Halloween Costumes

Halloween is the perfect time to play dress-up with paperdolls!

They always have fun costumes to choose from.

All it takes is the fold of a tab and you can change from

a ballerina to a gypsy, witch, princess or cowgirl.

Forget Me Not/ American Greetings

Hallmark

Hallmark

Carlton Cards

Buzza/Gibson Greetings

What about in real life?

What was your most memorable costume from childhood?
Have a look at this wonderful getup from a few years decades ago.

(Photo by my Dad.  Family pictures may not be borrowed or pinned.)

My little sister was "Raggedy Andy".

And I was "Little Buttercup", 

who sold ribbons, laces, treacle, toffee, scissors and watches and knives 

to the Sailors on board the H.M.S. Pinafore.

(Any Gilbert and Sullivan fans out there? Claudia, I hope you're seeing this.)

  

Shine

Christ, be our light.

Shine in our hearts,

Shine through the darkness.

I think the prettiest churches are found in small towns.

Queen of the Holy Rosary , Wea

Halloween Kitty-Cats

I can't think of many things cuter than a kitten on Halloween.

(I do the cute version of Halloween.  No scary stuff here.)

Each of these Halloween paperdoll cards features a kitty, or a cat costume.

Hallmark

Forget Me Not/ American Greetings

Ambassador/Hallmark

American Greetings

Hallmark 

Gibson

Forget Me Not/American Greetings

 I dressed my own little ones in costumes that looked like our household felines: 

A gray tabby and a tuxedo tomcat. 

(That was a few several years ago. Time flies)

(photos of family may not be borrowed or pinned)

I'll have more Halloween paperdolls to share with you in a couple of days,
so be sure to check back.

Put On Your Dresses Scarlet And Gold

Come said the wind to
the leaves one day,
Come o’re the meadows
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold. 

~A Children’s Song of the 1800′s

Leaves for Leontien

Little Red Barn

Who owns this little red barn?

Why Blue Bear, of course.

Blue Bear, the owner of the little blue house, decided to take up farming.
Blue Bear and his son, Brown Bear, just finished baling the hay.

Blue Bear also harvested a bumper crop of sunflowers and pumpkins.

He hopes to increase the size of his dairy herd next year.

(Newer followers may want to go here for a proper introduction to Blue Bear's family.)

Owl, Leaf, Butterfly and Flower Garden

I made more little felt ornaments this week.

The owl, leaf and butterfly were inspired by pictures I found online.

I see pictures and say to myself...  "I can do that."

So I take a good look, and then go figure it out.

I draw my own paper pattern, so they are similar yet different from the original.

 Then I pull out the supplies and let the fun begin. 

 Small, crafty projects like these are good stress busters.
(But you don't have any of that in your life, do you?)

(To see the original pictures that triggered this creative burst,

see my "craft inspiration" board on pinterest.)

This one is my own creation.

It's the flowers that my parents picked on their wedding day, many years ago.

And I'll be giving this to my Mom when our family gathers together this weekend.

Tweet! Tweet! Felt Birds.

I finished the craft I started in my last post.
Bright colored felt and ric-rac birdie ornaments.

I originally found inspiration for the birds at Craft Kitchen

I pinned them to my craft board on pinterest several months ago,
 so I would not forget that I wanted to make them when it got closer to Christmas.

She did not share a pattern, or post instructions, but they were

easy enough to make just by looking at her photo. 

Here is how I made my birds:

(You may need to adjust your measurements, depending on the size of circles you start with.)

Gather your felt, fabric, trim, thread, beads, sequins and needles.

Start with two different sized circles in coordinating colors-

4.5" felt circle  and 3" coordinating fabric circle.

(I used a coffee can lid and a biscuit cutter as patterns for my circles.)

Lay the smallest in the center of the big one (right side up)

 and zig-zag them together with matching thread.

Fold in half (right side out).

Cut  a beak from orange felt and tuck in at the head.

Cut several 5" pieces of ric-rac.  Fold in half, and tuck in at the tail.

Pin in place and sew a 1/4 inch seam, making sure to catch all the pieces. 

Cut a 10" piece of ric-rac.

 Hand stitch it along the edge of the "wings" (the smaller circle). 

(Be sure to include enough extra to tuck the ends under for a finished look.)

Stitch sequins and beads on to make the eyes.

(I used doubled thread so I could pull it tight and not worry about it breaking.)

 Switch to a larger needle to sew thick floss and beads to the top for a hanger.

Knot at the top.

Finished birds are 7" long and 2.25" high.

Viola!

Tweet! Tweet!

What Is It?

What is it?   

It's a little crafty project I started working on last night.

I needed to use up some of my fabric stash and ric-rac.   LOL!

(Actually, I needed a sanity break from the family project
I've been working on all week.)

I'll post photos of the finished product in a couple of days.

Anyone care to take a guess as to what it could be?
(Don't go looking at my pinterest boards, or you'll figure it out for sure.)