Premature Christmas tree

My niece Amanda wanted a Christmas tree costume for Halloween.  This was a bit of a rush-job.  If I had more time, I would have added a lot more ornaments to the skirt. the battery operated lights in the skirt made this a fun costume to wear. The battery packs are in her pockets!

Forest Service firefighter and Elsa

My nephew Ari wanted to be a forest service wild lands firefighter for Halloween.  I bought his pants commercially, but made him his "official" shirt. His dad provided the helmet, and I made his chainsaw out of an orange juice  jug. He is the most darling little firefighter ever.

Emme, like every other 3-year old child on the planet, wanted to be Elsa, from the Disney movie "Frozen". You can't see her dress which I made from a discarded beaded prom dress and novelty sparkle organza fabric, but I knew she would FREEZE if she didn't have a wrap.  I had an antique fur collar, and made this little fleece cape with silver trim to put it on. Her crown is made of tulle and a snowflake shaped ornament. 

Cutest Garden Gnome Ever

For Bjørn's first Halloween costume, I made him a little garden gnome costume.  I made a little blue jacket with brass buttons and a wide black belt, brown fleece booties with turned-up eleven toes, and a fleece red cap, complete with attached beard and eyebrows. He wore it   quite willingly. (I think he knew how cute he was!)

Once upon a mattress - more costumes

Bridal Shower!

 

Once upon a mattress...

Almost done!  These are the renderings I'm working from for the last few:

And finally, the nightingale and all the head wear!

Princess cones by the dozen, to go with the dresses:

And the queen's ridiculous hat:

Once. Upon A mattress costumes! continued

Once Upon A Mattress, fuchsia, lavendar, aqua, and melon

  

Here are few more of the costumes I've constructed out of discarded prom dresses.  The lavendar and pink is actually very pretty, but the camera on my phone doesn't do it justice.  A few of these are sized very small, and I couldn't get them onto my dressmaker dummy, so they're just on hangers, which doesn't look so great.  

The dress rehearsal is on the first of march, so I'm starting to feel a little pressure!

Once upon a mattress- purple

This one was fun.  It was a prom dress restructured.  I added the sleeves, the bling, sash, and the laces up the back so that it will adjust to fit most girls.  I like the way it turned out.  I also added loop tape to the sides of the skirt, so the hem cam be lifted.  Apparently, the director wants the dresses shorter, so that the actors' high top tennis shoes (yes!  Even the princesses!) can be seen.  I suppose he knows what he's after, but I can't quite envision it.

  

For my sister

My dear oldest sister used a purse I made for her years ago until it was literally in tatters.  I made her a new one with one of my uncle's fabric samples.  With any luck, this one will last her a while.  I hope she likes it just as well!  

Three billy goats gruff story quilt

For my little niece, a play quilt with a troll and 3 goats.  The bridge has a pocket, as does the scenery on either side.  The project was made completely of old fabric samples and scraps... Except the goats-  I made the goats out of discarded gloves from the bin at school.

Tentacle Scarves

IA twirly, easy gift! I made 4 of these this week.  The folks I gave them to were so pleased. I love the organic, floaty, vaguely Steam- punk look they have.

Just cut outa bunch of 10 inch circles  (I used a lid as a pattern) from old t-shirts.  1-3 t-shirts must be killed to make this project, depending on how big the shirt is, and if it has sleeves you can cut up.  I used 2 women's size smalls, and the sleeves from 1 child's shirt.   Stack up the circles (you will need about 20 circles total)  and cut them into spirals:

Pull the strips apart, overlap the less curly ends by about 6 inches, so they form a gentle arc, then sew together like this:

Pile up all the strips at the sewn spots, aligning the arcs.  This will be the back, behind the wearers' neck. About 5 inches from the sewn stack. Sew across the tentacles.  Sew across the stack again 5 inches further ...

this makes a liittle spot to loop the other side through. At this point, the scarf is done, but I like to sew a few buttons and ornaments on the last seam for decoration.

Loop the tentacles from one side through the opening in the other, and voila!

A terrible picture, taken with my phone... I really must learn to use the thing.

De-Motivational Stones

So I'm sure everyone has seen the stupid rocks with warm, fuzzy words on them (seems like a visual oxymoron to me) What are they even for?

As a sort of geological rebuttal, I made my own version for a friend this Christmas. She is always posting inspirational quotes and other touchy-feely stuff on FaceBook, so I thought these would bring her back to earth a little.  Get her a little more grounded, so to speak...  all weak puns aside, it was fun to come up with a bunch of depressing words.  It was also fun stealing the stones from the nearest commercially-landscaped business.
I can hardly wait to gift them to my rose-colored-glasses friend.  I hope she strews them about her office, to help set the tone for her workplace.  

Absinthe Fairy

Who would have guessed Absinthe was so damn expensive?  I had no idea.

I've been wanting to make a gift set for my uncle for a few years, so I bought a bottle, an Absinthe spoon, and made a Green Absinthe Fairy.  He'll have to buy his own sugar cubes.

His body is made from 2 pipe cleaners encased in fabric.  His head & hands are Fimo (I embedded 2 glass beads for eyes).  His skirt is gathered tulle, and his hair is wool roving.

 I made his wings out of a gift wrap package container, tracing the wing pattern ( thanks, google image search) and then adding some green sparkly fingernail polish. I found out that the nail polish will smudge the permanent marker lines, so next time I'll remember to paint on the opposite side of the plastic

Three Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf Fairytale Quilt

Two little piggies just hanging out in the straw house.

My darling niece is expecting her first baby in March.  We had a shower for her on Saturday, and I made the baby this goofy blanket.  Each of the houses is a pocket. The big bad wolf and the 3 little pigs can go in and out.

The quilt was made entirely of fabric scraps I had on hand, except for the largish piece of fleece I used for the backing.  The project was a quicky... If I had more time it would have been a little less primitive, but it is cute nonetheless.  Now I am inspired to make more interactive story quilts.

The not so big or bad wolf is house-sitting the stick house.  I don't think he's terribly hungry, although he is gritting his teeth something horrible!

The smart piggie made his house out of bricks.  Doesn't he look smug?

The finished quilt thrown over the back of the sofa