Halloween Costumes 2009

Much work was put into costumes this year, but spread out a bit so as to not be so overwhelming. Here is the link to the costume pics on the other blog.

The top of my costume was made entirely by me and a combination of about 3 different patterns with multiple modifications on my part. The bottom was a repurposed skirt that used to be white and I never even wore once. It was also too big and rolled over 3 times at the top. I threaded the beads through the bottom and dyed the whole thing "sunflower yellow". I was not in the mood to make a skirt....but unfortunately I have now got 6 yards of yellow chiffon....just in case anyone has a need. Also, a shout out to silk velvet, just as a whole. The navy blue on the sides of my top was made with the $24 per yard stuff and it was sublime. I only needed 3/4 of a yard so I went for it. Feels sooooo good. I got the apple necklace and earrings marked down at Party City--I hate that store--but it was broken off the earring back and I had to remake them from scratch. They only cost $3.99 though.

Cinderella was also made by me. The blue satin has silver glittery sparkles on it and she picked it out herself as THE Cinderella blue. The shoes are her own, the velvet choker is a scrap held together by scotch tape and the headband is a ribbon. I bought a blue headband, but she said Cinderella had a "HEADBAND!!", which to her is a ribbon. So, we have a ribbon.
Goth Tinkerbell is a purchased dress we got at Ross for $14, wings that I have in my wing stash (yes, I have a stockpile of after-halloween wings. Dont you?), her own Doc Marten's that she wears to school practically daily and an exorbitant amount of eye makeup. Also, purchased skull wristbands and mesh arm thingies. The stockings are also from my stash....

For the boys, we have the Ninja Mickey Mouse which is a internet bought ninja outfit. I dont really understand how Ninjas work, but apparently there are real people who think they are them....and they sell outfits. It only cost like $25 and is very high quality cotton...like a karate uniform. He wore his Renaissance Faire boots instead of the weird split toe boots they sell for ninjas. And the Mickey ears were bought, obviously. It made for a hilarious silhouette.


Chris's Vampire Prince Charming outfit is a newly made vest from an old pattern I had. The fabric was originally going to be this gown when we were planning a Bram Stoker's Dracula theme, but when we changed to Disney theme, it got set aside. Perfect for the vamp vest though! I love the fabric. The rest of his outfit is his repurposed Snape costume and some white face paint.


We had a great time, everybody was comfortable in their outfits and I really didnt spend too terribly much this year. That is always good. Happy Halloween....the best holiday EVA!!!

A Big Girl Room Remodel

The baby girl is getting bigger and bigger by the day, unfortunately. She is now completely potty trained--day and night. She has felt free to climb out of her crib and wander at her leisure for some time now. And, let's be honest, I never really "decorated" her room the first time. We bought one pack of vinyl pink sticker thingies to put on the wall and a fancy bedding set from Babies'R'Us and that was about it. We didnt even repaint the loft turned nursery for her arrival (LAZY).
So, it is the time!! On my first excursion to Atlanta to visit my sis, we hit the ever-fabulous Ikea. I had been looking for some color inspiration for this potential room and found a great comforter cover there. A few accessories to match and we were out of there for less than $50. Deal of the century. Add onto that another $35 in paint and about $20 in odds and ends and it brought me in just barely over $100 for the entire project....well, that and about 2 days of my time, but I will give her that for free.

This was the starting wall color with sticker things still in place. Obviously we had already started dismantling things. We are messy, but not quite this bad!


Now, I am going to start right here and now and say that I blatantly stole lots of ideas straight off the internet and particularly etsy. There are some of the cutest wall decals on etsy, for pretty reasonable prices, too. But, not within my budget and frankly it is easier for me to just wing it with a paintbrush than to actually take the time to order anything. I am a big proponent of "you can always paint over it".
So, here goes.
All things start with a proper tape job.

And a new wall color (BAM!!).


And so, we begin the design portion of our show.....
Gigantic branch coming out of the wooden wall.

Embellishment of said branch.

Add a little branch on the other side for symmetry....we MUST have symmetry...

Hmmm, perhaps i forgot to mention the red stripes on the back wall......oops.....we like some two-tone rooms around here...

Anyway, must tie the red stripes into everything else. The poppies were kindof an afterthought....also stolen from etsy....I was getting a little over-swirled with the branches. I had planned for some kinda graphic swirlyness under the window, but changed at the last minute.


Now this "over-doing it" portion of our show....the mural branch was lacking something. I decided it was a worm....and a crown on the bird.

A valance and some ribbon over the existing curtains.

And finally, some linens and a handmade bedskirt added to a bed made of two footboards so it is low and my baby wont fall far when she tumbles out in the middle of the night.

Oh, and a gigantic orange bolster and the cute night light lamp from ikea. And the handpainted sign from Aunt Katelyn.

Ta-daaaaaa....


Here she is trying it out for the first time....she seems a little freaked....

......sharing her spot with the big bro....

....oh, did I mention the awesome green sheets....oops.....

...fake sleeping....

.....fake sleeping only lasted for seconds, then the jumping began....


I know she is bad! There is no covering it up. But, she is like the cutest thing ever, so what am I going to do?!

The End!!

Tudor Houses are Awesome

Anyone who knows me knows my love of all things English-y. I have a particular adoration of wonky Tudor houses. They are also called half-timbered houses or timber frame, but to me they are just Tudor ala King Henry.
We in America have a version of these....they have it in England too....that is called Tudor revival. Drive through some fancy neighborhoods-and even some not so fancy ones-and you will see the decorative trim that is on gables that is a throwback to the real thing. These houses are not authentically timbered but have trim styled like they are--there is no relation from inside to outside of the house. I am not hating on these...they are cute and I like them fine, but that is not what I am talking about here.

In true, ancient half timbered houses, the entire house was made with a timber frame. There are no studs inside the walls like modern construction. The builder made a giant frame for the house out of big heavy timbers and pegged them together. In between the beams the space was filled with rocks, bricks, rubble, sticks or anything they could come up with to fill in the space and then they "stuccoed" over the filler. The walls were as thick as the beams they made them out of and the beams were exposed on the inside and outside of the house. This is what an authentic wall was filled with....minus the glass frame, obviously....


There is modern timber framing....I live in a modern timber framed house. Kinda the same as the authentic, but not really. The whole "filling the walls with junk and stuccoing over it" thing is not very modernly energy efficient. This is what a modern timber frame looks like while being built....this is mine....

All smallest upright in that frame is 6X6 inches....some are bigger than that. But now, instead of filling in between them, we attached SIPs to the outside of the frame. This means you can see the beams on the inside of our house, but not the outside....so we faked it on the outside.
Inside....
Outside..

Enough of all that construction talk....THIS is why I love them. We took these on our awesome trip to London that we just got back from....click on any of these to go to the photo-set and see all of the ones we took.






And finally, here is a funny story. We were walking through Hampstead Heath and happened upon the most picturesque, perfect little cottage in the woods. It looked like something out of Hansel and Gretel and before we even got up to it we had discussed how lucky the resident was and wondered how they lucked up and got the gig that got them living in the cutest house ever in the middle of this awesome park, etc, etc.... This is the house....



Okay, now wait for it.....



It was the park bathroom....i would still live there forever....

Hot oil massage for your face!!

4/22/2009 I am adding this to the Works For Me Wednesday list--even though I posted it LAST Wednesday. That counts right. Well, here it is anyway. I will do better next week. It seems Earth Day appropriate. Happy Earth Day!

I happened upon this ages ago at a blog I used to look at all the time but that doesnt exist anymore. Strangely, I found this archive of the original, so I thought I would share it here.

When I first read this I got sucked in because I have oily skin and it seemed nuts--I love to try out things that sound nuts. I have been washing my face exclusively with straight extra virgin olive oil for well over a month now and it is working fabulously. I havent put any soap on my face this entire time. I think I am turning Italian and I look just like Sophia Loren now. Okay, that's a lie, but I have no zits and I havent put any soapy chemicals on my face at all. I have to get some points for that.
This is how I am doing it:
1. Turn on the hot water...wasteful I know but you want it really hot.
2. Put about 1 tsp or a bit more in my hand and then massage all over your face. Pay particular attention to oily spots just like you would with any face wash. Dont be scrimpy...if you have a big fat face, embrace it and use more oil. To much is better than too little. Rub it in for about a full minute-ish.
3. Take a nice nubby washcloth and run it under the HOT water. Wring it out and lay the washcloth over your face. (Some people advocate the zen approach here and want you to steam yourself like you are getting a facial. I have ZERO patience so I stand there with it on my face as long as I can stand it. The idea is to open your pores with the steam. I usually last about 20 seconds tops.)
4. Take that same washcloth and scrub the living crap out of your face.
5. Dry off and you are done.

So, after I had been doing this with good results for several weeks, I suckered my poor daughter into trying it. She is 12 and has the most sensitive skin of anyone in our entire family. You never know what is going to break her out...no rhyme or reason to it. I have a friend who took her to one of those Diva Kid Party places...she called me in a panic on the way home because my poor kid's whole face was red and puffy and swollen. Gotta love some Benadryl. Anyway, I was just thinking that if this would work for her it would be much less irritating to her skin.
The first time I hauled her in the bathroom to try it I thought she was going to have a panic attack. She was horrified. She has since done it everyday on her own. Her face isnt completely blemish free, but it is better and she is much more thorough with it because no soap in the eyes and splashing water, etc. And after all, she is 12...blemish free is alot to ask at that age.
I have also read in that post above and elsewhere that adding some castor oil to the olive oil has drying effects, so would be good for oily skin. I am going to get some of that to add to my daughter's and see if that does better for her. I will let you know. One way or the other, though, we are converts.

Fancy Bun

So, yesterday I was in Costume mode and looking up--wait for it--BELLY DANCING HAIR! I came upon this technique that i thought was about the most awesome thing I have ever seen in my life. I thought perhaps this was common knowledge among people who actually take time to fancy up their hair but, upon discussion with my work peeps, I have found that it is not. So, let me be the gal to enlighten you!



And then, if you are full on lazy and cheap like me, you can peruse this little beauty so you can get the donut thingy on the cheap out of your own closet! This video has captions for the words since i think this chick is speaking some Asian language we would not otherwise understand...just go with it. Oh, and use a brown sock for heaven's sake. And one sock is plenty unless you have some super-long hair.



Cool, huh?! Told ya!