Princess Hat Tutorial

Halloween is just a few days away and I am notorious for not finishing costumes until the last minute. Thankfully, when Eleanor said she wanted to be a princess for Halloween, I knew just what I'd do: pick out a dress from her closet and make a princess hat to complete the look. Quick, easy, and inexpensive--my favorite kind of costume! Here's what you'll need:

• Large white posterboard
• Appx. 1 yard of tulle (or any fabric with drape--I found mine in the curtain section of my favorite thrift store)
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun

Start by cutting your poster board into an almost-triangle shape, curving the edges at the bottom. Mine measured about 21" on the bottom, 16" along the sides, and 4" on top for my three-year-old.

Next, lay your poster board on top of the tulle and cut about one inch along the bottom and sides. Flip the board over and cut the fabric the same way on top, creating an hourglass shape.

Pull the edges over and hot glue them to the inside (make sure there aren't any pencil markings on the outside first). I didn't glue the bottom edge of mine, because there was a serged end I wanted to show, but you may want to glue yours if it's not a finished edge. 

To finish shaping the hat, gently roll it in half and hot glue one edge over the other. I glued just a little at a time, and made sure to press the inner and outer sides together to ensure they'd stick. After I glued it all, I used a large clip to hold it closed while it cooled. I intentionally left a hole at the top to allow the remaining fabric to flow down and around the hat (so make sure it's not inside the hat when you glue it).

Finally, cut and glue two strips of ribbon to the inner sides of the hat, and your hat is done! (This is actually a miniature mock-up I did first to see how it would all come out.)

Now just add your princess!

Or her doll :)

I hope this helps any of you who are still searching for costume ideas! What other Halloween costume tricks do you have up your sleeve? I'd love to see your princess hat if you make one--you can now post your pictures on the new Maker Mama Flickr group page! Happy frantic costume-making everyone!

Peppers, Pecans, and Fall Gardening

The drought in Texas has really done a number on our gardening efforts this year. The littlest pecans above are from the tree in our backyard, and the larger ones are from our neighbor's tree (which hangs over our backyard). His tree got a big soaking when the hose was left on once. I guess we should have been better at watering ours...

Chris and I have only been gardening a couple years now, making our first attempt at growing vegetables last spring. We didn't have a lot of luck with the heat and lack of rain (we got a couple handfuls of tomatoes before the plants were attacked by spider mites), but the garden's fairing much better know that we've had at least a little rain and more forgiving temperatures.  Our pepper plants were the first sign of hope.

We've replanted some carrots, spinach, and lettuce leaves and our onions that dried up over the summer began sprouting again (our carrots didn't survive the summer heat either). We also bought some new tomato plants which are starting to fruit already.

The kids love getting their hands dirty and helping out in the garden. Amelia (the baby) practically throws herself out of my arms to get down and crawl in the garden beds.

Our herbs are also doing really well. We have lavendar, rosemary, lemon thyme, parsley, chives, basil, and some newly planted parsley. We also decided to try growing broccoli, but we've been having to fight off some little critters.

We were happy to see our old friends the butterfly caterpillars in the parsley, though. 

They can eat off quite a bit, but we've only seen two of them, and we have plenty of parsley, anyway.

This one has joined us inside so we can watch as he transforms. I'm hoping we'll have better luck with the garden this fall. It's still quite the learning experience for us despite the weather. Our gardening philosophy is to just give it a try and see what happens (and cram as much into our little garden beds as possible!). What's going on in your garden this fall?

A Book, A Craft, and How You Can Earn Free Stuff!

I recently got my hands on my very own copy of Joel Henriques' new book, Made to Play!, and I love it! You may be familiar with Joel through his blog, Made by Joel, where he shares tons of awesome crafts and toys for kids. His designs are both unique and simple, and it's amazing to see such a love for kids from a crafty dad!

The book's projects aren't all necessarily for kids to construct themselves, but there are a number which they can do by themselves or with your help, including the portable zoo animals, animal finger puppets, wooden spool birds, slotted building disks, rubber band race cars, simple paper animation, dress-up drawings, and drawing with vintage buttons. There are also a number of wooden toy projects which make me want to raid my husband's tool shop, scrap wood dollhouse anyone?

My daughter soon found the book on our desk and picked out the play zoo animals for me to make for her. They were super-easy to make, and are small enough to fit in a mint tin for playing on the go (one of Joel's many awesome dad tips). 

Eleanor of course only ended up playing with them for less than five minutes after I made them, but the boys are eager for me to make sets for them, too. I really love how Joel's designs leave how to play with the toys open for kids (or grown-up kids!) to interpret.

And now, the real reason you're reading this post (we all like free stuff). And I got this book for free. No, it wasn't a gift from Joel himself, or even his publisher, but I earned an Amazon gift card through Swagbucks. For those of you not already familiar, Swagbucks is a rewards site that lets you earn virtual points for things you already do online, like searching the web or shopping. 

I use the Swagbucks engine for all of my searches, and so far I've earned enough points for $35 in Amazon gift cards! In addition to Made to Play, I've purchased Amanda Blake Soule's The Rhythm of Family and The Write Start by Jennifer Hallissey using Swagbucks. 

And Amazon gift cards are not the only thing you can redeem your points for. You can redeem them for electronics, kids games, or even use them to enter contests to win more Swagbucks. 

This post isn't endorsed by Swagbucks or anything, I just wanted to share a simple and easy way to treat yourself from time to time. And if you sign up through any of the Swagbucks links in this post, I'll get some extra referral bucks to save up for my next book purchase! 

Do you already earn Swagbucks? What would you buy with them? What are your favorite kid's craft books?

Bat Attack

Remember this little guy who visited us last year? Yeah, he must have told his friends about us, because they came in droves this year! 

Okay, so not really. And I would definitely be freaking out if there were that many bats in my house (I was a mess with just one!). The kids have been begging to decorate the house for Halloween, but I really didn't want to hang up a bunch of witches and ghosts. So when I found this awesome idea by Dana of Made, I knew it would be perfect (and I didn't have to buy anything!).

I'm also hanging some with fishing line above our front step, but I think I'm good with that being the extent of my decorating for the month. Well, and some pumpkins, of course. And I'm totally dragging my feet about Halloween costumes. But, the kids are excited about dressing up (and getting candy). So although they might not all be handmade (or even new), I'll be jumping on the bandwagon soon! 

What are your Halloween plans this year?

Chalk It Up 2011 (Featuring a Giant Spirograph)

We went to Artpace's annual Chalk It Up this past weekend, and although there was rain in the forecast, we had a great time. This was our third year at the free event and it was as great as ever, but I was really impressed with the Kid's Zone this year. Not only did they have some clever crafts for the kids, but there was also a giant elliptical drawing machine!

 

The entire pieced measured 5x5 feet and worked by spinning the handles on the top wheel. It was fun to watch the kids (about four or five at a time) working together to turn it, even more so because I loved Spirographs as a kid.

I wish I had asked the designer (Reagan Johns, a San Antonio cabinet maker) more questions about the construction, but the chalk was placed in the metal tubes before spinning over a large piece of butcher paper.

And the top was lifted up to reveal the drawing.

Pretty amazing, huh? I wish I had a video to show the piece in action. The artist had asked if anyone wanted to take the drawing home and I responded with an immediate "We'll take it!" and got him to sign it for us first.

The kids wanted to sign their names, too, of course. At this point I wasn't entirely sure where we'd put the drawing at home, but I ran back up to the parking garage to stash it in the van while we checked out the rest of the event.

The kids got to help screen print bandanas.

And although Amelia spent most of the time in the stroller, I did let her do her own little drawing in the public street mural.

And Skyler loved chalking his own creations in the street, too (which was blocked off and barricaded, by the way).

Here's his little drawing plot. The kids also made cool little movie theater light boxes inspired by one of their exhibits. And lucky for us, we left before it rained.

And we decided on hanging the giant Spirograph drawing in the girls' room. We just pinned it up with tacs for now, but I'm trying to convince Chris to build a giant frame to go with it. I know that must sound a little crazy, but it would be fun to keep it for a while.

And to preserve this family memory in a piece of art. If not, no biggie, we'll enjoy it while it lasts. (And so far, so good, even with it above Eleanor's bed--she hasn't touched it!)

Have you been on any fun family outings recently? How do you expose your kids to art?

Thrifted Chairs

Guess what I found? No, not just Eleanor wearing mismatched socks (but at least they're both pink and the shoes are on the right feet)...

Just Me and the Girls

For family photos, we used to do the classic portrait studio visit. I'd angst over all the clothing selections, make sure we got the best time slot (not too close to lunch or naps), and then try not to lose my cool in the chaos of trying to get everyone to sit down and smile at the same time. There have been times when we had to leave because it just wasn't working. And then you have to select your pictures while the kids are in melt-down mode. 

So in a funny twist of fate last summer, Liam decided to run into a doorway and split his forehead open fifteen minutes before we were leaving for one of these family photo sessions. It never happened. (Liam was fine after six stitches by the way.) Instead, we smarted up and asked some family friends to capture a more realistic version of our family last fall. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go back to a portrait studio again. Not that I didn't worry about clothes or timing, but the actual photo session itself was fun.

I had the pleasure of getting photos of me and the girls done with John and Whitney of Leaves of My Tree again this past month (I was up until 1 a.m. finishing my dress the night before). Unfortunately this may be the last time (they're moving this fall!), but here are some of my favorite shots they took of me and the girls:

Although I'm sure there must have been some funny and not-so-flattering photos in between these shots, candid photos just capture nuances that you wouldn't be able to see in regular portraits. I love the life in these--my life, here and now, with my little girls. It's not perfect, but there's love, and lots of it. 

What are your most memorable family-photo moments?