SUYL - Halloween Costumes!

 This week Kelly's Korner is talking about Halloween Costumes!  I must admit I LOVE making my girls' costumes! This will be the 3rd year in a row that I've made them tutu costumes and they are already deciding what they want to be next year, even my 15 year old!

Halloween 2010

 

From the first tutu I made I knew I was hooked :)  My oldest daughter wanted to be a zebra so I made her a black and white striped tutu and added some hot pink for a little flair ;)

  

Right down to her toes! I LOVE how puffy the tutus came out!  I decided to freezer paper stencil some dollar store t-shirts to go with their costumes. Then added in little touches like striped tights!  I wrote a quick post about it HERE.

 

My 8 year old daughter wanted to be a devil, "but not a SCARY devil, a cute one!" HA!

  

I think we achieved that! She was my "Darling Devil" and OH MY WORD AT THE CUTENESS! I posted a FULL TUTU TUTORIAL HERE.

 My 5 year old just wanted to wear the witches hat ;-) So I fashioned her outfit after the colors in the hat.

 For her shirt, I decided she should be a "Witchy Woman" HA! I added bows instead of straight ribbon threads so that her tutu would be just a little bit different ;)  I posted about it HERE.

I was SO SO excited when they wanted me to make their costumes again in 2011!  We sat down and came up with all sorts of ideas ... I think I have enough ideas to keep them in tutu costumes until I start making some for my grandbabies! ... hmmm I don't know if I like the sound of that!

Halloween 2011

My oldest, 14 at the time, decided to throw me a tutu curve ball and be a peacock!  I had to really think about how to make the back look like a tail!  You can see the post about that HERE.

That tutu was a little different but it came out BEAUTIFUL!  We freezer paper stenciled her shirt to say "Pretty as a Peacock" and boy does she pull it off!!

 My precocious 9 year old wanted to be an angel since she had been a devil the year before.  I think she was trying to showcase her duel personalities ;) 

She and I collaborated on the outfit and I just adore how it came together :) We freezer paper stenciled her shirt to say "Angel with Attitude" and WOW does that fit her to a T!  I wrote about her costume HERE.

 My youngest, 6 years old, wanted to be a lady bug.  I didn't know how much work I was getting myself into with this one!

I had to hand cut and sew each of the little polka dots on the skirt!  But WOW was it cute!  Her shirt said "Love Bug" and I think that fit her pretty well :)  I wrote a post about the whole thing HERE.

The year I will be trying out the TUTU DRESSES ... I'm a little nervous lol.  My oldest wants to be a mummy, my 10 year old a Deatheater {Harry Potter reference ;-)}, and my 7 year old is Cinderella.  I can't wait to see them on Halloween, guess I should get started on their costumes!!!

"Pretty As A Peacock" Tutu Costume

 

Last year, my oldest wanted to be a peacock :)  My girls have a good time coming up with interesting ideas for their costumes!  I had to think about how to make the tutu LOOK like a peacocks tail, something new and different that I hadn't seen before! 

  

So following my tutu tutorial HERE, I did the same basic form but something a little different for the tail.  I used slightly longer pieces of tulle and instead of folding them in half, I folded them with one long end and one short. I did a few different long/short length variations so it would look poofy but tapper down in the middle.  Then I added to the middle of the bow a cute peacock feather accent I found at Hobby Lobby :)

  

Her complete costume :)  I found the shirt at Dollar Tree and freezer paper stencilled it with the cute phrase cut out on my cricut.  I ended up taking the feather accent off the back of the tutu and putting it on a dollar store headband, which was super easy because it was once piece!

 

She really liked the idea of a mask so I found one for her at Rite Aid on clearance!  I found some single feathers at Hobby Lobby and hot glued them to the side.  Then, I wrapped a pencil in some ribbon and hot glued that to the back.  Add a few more coordinating ribbons to the bottom and there you go!

 

Add some black leggings and ballet flats and the look is complete :)

A better view of the back.  I think the "tail feathers" really came out cute!! I worried that they wouldn't fluff out right or look like I envisioned, but I was VERY happy with how it looks, and so was she :)

My pretty little peacock :)

I love that even at 14 she still wants to dress up and go with her sisters out Trick or Treating :)  It can be difficult these days for girls her age to find costumes that are appropriate and modest, so I LOVE that she'll let me make one for her!

This year she wants to be a mummy ... with a tutu of course! Can't wait to see how it comes out ;-)

"Angel with Attitude!" Tutu Costume

For Halloween 2011, my 9 year old wanted to be an angel since she had been a darling devil the year before.  I knew I could come up with a way to work a tutu into the costume so we set to work!

At first I was thinking a white tutu but she had the idea of going with gold to sort of be different, I LOVE how it turned out!  I found some shimmery gold tulle rolls at JoAnns and whipped it up in an afternoon!  You can see how I do it HERE.

 I found a white shirt at the dollar store, used my cricut to cut out the words and freezer paper stencilled with to say "Angel with Attitude"! I found the wings and halo on sale at JoAnns while I was there to pick up the tulle :)

 To complete the costume she just needed a long sleeve white shirt and leggings (it was chilly!) and a pair of white ballet flats, all of which she already had.

I am ALL ABOUT making super sweet but super SIMPLE costumes and using things you already have!  I think I probably spent a total of $15 on her costume!

I think she pulls off the "Angel with Attitude" ... don't you? ;)

Linking up to the parties on my side bar, check em out!

Caprese Salad - For a Tomato Hater

I love the look and idea of the Caprese Salad.  I love all of the different ways to make one on Pinterest. I've tried making this one, and I realized something I had forgotten ... I hate raw tomatoes!  I hate the texture, they make my mouth itch, and the taste is AWFUL.  Not great for the whole 'fresh from the garden awesomeness' I was hoping for.

Then I decided to do something I NEVER do ... I decided to experiment.  I am like the ANTI REBEL in the kitchen.  It scares me to go away from the recipe, BUT ... I thought I would give it a try.  Well I LIKE what I've come up with here so I thought I would share for the other Tomato Haters out there!!

Not So Raw Caprese Salad

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 - 1/2 white onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced (I like garlic lol)
2 Roma Tomatoes, chopped smallish (or whatever kind you like or grow)
My House Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder)
Fresh basil, chopped
Balsamic Vinegar
Mozzerella Cheese, cut into stripes

1.  Drizzle EVOO into a pan on medium heat, add garlic and saute for a few minutes.  Add diced onion to pan and saute a few more minutes.  Add tomatoes to the pan and cook on medium heat.  Add seasonings to taste and continue to cook until the tomatoes are NICE AND MUSHY lol.  This step is totally up to you, cook them as long as you need to get the taste you want.  I need like 15 minutes lol.

2.  Pour the mixture into a bowl and top with chopped basil.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar to taste.

3.  Take your mozzerella strips and top with tomato mixture and enjoy : )

If anyone has a different take on this, I would LOVE to hear it!  I'm thinking about making this and adding it to some baked chicken as a sauce! YUM!

Princess & Toy Story Valentines

This year my 6 wanted to do some super cute, slightly different, Valentines for her class party. Her teacher isn't big on candy or the after effects on the kids, so I spent A LOT OF TIME on Pinterest pinning Valentine ideas. I originally liked this one but found it oddly difficult to find wild animal toys! So I looked through all of the stuff I've hoarded while on sale and came up with a SUPER cute idea of using Princesses and Toy Story toys I found at the dollar store!

There are only 20 kids in her class (THANK GOODNESS) and I actually had almost ALL of the small toys needed (I'm a dollar store/aisle hoarder) so all I had to pick up were the Valentines!

She loved them and while I was organizing the supplies she went through and wrote her name on the backs of them.

The next day I put her to work opening up all of the dolls.

I put the doll in the bag and took one Valentine for the front of the bag and the Valentine she signed for the back. It worked out SO perfectly that they matched AND matched the princess in the bag!!

I matched them up with the top one facing front

and the back of the signed card facing out back.

She enjoyed playing with the dolls ;)

Then I stapled them together with the bag in the middle, twice on each side, and one in the middle so the doll didn't slip out. Next, I cut off the rest of bag along the top of the Valentine.

The final product :) SO super cute and easy!!

It turned out SOOOO super cute!!! She is so happy with them too!


And since the boys would probably be NONE TOO HAPPY to receive a Sleeping Beauty doll, we did the same with some Toy Story toys! There are 10 boys and 10 girls in her class.

I'm so happy with how they turned out and can't wait for her party on Tuesday to see the kids faces!

Linking up to these lovely parties!!

Valentine's Day Party!

Last year since Valentine's Day was on a weekend we had all the kids, I took the opportunity to have a little party for the kids ... and play with all the fun ideas I pinned ;)

I let my oldest invite a friend over and I invited a friend of mine and her 3 kids so we had a full house lol. But she brought a bottle of wine, so it was ok ;)

I made these cute cupcakes with the Valentine's Box mix you see in the stores, nothing fancy, but the kids enjoyed it ;)

I used the red flutes I found at the dollar store to hold some red vines, pirouline, and chocolate covered pretzel sticks! I LOVE chocolate covered pretzel sticks, they are SO easy to make and totally customizable to any occasion. Dip in chocolate, sprinkle with sprinkles, done :)

I also made cake pops!! It was my first attempt so I didn't get the sprinkles on before the chocolate melted. Minor Cake Pop Fail. But they tasted good so that's good enough!

I took a tray, covered it with a napkin, and put out some store bought frosted heart brownies.

I also made some Love Juice! Nearly as cute as my pin/link, BUT the kids liked em and it went with the decor ;)

To complete the setting, I put out some Hershey Kisses and some yogurt covered Whoppers.

The kids had a GREAT time and so did my friend and I ;) With Valentine's Day on a Tuesday this week, I'm not sure what I'll be doing for the kids or for the hubs but I sure have a lot of PINspiration to look at! What are YOU guys doing??

Linking up to the super fun parties in my side bar!!