toddler quidditch costume...

Oh goodness, life has been full of ups and downs lately.

My family has been working on a HUGE project...

building a new house!

We signed a contract to build, put our current house up for sale, sold it in 11 days, quickly found a temporary rental, made all of our architectural and design choices for the new house, and moved out all in the last month and a half or so.  It has been INSANE.  (And that doesn't even include all of the non-house related life events going on...)

In all the craziness, I did actually manage to plan Halloween costumes, but they didn't get finished until the night before (of course).  My little man's costume was a big hit, though!

My son is almost 2 and very opinionated, so I knew I had to keep it simple.  No hats, masks, face paint, etc.  OBVIOUSLY a Ron Weasley costume was in order.  He is a ginger, after all. :)  I wanted to do something different than the usual black Hogwarts robe & wand, so I went with Ron Weasley--Gryffidor Quidditch keeper.

As I said, the costume was done last minute so I don't have a tutorial, but I can give a basic description of what I did.  The broom was easy peasy.  I bought a wood dowel and a grapevine decoration (in the wreath department) at the craft store.  The dowel got some brown craft paint, then I hot glued the grapevine twigs to the bottom.  I wrapped some grosgrain ribbon around the twigs to keep them secure and to give it that "broom" look.

For the quidditch uniform, I used an XL men's tee for the fabric.  I used one of my kiddo's shirts to trace the pattern for the sleeveless top and quickly sewed that up, not bothering to hem anything since it's just a costume and knit won't fray.  Then I used extra fabric from the original tee to create the robe/cape effect in the back.  I just gathered the top, then sewed it to the hem.

The yellow lettering was done with fabric paint & freezer paper stencils.  (Check here for a freezer paper stenciling tutorial and here for info on how to run freezer paper through your home printer!)

I also stenciled these "Gryffindor Quidditch" baseball tees for my husband & I to wear.  We were just supporting cast members...we all know the cute kid is the star of the show.

I tried to get some pics of my son & I together, but he was too busy getting some trick-or-treat practice in. :)

Hope you all had a fabulous Halloween!  

I'm excited to get into my new house in a few months so I can finally get some crafty posts up.  I know there will be TONS of little decorating projects to do.  Can't wait!

wanna buy a harry potter tee?

So my "Expecto Patronum" t-shirt post has gotten all kinds of traffic and comments... and even a few requests if I would make them available for purchase.

If you are interested in buying one, feel free to send me an email.
We can arrange a purchase through PayPal.


Womens sizes XS-XXL are currently available.  
OUT OF STOCK!

I decided to list them in my etsy shop.  If there aren't any available listings, send me a convo!

Thanks for the all the love guys!

stencil with freezer paper (harry potter tee)...

Yes, I am a nerd.

I came up with a brilliant idea for a Harry Potter t-shirt and I couldn't resist.

"Expecto Patronum!"

However, you can make whatever kind of design you want with a freezer paper stencil.  It doesn't have to be Harry Potter related.  (Although it would be awesome if it was.)

I learned about the joys of freezer paper back in my early college days.  

{Turns out you learn all kinds of creative tricks in an art program.  Who knew? :) }

Basically, freezer paper is backed with a plastic coating that will stick to soft surfaces when ironed, but it peels off cleanly and easily.  So you can draw whatever design you like on the paper side, cut it out, and then stencil away on a t-shirt, tote, canvas, pillowcase, etc.  You can find it in the foil/plastic wrap aisle of your grocery store.

To make a sweet t-shirt you will need:

paper & pencil

a t-shirt

freezer paper
a sharpie fine point marker

an x-acto knife

an iron

a piece of cardboard or poster board

fabric paint & brush

Start by drawing your design on some regular old paper.

 My design kept getting bigger, so I taped two sheets together.  You are going to transfer the design to freezer paper anyway, so don't worry about erasing your mistakes.  (If you aren't confident in your drawing abilities, you can print something out and trace it.  But make sure you aren't ripping off someone else's work without permission.  Be cool.)

Next, place your design underneath a sheet of freezer paper and trace it neatly with a sharpie.

  The marker gives your lines greater width making it easier to cut them out and paint them in later.

Now place a piece of cardboard under your freezer paper to protect your table while you cut.  Start by cutting out any "inner" shapes.

Important: Set these shapes aside. DO NOT throw them away!

 You have to iron them onto your shirt later in order to complete your stencil.

After reserving your inner shapes, cut out the rest of your design and trim down the excess paper around the outside. (You can throw these parts away.)

Iron the main body of your stencil onto your shirt.

Then add those little inner shapes to the correct places and iron them down.

Place a piece of cardboard between the layers of your shirt to prevent the fabric paint from bleeding through.  Use a stiff brush to apply your fabric paint.

It may take a couple of coats to get good coverage.

Peel off your stencil while it's still wet, then allow your paint to dry according to package directions. (And some fabric paints need to be heat-set, so read the label!)

Once it's dry, you can wear your custom tee around town.

Perhaps to a showing of Harry Potter?

**Update:  Interested in buying one?  Check my etsy shop.  Convo me if there aren't any in stock!**

as requested...

Oh man.  Spring cleaning is in full swing around here.

I'm a crazy person and decided to empty out and reorganize EVERY closet in our house.  This place looks like it exploded.  We may be spending our life's savings on Sterilite totes and adhesive labels, but it will be worth it.  I should have taken before pictures.  (Just imagine the most jam-packed closets you can think of, full of the most random crap ever and you'll be right on target.)  I'll be sure to share the after shots, though.

I recently had a request for a "He Lives" Butterfly Printable with a white background, so as to be a little more economical ink-wise.  In between cleaning and sorting and purging unwanted items, I was happy to take a time-out to oblige...

Download the watermark free version HERE.

In other news, I did paper character puppets with some of my younger art students this week.  They did Easter bunnies, Tangled, and Mickey/Minnie Mouse.  This is what I came up with...

I occasionally like to walk through the house, waving them around while saying things like, "I'm Harry Potter...Expecto Patronum!!!" in my best British accent (of course).  My husband thinks I've lost my mind.

He may be right.

Now, what's the spell for reorganizing closets again?...