringing them back for an additional show...

 

This week we made a gaggle of mummies to send as Halloween cards. 

They are super easy to make - quick to make one card, relatively mess free, and the project kept the girls engaged for such a long time that we were able to make a lot of cards.

 

Foraging and eBook: The Artful Year

Attention: Now is the perfect time to go foraging for nature supplies. Leaves, acorns, pinecones – they are all in abundance.

And when you come home loaded with beautiful acorns, pop them in the oven RIGHT AWAY so you don’t end up with pet bugs in your stash of treasures. It is the best nugget of advice I can share. And I got it from Jean Van’t Hul’s new ebook, The Artful Year:: Autumn. 

 

When You Take Your Kids Outside...

and let them be free,

and when your kids lead the way,

you slow down to their pace,

and something happens.

Without needing you to teach them, your kids will naturally and happily...

observe the world around them,

think outside of the box,

work together,

and get dirty.

Let's all go!

 

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A Quick Craft #2: Kids Make the Best Goody Bags

Goody bags are perfect for adding a little love to a mailed package, taking to a play date, giving to a friend with the sickies, or handing out at the end of a birthday party. And kids make the best goody bags.

Simply give your kid a little bag, jar or box and have them fill it with any tiny things they fancy. You will end up with a very fun gift full of interesting bits and pieces. 

Guaranteed to bring a smile to someone special.

 

Nola made two goody bags for twins in Canada. In 7 minutes she had filled the bags with a sweet collection of crafty goodness including buttons, bells, twine, felt balls, paper, glue, and fairy tears. My favorite part might be the circus band aids she sealed the bags with. A perfect gift from a 5-year old.