Monday, October 22, 2012

9 Couples Costume Ideas over the years


Ever since my hubby and I met pretty much, give or take a few, we have gotten dressed up for Halloween.  It was alot of fun and we get really into it. Now it's really more fun to dress up my kids because I get these grandiose ideas for myself that I never seem to have time or the sewing talent to pull off.


Let's start at the beginning shall we....

2001- Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo
scanned photo from my scrapbook- predigital days
  I started for the first time thinking of ideas that a couple could do together.And for some reason, I thought of  Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo.  Don't ask me why.  J was game to be Fred.  We figures all he needed was:

- Orange scarf
-Ligth blue Jeans ( coutersy of Wlamart)
-Blue shirt
-White sweater

Mine on the other hand was  A little harder but thanks to my mom , she whipped up an old pattern she had from the 60s  or 70s and made me the purple dress, the headband, and J and I the scarves.  I had the shoes and earrings. We both had to go  spray our hair in the parking lot of the costume store on the way there.


2002- Elvis and Priscilla
Pre-Digital.....yucky quality
 J had been joking around that he kinda looked like Elvis...but more of the 70s, a little bit of a belly Elvis. So we went to the local costume store here that rents ,early enough, and rented this beauty of a costume. We also rented the shoes which were white pleather  booties that you can't see which is a shame. We bought the glasses and he grew his sideburns super long for over a month . People were staring to wonder about him and his questionable  facial hair choices.

For me,  I bought the bouffant black wig but the  dress and coat belonged to my mom.  Awesome, right? My pretty silver eye shadow was also da-bomb. We got alot of great compliments that night. If your man can pull off an Elvis,  I say do it.


2003- No Party= No Costume


2004- Trailer park Rednecks ( I think Ashley from "Sorry kids your mom doesn't play well with others"has seen some of these folks as soccer games around here :) )


 Well, I hate to say it but we live very close to a bunch of folks who look and act just like that.  What can I say Saint Louis has an ecceltic group of folks that live all over.

If you are going to be a good redneck  trailer wife around here, you have to have:

-more kids than you can carry...see the one on my leg
-bad hair ( mullet wig)
-missing teeth
- be preggos again ( soft pillow)
-and course be smoking while with all of your kids

J only had to have:
- the mullet ( yep, another awesome wig)
- a NASCAR shirt , of course
- stone washed jeans
- A  big ugly tatoo with my name on it


2005- Hugh Hefner and a Playboy bunny



Now don't get all excited. This was the scariest outfit for me to wear EVER. First off it's freakin cold here  in Saint Louis this time of year and I'm not crazy about showing off  my thighs at all.

We had a heck of a time finding black satin PJs for J to wear. We had to get him some in the bigger ladies section of Target ( shhhhh)  We also bough the smoking jacket and borrowed the pipe.Sprying his black hair white was also quite challenging.

I got to buy another wig, the body suit,  The ears/collar/ wrist things were all together and then the fishnets.  I used some old slutty looking shoes I had. Why did I have them?  It was the late nineties. I think alot of them looked slutty.


2006- The couple from the American Gothic farm picture



I think I kinda pulled this one out of my butt. Why did I want to do this?  Again, who knows. But it looked kinda cool when it was done and it was a "couple" idea.

Again,  my mom sewed me up a plain brown dress with some rick rack on it  and I had the black and white shirts. I put brown eyeliner on my face to make it look like deep wrinkles from a distance.

J had to buy some overalls, some old man glasses, and a wig that we had to cut the hair on the sides and spray it gray.  He used his own blazer, shirt and we borrwed the pitchfork.

2007- Bunsen and Beaker from the Muppets



 You guys know all about them . They were alot of fun and really warm. Check out their post.

2008- Farmer and  a cow



J had a friend at work who told him he had a cow costume.... hey why not.  I got on my overalls, my boots,  borrowed a straw hat and threw on some plaid and J wore the  cow suit with creepy udders.  Don't look too long,  they are disturbing. We even borrowed a little cow costume for K.  There apparently was no picture taken of me . Oh well you get the idea.

2009- Some old time Greek People



Easy Peasy... two twin size white sheets and  some white t-shirts.  I added the gold leaves from Michels or walmart ...I can't remember.  It was the theme that night so that made deciding what to wear very easy. and K was a cutey pa-tutey ladybug

2010- No party= No costume

2011- Kenny Rodgers and Dolly Parton



Where do I come up with this shtuff? They were a singing duo so that was enough for me.  I put on my Playboy bunny wig  and made it look  big hair-ish and borrowed a much bigger bra than mine and stuffed it with pantyhose stuffed with pillow fluff. Yep....that's all fluff..trust me. I got felt up all night  by our friends.  I tried to not be offended  because it really wasn't ME they were grabbing.

Went to Goodwill thrift store to  get J some  plaid and  used the vest from his three piece suit. His hat was mine that was too small but  you got the idea. The beard was actually was very long  but it was the only white beard we could find so we cut it to  semi- normal looking length. K had to get into the picture as well.


2012= ???

I kinda  don;t think we're doing one this year but I'm ok with that because it's so much more fun now to see the kids dress up and take them out.

What are you or your kids going to be for Halloween?

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY Show Off
-I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday

 Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime -The Winthrop Chronicles
Lil Mrs Tori Wednesday
 Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 
-SNAP

Thursday

Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
- The Shabby Cottage The Taylor House- House of Hepworths 
Two In Diapers-Mommy Brain Mixer


Friday
Naptime CraftersStay At Home Nation
Young and CraftyMy Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now


Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Cheerios and Lattes





Wednesday, October 17, 2012

My favorite photography websites (for inspiration and education)



My friend Michelle over at Callia's Corner  just had a post about some of her favorite sites that she goes to for photo inspiration, learning, and info.  It was like she read my mind.  I love discovering where everyone else gets their info from.  I will find at least one new website to follow every time I go on a fellow photo lovers/photographers page.

I can't ever seem to get enough of learning about photography and everything that goes into it.  I wouldn't be kidding if I said I read at least an hour a day about photo stuff on the internet. I know, craziness.  I get lost in it.

I am fascinated by how shots are done, what people use to get those shots either programs/actions  or light.  Recently I've been reading about how to pose people and groups since I've been asked to photograph some friends and family. It's just mind blowing how much information there is out there on any given photography subject. I don't think it's ever possible to learn it all.

I feel like want more from my exposure on all of my images.  I want them to glow. Almost like the light is coming out of them.  So that is my goal.... to glow.


Click it up a Notch

Courtney is a mom who takes amazing photos and has a gift for teaching us to do the same. Tons and tons of great articles. I read her stuff daily . (if you're reading...Hi Courtney! Will you be my new BFF?)

MCP Actions

(So true, Michelle)  You can't ever forget about Jodi. I found Jodi through Pioneer woman's website and was immediately excited about her free actions and her very helpful tutorials.   I love seeing her pictures of her and her daughter because it reminds me of me and my girls. Except they  listen to her :)  I use her Facebook actions everyday to resize my blog pictures and place my watermark.  I WILL be getting some of her other actions very soon. Once I can decide....hmmm

I Heart Faces


As Michelle mentioned in her post,  I've  been coming here for their vast photo resources since it seems like the beginning of my  internet surfing days. So much to learn and beautiful examples to inspire.


Willette Designs

Her photos are to die for and she has really nice freebies like some actions, cards, and frames.  I really want one of her posing guides but I need to reign myself in on just one.


Michelle Kane

Again...actions, tutorials, freebies...videos.  You could be here for hours.  She has a new freebie texture that I'm trying to  really utilize. I found Michelle through a Saint Louis photographer/designer I follow/worship named Holly McCaig. ( see below)

Katie Evans Photography


Her color. Her depth.  Totally.  I learned how to really make a B&W picture pop through this site.  It actually helped all of my post processing more.

PhotoJOJO

Some really fun really unique photo props, supplies, and gifts that you can't find anywhere else.


Emily Fuss Photography

This girl amazes me. ( and I can call her girl because she's 15 years younger than me ;P) So young and so wow.  It's no secret I love dogs and animals in general. The way she uses light. Again, something I strive to do. And she's been there for a while.  What a lucky gal!

Inspire me baby

More great tutorials and hints for any type of photographer

Nate Perkes

Great photo, tips, tutorials


Some local gals that inspire me.....

Holly McCaig

I've been following Holly since about 2007 when I noticed some photos she took of a coworkers dogs.  At the time she was doing portraits, weddings, and seniors. She has now since focused on her design/branding Two Pears Design with her friend Carrie. She still does take photos here and there, usually Seniors, and they are fan-flipin-tastic! Oh and did I mention she's a fellow Saint Louisian! She has the cutest trio of little dogs. You need to follow her Instagram feed just to see them. ( and if you're reading Holly....I want you to be my Yoda:)

Kristine Lynn

I found Kristine through her sister, Kelly over at Live Laugh Rowe. She takes those " glowing " photos that I was talking about earlier and I'm always excited when she has a new session on her blog.  My family and I get to be one of those sessions this Sunday. I'm so excited. I can't wait to share them with  y'all.

Karen Hendrix

I found Karen though Facebook and my sister.  She is an amazing wedding photographer who makes it look too easy.  I have been lucky enough to be her second shooter this fall. It has been an amazing experience and I have learned so much.


Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY Show Off
-I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday

 Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime -The Winthrop Chronicles

Wednesday
 Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 
-SNAP

Thursday

Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
- The Shabby Cottage The Taylor House- House of Hepworths 
Two In Diapers-Mommy Brain Mixer


Friday
Naptime CraftersStay At Home Nation
Young and CraftyMy Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Cheerios and Lattes
Natasha in Oz -Say G'Day


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Blogging Angels


I had heard about this cool thing Rosie over at Craftbotic was doing setting up bloggers to secretly help each other out.  I missed a few of the sign ups but this last time I signed up right away.

I knew I needed some help and hoped I could help someone else.

I was lucky enough to  get to be a blog angel to Mia over at  The Chronicles of Chaos.  She loves a good blogger swap! As I've been following her she's been involved  in a bunch of  blogger to blogger swaps. I'm wondering to myself, how did you find all of these?  But she sure has received some cool swag! She also adores her little boy, Dom  or Domenic.


I've been commenting on her posts, twitter feed and trying to get to know her and her blog.  When I received her as a match I didn't quite understand what it is she needed from me so I hope we can figure that out together and help her even more.  Hi Mia!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fall Desserts: Apple Goodie


If you like apple pie but aren't crazy about the crust (like me) then this post/recipe is for you.....

After we went apple picking, I thought I wanted to make an apple pie.  I went over to my godmother's house and asked her if I could borrow her Apple Slicer/corer.  I knew it would make my life easier for sure.  I don't have time for by- hand anymore.   I live my life by the whole...."Work smarter, not harder" alot lately.



She asked me if I really liked the crust in apple pie and Iwas like ..eh... not as much as the filling. She then asked if I had ever had or made something called Apple Goodie. It was basically as the numminess of the filling without all that pesky crust.  Since I was not looking forward to that part anyway I was sold.  She said her mom would make it all the time back when she was little . I went home that night and looked it up on Google. Gotta love Google.  Of course there are 18 billion recipes ( ok, I exaggerate but there could be) for Apple Goodie. I searched through a bunch of them a nd landed on this one from Experience Ohio Amish Country . I didn't have any ingredients I didn't like or didn't already have. Sweet.

I was headed over to my parents house the next day I decided to make it there and have my mom to answer any baking questions I may have.

Apple Ingredients:

1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 qt. sliced apples ( I think next time I would add more.  I love the apple part as much as the crumble)

We picked out the best Jonathans we had and then got to work peeling and slicing them using the Pampered Chef slicer/corer.  The girls got to help out with Grandma's supervision.

 You can see S  HAD to come see what we were doing...

 and then do it TOO!
                    



 I would have actually added even more apples because I thought there wasn't enough but I guess it all depends on how much you like your apple to crumbles ratio.

Mix together sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon and apples. Press into a cake pan.



The recipes didn't call for any particular type of pan so I used my Pampered Chef Stone  8x8 pan.  I just like how evenly everything cooks in the stoneware.

Topping:
1 c. oatmeal
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. soda
1/3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter
Mix dry ingredients and cut in butter. Put on top. Bake at 350° until nice and brown.

cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter

 Dry mix added to top of Apple mix

The original recipe had no time given for how long to cook. For my  attempt, I first did 30 minutes  and looked at it and then did 10 more  because it didn't look  brown enough on top.  And then another 5 so... I ended with 45 minutes and at 350 degrees, that's not too surprising that it took that long. BUt I think  the time could be diffrerent for everyone based on your oven  how it cookes things.

I really liked it and I can't wait to make it again.  FYI..... It  was still very good and crispy warmed up in the microwave later :)


Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY Show Off
-I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday

 Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime -The Winthrop Chronicles

Wednesday
 Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 
-SNAP

Thursday

Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
- The Shabby Cottage The Taylor House- House of Hepworths 
Two In Diapers-Mommy Brain Mixer


Friday
Naptime CraftersStay At Home Nation
Young and CraftyMy Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Cheerios and Lattes
Natasha in Oz -Say G'Day

Monday, October 8, 2012

Pin-the-eyeball-on-the-Monster Game (for a Preschool Halloween Party)

(This is a pre-blog project so I'm sorry there aren't as many pictures as my other projects. You'll still get the idea. You are all very smart people :) )

I signed up to make a game for my daughter's Halloween party last year.  I thought I could think of something easy for a bunch of 3-4 year olds to do. Boy was I wrong. There were a bunch of games on Pinterest but none that I thought would hold their interest or they would get. I talked to my friend, Alicia who is an awesome early education teacher and she gave me the idea for a pin the something on the something..witch....pumpkin...etc.

I thought...I can do this. I started doodling and came up with this cute monster guy. I though he looked cute but still kinda scary. I went to the store and bought two colored poster boards and  some thick colored computer paper.

I cut out his body in one big piece from the green poster board. It was 28" long.  His feet were two separate pieces of orange computer paper measuring about 10" long a piece .  His hands were two separate pieces of computer paper about 8" long a piece. His hair/horns were 10" long a piece and they were cut from a purple poster board.



The kids would be pinning on his eyes! I used this awesome paper cutter from Micheals  to get my circles all round and pretty. The white part was three inches across and the pupil was  1 1/2 inches. then I glued the eyeballs together with a glue stick.


I used one of those ear band/warmer things as the blindfold since I couldn't find another piece of fabric big enough to tie around their eyes.  I also used sticky photo squares that you would use for scrap booking  as the kids came up to have their turn so I didn't have to worry about tape. I traced one of the eyeballs so we had a "home base" or center that they were trying to hit.



The kids loved being spun around and seeing where their eyeball landed. I also wrote their names on their paper eyeballs so their parents could see where each eyeball was.  Not too bad for $5 and 2 hours.

My little princess K and her monster at school last year.

I can't wait to see what your monsters look like! Make them cute but scary!

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY Show Off
-I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday

 Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime -The Winthrop Chronicles

Wednesday
 Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 - Southern Lovely 
-SNAP

Thursday

Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life - The Shabby Cottage
The Taylor House- House of Hepworths 
Two In Diapers-Mommy Brain Mixer


Friday
Naptime CraftersStay At Home Nation
Young and CraftyMy Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff

Cheerios and Lattes
Natasha in Oz -Say G'Day

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Mommies get sad too



I've been having one of those days...weeks....past few years.  You know....when you don't feel anything's quite right but you can't put your finger on it.

When all you can see is the dark and not the light. Even though you see glimpses of it....it never quite stays long enough. I have no real, huge, life changing reason to feel this way. Just a bunch of little things that over time add up to be very heavy to hold.

You start questioning everything..your self, your faith...your life. Why are you here? What is your purpose?

I have these two beautiful girls and I don't know.....

.... how to tell them that life is good and full of happiness when I don't see it myself.
.....how to tell them what do to do if they feel left out included or lonely becuase I still don't
.....how to tell them what to do when they feel less than
.....how to tell them what to do when people say they are your friends but then don't call, email, Facebook, talk to you in person, etc.

I'm struggling right now. I don't want it to impact them. I want them to be innocent and happy.   I'm not trying to be prefect and happy all the time  but I want to help them navigate life and how can I do that when I can't see through the clouds enough to see the path ahead?

God give me strength.

Monday, October 1, 2012

How to make Bunsen and Beaker Costumes

(This is a flashback blog post. We did these costumes back in 2007. I was WAY preggo with K and having issues so that's why I'm not doing much in the pictures and why there aren't as many pictures as my normal DIY stuff.)


At the time we were trying to think of an idea for costumes for our friends' annual Halloween party. We had awesome  ideas in the past and didn't want to disappoint. Heck we had even won a few contests.

Being that I was preggo,  I wanted something comfortable and warm. Halloween here in Saint Louis is usually very cold.  We went online looking and found that someone had done a Bunsen and Beaker costume.

You remember...from the Muppets? Meep Meep and explosions? That's some funny shiz-nit. So we looked at the picture we found and got started.

For Beaker we got:

- a white poster board
- 1 yard of  pink felt
- two round Styrofoam balls
- one egg shaped Styrofoam ball
- One orange feather boa for the hair
- a doctor coat from the Halloween store
- can of orange spray paint

For Bunsen we got:

- 1 yard of green fleece
- one of those hold-in-your-hand-and-bounce-it ball from Target
- pair of goofy glasses from Target ( popped out the silly eyes)
-a doctor coat from the Halloween store


We started with Bunsen since we knew we were going to paper mache his head and it would take a while to dry.  We blew up the bouncy-boppy ball and then started to make and apply the paper mache.  I don't remember ever doing it before and  it was easy but messy.



After it was dry, we  cut a smiley mouth so that I could see out. We figured I would be Bunsen since  he's kinda shorter than Beaker.

Then I started to apply the green fleece and stretch it around his head. I had have my mom help and cut it around the top of his head so it would lay flat and just have a small seem up on top.



 I then took some smaller pieces of felt and hot glued it to the sides of his head for his ears. Super easy and looked good. His nose was a little harder. We just had to sew a triangle, glue it on three sides to the head and then stuff it with some old pillow stuffing. It didn't take much. then we glued down the other end.  I got out the crazy-eyes glasses , popped out the crazy eyes and then glued them on the head as well.


With Beaker, We started by taking the poster board and wrapping it around J's head.



We drew him a mouth to see out of and cut it out as well. Then we hot glued the  fleece onto the poster board making sure to leave a bunch at the bottom of the head so J could tuck it into his shirt.

 As we were gluing the felt on we had to cut and then push it into the mouth opening and then glue it again so you couldn't see the poster board.



 I used a sharpie maker and a toilet paper roll (yep) to make the pupils on the Styrofoam eyeballs. The toilet paper rolls kept them the same size.  We took the egg shaped Styrofoam  and sprayed it orange outside.  We may have been able to paint it but it just seemed easier.

We wanted his hair to look like it did on the show so we bough the orange boa and then looped it around the outside of the poster board and then also attached it to the inside of the poster board, looping it back and forth so  that would sit right above J's head. See below.


Our heads were finally done. All and all it took two nights with all of the drying involved but it wasn't hard at all.



 We also decided that we didn't want to see our own hands , So we hand sewed ( very primitively since the they only needed to last one night) some four fingered gloves out of the green fleece  and the pink felt.  We put on our doctor coats ( we bought at the costumes store for about $15 a piece), jeans and some ties  voila!  There we were in all of our  Muppet glory.


We actually ended up selling them  in 2010 for $20 at a garage sale.  It was a shame but they took up so much room in our storage area. We saw the kids that bought them  in our neighborhood that same year.  Sniff Sniff.  They lookd good though.  I'm going to post all of other costumes coming up soon. Like I said... we were good at coming up with the couple costumes :)

What costumes have you made

Monday
What is the Gunny Sack -Making the world Cuter -Debbie Doo -DIY Show Off
-I should be mopping the Floor
Great Fun 4 Kids

Tuesday

 Tip Junkie - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia -The Kurtz Corner
Sugar Bee - Romance On A Dime -The Winthrop Chronicles

Wednesday
 Someday Crafts - Sew Much Ado
 - Southern Lovely 
-SNAP

Thursday

Beyond the Picket Fence - Somewhat Simple - Live Laugh Rowe
Loving this Crazy Life - The Shabby Cottage
The Taylor House- House of Hepworths 
Two In Diapers-Mommy Brain Mixer


Friday
Naptime CraftersStay At Home Nation
Young and CraftyMy Turn(ForUs)
Delicate Construction
Serenity Now
Here Comes the Sun

Saturday


Six Sister's Stuff
Cheerios and Lattes
Natasha in Oz -Say G'Day


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