DIY Puppy Ears

These fun puppy ears doubled as photo props (for the upcoming thank-you cards) and as party favors. What can I say? I like when stuff serves double-duty -- it's just plain smart. Plus, I saved money by making them myself instead of purchasing them from this site! Here's how I made these cute puppy dog ears (I made 11 pairs total) for about $6.

{Some of the finished puppy ears}

Materials:

• tan felt (I bought 6 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" size at Wal-Mart, 23 cents each)
• brown marker
• scissors
• brown/black plastic headbands (These came in 3-packs from Dollar Tree. I bought 4 sets.)
• hot glue gun
• cream felt (This came in a neutral colors multi-pack at Wal-Mart, but I only used cream for this project.)

Directions:

1. Fold a piece of felt in half, width-wise. Cut along the fold. 
2. Now, take one half piece and fold it in half, lengthwise this time. Cut along the fold. 
3. Draw a floppy ear on one side and cut it out. Mine had a triangular notch at the top end.

   

   {This is how I folded and cut my felt to get started.}

4. Use this as a template for all the other ears. Trace around it onto the felt. A brown marker works nicely, and even if it shows on the felt later, it doesn't really clash. (Note: You can either cut the felt smaller first, or just trace an ear, flip it over, fit the template ear against the tracing, and trace again. Then, cut all traced ears out. I did it both ways, and didn't really have a preference.)

   

   {How I laid the ears for tracing with as little waste as possible.}

5. Lay out ears in sets of two, facing them the desired direction. (I made each one curve toward the center.) Then, using a hot glue gun, adhere each ear to a plastic headband. Lay them flat while the glue cools.

   

   {Here is my triangle tip + hot glue, before folding.}

6. Cut spots from cream felt. Mine were all shapes and sizes, but you can make basic circles if you prefer. Apply the the ears using the hot glue gun. I took my triangle tip, turned it over, applied the glue to that area, and then folded it over on itself around the plastic headband. Again, lay flat while glue cools. Tip: If glue strings bug you, use your fingers to remove any glue strings.
7. Your puppy ears are now ready to wear!

DIY Poodle Skirt (No-Sew!)

Last Friday was Mia's 50th day of school, and her first grade class was celebrating with a 50's theme. She had asked me if she could have a poodle skirt, and initially I thought there was no way I could pull that off with only a couple days notice. Then, I checked my craft stash and came across plenty of pink felt and a black iron-on poodle and some white pearl trim for the leash. Yes, I had actually hoped to make myself a poodle skirt several years ago, (like, B.C. -- Before Children era -- years ago). My sewing skills are not the greatest so I never got past the point of purchasing the materials!

Deciding that I had very little to lose here, I found an online tutorial for making a NO-SEW poodle skirt. The only thing I needed to purchase was some iron-on Velcro. The directions said that I would only need 2 inches, so instead of purchasing an entire package, I got 8 inches at the cutting counter at Jo-Ann. (I figured it was best to buy a bit extra just in case!) With my coupon, this cost me a grand total of 91 cents, so again, I felt that I had little to lose if it didn't go well. Actually, I guess that's not completely true. While at Michaels (which is right next to Jo-Ann, so I couldn't very well go to one and not pop into the other), I found some cute rhinestone ribbon trim in the $1 section. I couldn't resist getting this even though I knew I would use very little for this particular project. Honestly, it was a good deal, and I know it will get used for something else, but if you really want to know what I spent on this project it would be fair to share that.

I am happy to say that this project was a huge success, which I owe to my daughter who was entirely confident that I would produce a wearable skirt despite having never made her any type of clothing in the past. Her belief in me helped me feel that I could achieve what I had set out to do. Now that I have managed to make one cute little poodle skirt, I am thinking I should be able to finally make one for myself. I even have plenty of time to get it done before Halloween!

{Happy 50th Day of School!}

Materials:

• 1 yard pink felt (or color of your choice -- this is the just color and amount I used)
• scissors (I suppose fabric scissors are optimal; I used my regular old scissors.)
• iron-on poodle applique (or use the template provided by obSEUSSed with your own felt)
• pearl trim for leash (ribbon or other trim would work, as well)
• iron-on Velcro (I used 3 inches total)
• ruler (or measuring tape, if you have one)
• iron
• hot glue gun
• black pom pom for tail (optional)
• rhinestone trim for collar (or sequined trim, optional)

Directions:
1) (Note: I appreciate that obSEUSSed came up with this easy way to figure out how much felt to use.) Measure your child from the waist to her knees. I actually have a dressmaker's measuring tape somewhere... not sure where, though, so I used a plain old ruler. (See, I swear anyone can do this, and you do NOT need sewing skills!) My girl is petite so it was only 14 inches. I double that to get 28 and then added 8 more to come up with a total of 36. I used a white pencil and my ruler to help me figure out how to get a 36 inch square from my bundle of felt and then cut it out (using regular scissors, NOT fabric scissors, and it came out just fine for this non-sewing mama). Note: The blog post I got this from said she made a 42 inch felt square for her daughter, so make sure you take measurements before buying fabric as there is quite a bit of difference among children's sizes.
2) Fold the fabric twice to make a square half the size of the original. (Mine was 18 inches. Hers was 21 inches.)
3) On the edge that is NOT folded, cut a curved line from one corner to the other. (obSEUESSed includes a photo if you want to see how this looks.)
4) This is the part that confused me at first, and I had to have Brett read the directions and explain them to me, "While folded, mark 4 inches from the folded corner on both folded sides. Cut a curved line from each mark. This creates a 16 inch waist opening. It will be adjustable." (quote from obSEUSSed)
Now that I read this again, it makes sense. Basically, you are cutting away a section that has two straight lines and one curved line that has a 4 inch radius. Once you unfold the fabric it turns out to be a full circle with a 16 diameter. (Again, check her photos if you need clarification.)

5) With the fabric unfolded, cut a line from the outside edge to the inside edge. It doesn't matter where you cut, but I did try to get a relatively straight line. Now you have made the basic skirt, and you are on to the easy (and fun!) part: embellishment!

6) I decided that I wanted the cut part to be in the back of the skirt, and then I decided to place the poodle on the lower right are of the skirt (as seen when she is wearing it.) Since my applique was an iron-on, I just heated up my iron and followed the package directions, flipping over the fabric and ironing from the reverse side. It said to apply heat for just 30 seconds I believe, but I found that it took 3 repetitions before it was set. To be on the safe side, I had a kitchen towel in between my iron and the felt so that may have been the reason for the delay. (Note: While it saved me time, using the applique was more expensive that her version with the homemade poodle. Even though, I didn't buy it recently, it seems fair to mention that I priced this out at around $6 at Jo-Ann.)

7) Once the poodle was placed, I laid out my pearl trim and arranged it to make a couple of fun loops, making its way to the upper left corner of the skirt. After my glue gun was hot, I used it to adhere the pearl trim in my chosen design. (Note: Again, I had purchased this long ago, and I did not occur to me to figure out a price. I think I used just under a yard of the stuff, which is essentially the same as a little girl's pearl necklace except that it is broken. Well, I am pretty sure we have a broken necklace laying around somewhere that I could have used if I were being more frugal!)

8) I blinged out the poodle further with a black pom pom (already had this) for the tail, and that cute turquoise rhinestone trim, both of which I applied with my hot glue gun.

{After adding the poodle and trim}

9) For the closure, I did it differently that obSEUSSed. She just used two 1-inch sections of the "pokey" side of the Velcro, which she says will cling to the material and make it adjustable. I used 3 inches of both sides for extra security since she was going to wear it ALL day at school. I had extra left over, so I can always adjust the sizing down the road, since this is bound to become a Halloween costume at some point. First, I used a 1 inch section of the soft side and ironed it to the the inside corner (so that when she would wear the skirt, the other end would fold over it -- this was where I ironed the corresponding 1 inch section of the "pokey" side of the Velcro. (Per directions on the package at the store, I flipped the fabric over and ironed from the reverse side, holding it down for 90 seconds.) Then, I had Mia try the skirt on, and I decided to place another set of 1 inch Velcro tabs, so that there was about 2 1/2" gap between them. There was a lot of excess material, so I cut away some from the inside fold so that it would lay better. Then, I added another set of hook/loop closures to the bottom of the skirt. The placement was determined by where the material was hitting, kind of the opposite of what I had done with the waist closure.

In the end, the poodle skirt didn't fit her quite as well as I had hoped, but it was definitely good enough for a "costume." I simply told her that she had to wear leggings underneath, just in case. Fortunately, she didn't mind and she was really thrilled to have her very own poodle skirt, enthusing that she had "always wanted one!" (This was news to me, but I was happy that she was happy. Also, I made a poodle skirt! Who wouldn't be excited to realize she could do that?!)

DIY Lightning McQueen Halloween Costume

When my little man asked me to make him a race car costume for this past Halloween, I was secretly thankful that he didn't request something that required sewing! It's like he somehow knew that this was not exactly one of my best strengths, and he instead chose to play to a particular skill that I possess: making cool stuff out of cardboard. More likely, it was just that he really wanted to be his favorite character, Lightning McQueen. My inspiration was the Lightning McQueen pinata that I had made for his third birthday party. Having already accomplished that, I was pretty sure I could pull this off. After many hours, I had created a costume that we were both pretty excited about (and it only cost me $3 for two cans of red spray paint)!

{The finished costume!}

Materials:

• cardboard box
• pencil
• scissors
• masking tape
• red spray paint
• acrylic paint: black, white, red, orange, yellow, turquoise
• paint brushes/paint trays (old Styrofoam trays)
• black Sharpie marker
• hot glue gun
• wide red ribbon
• craft knife
• Mod Podge
• computer/printer
• scratch paper (optional)
• tracing paper (optional)
• clear spray shellac (optional)

Directions for Making a Car Costume:

1. First I found a box that was in good condition and was large enough. A clerk at Meijer happily gave me this when I asked about boxes.
2. Then, I removed all of the tape. I also took off the labels as best as I could.
3. Next, I cut off two of the four flaps from the bottom of the box and set them aside. (This was so that he could easily fit his legs through the bottom, but it would still have some cardboard to give it structure.)
4. I flattened the box and drew a car shape on one side like I had done when I made the Lightning McQueen pinata. Then, I cut around the lines, leaving the other sides of the box in tact. I used some scratch paper, traced the car shape, cut it out, and then used it for a template to draw the same same on the reverse side. I cut that out and then I had two sides of the car that matched up.
5. After that, I measured my son to determine how big of a hole I would approximately need for the center. He's pretty thin, so I just ended up tracing around a big bowl and cutting out the circle from the top of the box.
6. Next, I re-taped the bottom of the box, using many strips of masking tape along the seams. This made it easier to do the next step. To make the taping stage go more smoothly, I tore off many, many strips of tape and then draped them along the edges of my table before starting.
7. To shape the car, I started with the back section of the body (the flat side that I had drawn on) and I bent the top panel of the box down (easily) to meet the side. Then, I taped it, first with many short pieces of tape going up and over, then with longer strips going lengthwise over the top. A way to describe this more visually would be that it resembles stitches. I did the same to the opposite side of the car.

   

   {Shaping the side}

8. For the top of the car, I taped the flaps together around the cut-out circle, making adjustments with my scissors as needed. 
9. Then, I reinforced all of the inside seams with tape "stitches" and added another layer of tape "stitches" to the outer seams.
10. For the front end of the car, I cut about 3 inches off the flap (that would be the hood section), and this may have been slightly more than I needed to trim. Then, I folded it down to meet the top and sides and taped everything in place using my "stitches" method.

    

    {Shaping the front end}

11. To make the tail fin, I flipped the box over and used the blade of my scissors to score the inside of the flap, about 2 1/2" inches in. I did this along the entire length of the flap and then flipped it right side up and easily pushed the section of the box down along the scored section, making a peak. Then, I just taped the rest of the rear end of the car in place, again using my "stitches" technique. (Note: This was the end of shaping the box into a car. I would have liked the front end to be more rounded to look more like Lightning McQueen, but given time constraints, I decided this was good enough. Plus, it was still reasonably sturdy and I didn't want to tamper with that aspect considering it would be worn several times by my 4-year-old and I needed it to hold up!)

    

    {Shaping the tail fin}

12. I took the box car outside and spray painted it red. Once the first coat was dry, I applied a second coat. After that, I finished it with a third coat of spray paint. In all, this was more than one can, but less than two cans of paint. This was enough to get good coverage, hiding any writing on the box, and filling in all the taped areas which were initially much lighter than the cardboard. By this point, it was looking more like a race car, but it definitely needed some special details to be transformed into his favorite character!

Directions for Decorating the Costume:

1. The front end: I traced a plastic bottle cap for the eyes and a button for the pupils. The rest of the eye area I drew freehand. I painted this with white acrylic paint and turquoise acrylic paint, and outlined it all with black Sharpie, including filling in the pupils. I drew the mouth freehand and painted it white and then outlined it with Sharpie. The Rust-eze logo on the "hood" is one I printed from the Internet and just sized the way I wanted in Microsoft Word. I applied it with a foam paintbrush and Mod Podge.
2. The sides: I drew the side windows freehand and painted them gray by mixing black and white acrylic paints. Then, I went around the outsides with black Sharpie. The lightning bolt I also drew freehand, and then I used tracing paper to trace it and reverse it for the opposite side of the car, which was a big sanity and time saver! I painted these with a gradation of color from orange to yellow, with the two blended in the middle. Then I Mod Podged my number 95 "decals" on. Again, these were copied from the Internet and pasted in Microsoft Word, where I could size them the way I wanted. After applying the "decals," I outlined the lightning bolts with my black Sharpie.
3. The tail fin: This Rust-eze logo was found online and printed off. I cut it out with scissors (and a craft knife for some of the smaller spots) and then decoupaged it on the front of the fin.
4. The back end: Admittedly, by this point, I was getting worn out, so I simplified the tail end a bit. I included another Rust-eze logo like the one on the tail fin. Then, I drew "tail lights" and painted them orange and yellow, outlining them with my black Sharpie.

   

   {The rear view}

5. The tires: Deciding it wasn't worth my time or energy to reinvent the wheel, I pulled the two rear wheels from this party game. For the front tires, I traced a pan or a bowl onto one of the flaps of cardboard that were left over from step 3 for shaping my box car. Whatever it was, I chose it because it was the largest round object in my kitchen that would fit onto that cardboard flap. After cutting out both circles, I painted them and added details just as I had done for the Pit Stop party game (and if you need directions, just click the link). I used my hot glue gun to adhere all four tires to the car.
6. The straps: I used two lengths of 1 1/2" wired red ribbon that I had on hand. I had him wear the costume so I could tell wear to place the straps, and I made pencil marks where I would put holes. To make the holes, I used a craft knife to make a small "x" in each spot I had marked. Then, I pushed the ribbon through the tops of the holes and knotted on the underside. I used masking tape to hold the extra ribbon on the insides of the car, rather than cutting it, just in case I needed to adjust the lengths on Halloween night. (In Michigan, we never know if it will be 60 degrees or if they will be wearing snowsuits!)
7. Finishing the costume: For good measure, I applied a coat of clear spray shellac. (Again, this was something I already had on hand.) It turned out that was a good precaution because it was a very, very rainy Halloween! Once he put the costume on, we realized it was hanging slightly funny, and we decided it was because the straps were spaced slightly too far apart for his narrow shoulders. (Remember, I had to make the opening kind of big in case he was going to wear five layers!) I fixed this problem by grabbing some red and white bakers twine and tying the twos straps together in the back. He was able to slip in on and off without adjusting anything, but it stayed in place well while he was wearing the costume.

{Don't they look so happy together?}

{Everyone agreed that this was a very cool costume!}

How to Accessorize a Witch Hat (for a Particularly Fashionable Girl)

I got pretty lucky this year in that I didn't have to spend very much money to come up with Halloween costumes that made the kids quite happy. Mia wore a cute black and orange witch dress that my mom had found at a garage sale. She paired that with sparkly black tights (which she already owned), a long-sleeve black shirt (new, but very practical, so worth a few dollars investment), black shoes (which she already owned), and a black flower belt (also new, but again, she has already worn it several times, so totally worth a few dollars), which helped with fit since the dress was a teensy bit large. She also accessorized with a charming little broom that we had found at a garage sale for 75 cents.

The only thing I had to recently purchase specifically for costume wear was a witch hat. (I had actually gotten one at that same garage sale where we found the broom -- 50 cents. However, when we got it out and examined it, we found that it was a) falling apart and b) much too big. The redeeming quality is that it had some black sequined trim on the brim, which having been sloppily hot glued, was easy to remove.) I bought a new hat for her at Dollar Tree. It was orange with a spider web lace all over it and it fit her well. The only problem was that she felt it was a bit on the plain side.

{BEFORE}

I decided that it would be easy enough to trim it out and make it more acceptable to my little fashionista. We already had the black sequined trim, which laid nicely along the brim, making it simple to adhere with hot glue. Unfortunately, it only went around half of the hat, and left the rest looking very unfinished. I ended up buying a roll of black tulle at Walmart for about $3. (Ironically, this trim item was the single most expensive thing I purchased for either of the kids' Halloween costumes this year!) I bunched it up and applied it along the rest of the brim using my hot glue gun.

Then, we went through our craft stash and selected other items to accessorize the hat: three black feathers, a small scrap of orange tulle, a black and orange star-shaped button, and some ribbon that said "Trick or Treat" with candy corn on it. To complete the hat, I layered on some embellishments starting with the black tulle, making two lengths that hang down, and affixed them with hot glue. On top of the tulle, I placed the decorative ribbon, again with two lengths. Next, I fanned out the three black feathers and adhered them. I followed that with a little "flower" that I made by pinching the orange tulle into a round shape. After it was glued down, I added the button for the center, and voila -- an adorable witch hat for my sweet little witch!

{AFTER}

While I wasn't originally planning to spend anything more than the cost of the hat, I think this impromptu project made a big impact. With a bit of my time and some hot glue, I was able to transform that witch hat from drab to fab for just a few dollars. This project cost me about $4.50 -- $1 for the hat, $3 for the black tulle, and 50 cents for that sequined trim that I got from the discarded hat. It was completely worth it to see my little girl's big smile when she tried on her newly accessorized hat!

{My sweet little witch}

DIY Snoopy Costume

Sewing is definitely not one of my strongest skills, but I was pleased with how this home-made Snoopy costume for my husband's work party (his department had a Charlie Brown theme) turned out, especially considering that he only gave me a couple days notice that he wanted something like this. It wasn't really difficult so I think anybody can do this. I started with this basic idea for using a white hooded sweatshirt, which I found on clearance at Old Navy for $10.49 and improved upon it. The only other items I purchased were two pieces of black felt which were 23 cents each at Walmart. I was originally thinking that now that it served its purpose, I would dye the sweatshirt whatever color he chooses, but my mom suggested that we keep it for a Halloween costume, so I may wait a bit before deciding what to do. If I had known I might have wanted this to be permanent, I might have used something like Liquid Stitch to save myself some time.

Materials:

• white hooded sweatshirt
• 2 pieces of black felt 
• white felt
• scissors
• needle
• white thread
• black thread
• hot glue gun (optional)
• 16 gauge craft wire (optional)
• wire cutters (only needed if using craft wire)
• 2 black pipe cleaners (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut the first piece of black felt into a large oval shape. It doesn't have to be perfect. Tip: Save your scraps later. Sew this to the back of the sweatshirt using black thread to make Snoopy's big spot on his back. I am not sure of the name of the stitch (running?) that I used but it was just like those lacing cards from when I was younger. I just did big stitches, about 1" long, and spaced them approximately 1" apart. I wasn't worried about how well it would hold up since I thought it would get worn once and then clipped off so that I could dye the sweatshirt.
2. Fold the second piece of black felt in half like a hamburger. Then, cut out a floppy ear shape. These can be simple ovals, again, or if you want they can be more of a kidney bean shape. Either way, you will end up with two identical ears. Position them how you would like onto the hood of the sweatshirt. Use black thread to stitch them onto the hood.
3. Cut a piece of white felt into a triangle shape, making it as long as you would like Snoopy's tail to be. (The website I found directions on said to use black felt, but my husband said that wasn't right. I checked online and sure enough, his tail is white with a small black spot, not black, if you want to be precise.) I used a length of 16 gauge craft wire that I already had at home, which I cut with wire cutters to help give the tail some shape and make it stick out from the back of the sweatshirt. This is optional, but it looks nice (Plus, Brett says his co-workers really liked it when Snoopy wagged his tail after getting a strike. Their party took place at a bowling alley.) I laid the wire on top of the white felt triangle, stuffed it with some of the extra felt that I had cut, rolled it up into a long, narrow, cone shape, and hot glued it. I tried my best to make the seams end up on the underside of the tail. Then, I covered up what was left of the seam with a black felt spot that I cut out and hot glued to the tail. Lastly, I sewed the tail to the back of the sweatshirt using white thread. Tip: If you don't have craft wire, you can use a wire coat hanger instead. 
4. This last step is optional, but I think it completed the look. Make a collar out of two black pipe cleaners. Fit them around the neck of your Snoopy, and twist them together. If needed, you can trim away the excess. (I also sent him with some black ribbon and black yarn, but this was the collar option he went with since it didn't require any tying, glue, tape, staples, or other work.)
5. Another option I gave him was some black face paint so that he could paint on a Snoopy nose. He chose not to do this since we had a Date Night together that evening. I think that was the right choice, but if you don't have anywhere else to be, it would be a nice finishing touch.

{Snoopy was a hit with our girl, Ritzy!}