DIY halloween - toy story edition

i've been going through some old photos & organizing them with the hope that i will find the time to sit down & actually write some blog posts! halloween is just around the corner so i thought it would be the perfect time to revisit some costumes from years past.

when my oldest daughter was 2, she was starting to form opinions about her wardrobe & seemed pretty excited about the thought of dressing up as a character. she hadn't quite discovered princesses yet so it was easy to convince her that toy story costumes would be perfect!

i am going to apologize in advance for the photo quality. these were taken on my iphone, in terrible lighting & no amount of editing was going to make them look good (not that i'm huge into photo editing anyway). so i just left them as is.

have i mentioned that i LOVE halloween? (check out some of my costumes here). now that i have kids, i have an excuse to trick or treat again. nothing against store-bought costumes (they are much better than the plastic masks & smocks i got to chose from when i was a kid), i just really enjoy the process of putting together costumes myself. and of course there has to be some sort of theme.

here's what i used for my daughter's costume for jessie:

- 1 yard of cow-print fabric (i found at jo-ann fabrics)
- long sleeve white tee-shirt
- jeans (jeans & tee-shirt i found at target in the toddler boys department)
- yellow cotton fabric (a remnant from jo-ann fabrics, about 1/2 a yard)
- iron-on adhesive (aka heat n bond)
- gray felt (2 different shades)
- red puffy paint
- string
- light brown felt
- dark brown felt
- hot glue gun & glue
- red cowboy hat (found at a halloween supply store)

for the shirt, first i applied the heat n bond to the back of the yellow cotton fabric according to the directions on the package. then, i traced the shape i wanted the final size to be onto the paper backing of the heat n bond, using the shirt as a guide.

i did his to both sides of the shirt & cut each piece to the shapes i wanted. i applied the yellow fabric to the front & back of the shirt, placing the ironing board inside the shirt so it didn't end up glued together!

i made the cuffs from 2 strips of yellow fabric & attached to each sleeve using the heat n bond.

i cut 2 circles from the darker gray felt & 2 slightly smaller circles from the lighter gray felt & glued them to the front of the shirt, using hot glue.

i penciled in the red embroidery detail on the front of the shirt & the cuffs & carefully traced over it with red puffy paint. i used the darker gray felt & string for the back pull-string detail.

next, the pants... i placed the jeans on the cow-print fabric & traced the leg shape with an extra flare added below the knee.

i did this for each side, then i attached (using heat n bond) the cow fabric to the jeans, just on the top part of the jean legs to the knee, leaving the lower half free.

i added the belt using curved strips of dark brown felt & the belt buckle was light brown felt with the hand drawn detail in sharpie, both hot-glued to the jeans.

here is the final look:

for my husband's woody costume, he wore his own jean & plaid button-down, then i also needed:

- 2 yards of the cow-print fabric (also used for jessie)
- sheriff's badge
- brown cowboy hat
- red bandana
- brown felt (just a small piece is needed for the belt buckle, with hand-drawn detail in sharpie)

i used one of my husband's button-down shirts as a guide & cut the cow-print fabric into a the vest shape i wanted.

then i pinned the top around the shoulders & sides under the arm holes while it was inside out & stitched it by hand (quick, nothing fancy since it was hidden anyway), which made it pretty close to the correct shape.

here is a blurry photo of the final look, but you get the idea:

here is jessie visiting daddy at work:

here is a view of the back of the costume:

and here's the whole toy story family!

ok, so i kind of cheated with my costume. at this point i was about 6 weeks pregnant with baby #2, right at the start of my constant nausea/total exhaustion trimester (not to be confused with my constant back-ache/total exhaustion trimester). i used a kids buzz lightyear full body costume (i'm 5 feet tall, adult costumes don't fit me). the fit was a little snug so i cut it below the belt detail, turning it into a shirt. i wore it with white sweatpants & buzz lightyear gloves, which covered up the fact that the sleeves were too short, then i drew a spiral on my chin with brown eyeliner & called it a day. 

well, my daughter loved our costumes. she was happy so that's all i really care about! 

how about you? store bought or home-made or, like me, a combination of both?

happy trick-or-treating!

happy valentine's day!

my 3 year old daughter, luciana, came home from pre-school yesterday with a note from her teacher letting us know all the names of her classmates in case we wanted to do valentine’s day cards. yes, it was a little last minute but lucy had been home from school all week while our city was digging out from the 2+ feet of snow we got over the weekend. earlier today i had been out running errands and had a fleeting thought of, i wonder if i’m supposed to do cards or if they’re going to make them during school…? i don’t even know how many kids are in her class. i didn’t buy anything. lucky for me, i have a ton of card-making supplies on hand (it is my business, after all) and i love the personal touch of something homemade. plus, my mom had just sent us a package of valentine’s chocolates and fun accessories and stickers (phew). lucy looooooves stickers. of course, they don’t last very long before being stuck to everything in sight (though i try to enforce the rule of “stickers on paper or people only” so we’re not scraping them off of walls or furniture).

decorated by lucy

i found some blank cards (hot pink on one side, white on the other) and put lucy to work. i set up an assembly line and told her to add stickers to each one (we counted together to make sure each card had the same number of stickers). then i gave her pink and red markers and had her color whatever she wanted on each one. i just added the date, “happy valentine’s day” and “from lucy” (I also added classmates names after i took the photos). here’s what we ended up with:

front

front detail

back

she only had to make 6 but i still wanted to keep it simple so she didn’t lose interest before making them all (sorry half completed christmas ornaments at the bottom of my closet, the painting and the glitter and the glue was just too much! maybe next year). i love the fact that they’re all different. it was a fun afternoon activity to do together and she was so proud that she made them herself! i sent her on the bus with them in her backpack so i hope they make it to school without all the stickers peeled off and stuck to her shoes...

 

a polka dot 2nd birthday party

my daughter is officially 2! she had a wonderful birthday weekend... her actual birthday was on a friday. my husband took the day off and we planned a day around a visit to southwick's zoo in mendon, ma. she LOVES animals so i thought this would be perfect. my husband did some research and picked this particular zoo because it also has rides. of course, after we got there and bought $20 worth of tickets, we realized our daughter was a little small for pretty much all of the rides - most of them had a height requirement (she's very petite) and didn't allow parents to ride with them. so, she was able to do the pony ride, we all went on a train ride "safari" and then we gave the rest of our tickets away to a random family on the way out.

look, a monkey!

her birthday party was on a saturday. here were the details...

where
the indoor playground in watertown, ma. our family lives in a small 2-bedroom condo and we didn't want to impose on our in-law's again (we had her 1st birthday there and they are gracious hosts and have the best yard for a BBQ) or worry about the weather for an outdoor party so the indoor playground was perfect. it's 5 minutes away from our house, has a MILLION toys for all ages (including a bouncy house), it's pretty affordable (with several ad-on options like face-painting or having a character, etc...) and they allow you to bring in whatever you want for outside food (of course we ordered pizzas and calzones from the italian restaurant i work at). 

theme
last year it was a sock monkey theme. this year, i kept it simple - i just chose a color palette and based everything around that. i chose my current color obsession - navy blue (just take a peek in my closet) and to make it more girly, paired with hot pink. then, since it's me, LOTS of polka dots...

invitations
after it rained for weeks and weeks (it felt like!), the sun finally came out. so i put luciana in a hot pink dress and took her outside for a photo shoot. there were so many great shots that i had to make the invite 2-sided!

front:

back:

attire
i knew i wanted the birthday girl to be comfortable and i knew i wanted her to wear a shirt with a 2 on it. i just happened to go into carters and for the first time ever, found exactly what i was looking for. the perfect skirt - navy with hot pink polka dots. just like the invites! i swear, i didn't subconsciously see this before i did the invitation design...

i wasn't finding a shirt for her that i liked so i ended up making my own. i used a plain white t-shirt and printable iron-on transfer paper to add my design. (i LOVE iron-on transfer paper - stay tuned for a post just on that!). i even made one for my husband and me.

detail:

 you can kind of see the whole ensemble here. this is when she realized everyone was singing to HER...

also, this was the dress she wore on her actual birthday (from target) for her trip to the zoo.

i don't know how i found 2 outfits that were within the theme (and again, matched her invites!) but i really lucked out!

favors
i guess the end of july is the height of school supply shopping season so i decided on art supplies. everything was on sale! the sketchbooks were the splurge (at $2.20 each) but all of the other items included (package of crayons, watercolor paint, stickers) were $1.00 or less each. then i wrapped them in cellophane bags meant for wrapping baskets (from a local party supply store) and secured them using 2 1/2 inch round stickers i designed and printed (sticker sheets from paper source).

detail:

yeah, i caved and gave away candy too. in small, separate packages so parents could chose whether or not to take them.

the (cup)cake:

i was having a hard time deciding between a cake, cupcakes or cake pops (super trendy and super hard to make). so i left it up to my husband. he (very decisively) picked cupcakes. so, that's what we went with. 

 

i didn't want to make myself crazy with fondant, etc... so i just went simple - chocolate cake with chocolate frosting or fun-fetti cake with vanilla frosting, both with rainbow sprinkles (the itsy-bitsy ball ones, i forget what they're called). i did find cupcake wrappers in navy blue and hot pink with white polka dots - i couldn't resist. the stand is the 4-tier stacked dessert tower by wilton. for only $20 it was probably cheaper than making my own and cost the same as those flimsy, decorate-your-own, one-use paper ones. i had brought ribbon to decorate the edges (with double-sided tape so i could easily take it off), but i got to the party and had to set up the stand with the cupcakes as quickly as possible so i left it off. 

i created "happy birthday luciana" using 1 1/4 inch circle stickers (sheets also from paper source) and popsicle sticks (from any arts and craft or party supply store). i made a bunch with just the number 2 and stuck them on the cupcakes in the back.

we also had hoodsies (no ice cream scoops required - yay!). 

detail (notice how even the candles are coordinated!):

miscellaneous decor

i mixed and matched navy blue and hot pink plates and napkins.

 

i had bought sheets of 1 1/4 circle stickers in navy and hot pink and never used them for anything so i ended up decorating the plain cups i had purchased to make them polka dot!

the after party

the immediate family ended up back at my in-law's house for a BBQ. water toys were set up for the kids (kiddie pool, slip-n-slide, sprinkler) and the adults were able to relax a little while watching the kids play.

this is me with the birthday girl (pic taken by me):

this is us from her birthday party last year (photos from my SUPER talented cousin, alyssa):

it's crazy how the time just flies! before i know it, i'm going to be planning her 3rd birthday!

a sock monkey 1st birthday

the weather is getting warmer and summer is almost here, so i thought i would show details of my daughter's 1st birthday party, from this past july...

first, a quick story... my husband and i call our daughter monkey. actually, the monkey reference originally started because of my mom. when i was born i had a thick head of jet black hair. so thick that my eyebrows and hairline were pretty much connected. according to my mom (as quoted from my baby book):

timi and randy also came to visit us in the hospital. they both said "she's beautiful". i thought to myself, are they kidding? she looks like a monkey!

thanks mom (she doesn't have a filter). after my husband heard that story, he started calling me monkey. then when i got pregnant, instead of saying "it" (before we knew it was a "her"), we would just say the monkey and it stuck! of course her room is filled with monkeys (blankets, stuffed animals, sheets, decorations, etc...) and of course when she turned 1 we just had to do some kind of monkey-themed party! this poor girl is going to hate monkeys when she's older!

the postcards i did for her invitations:

i set up my own photo shoot in her room, spreading out one of her curtains as a backdrop. i also gathered up assorted monkeys and arranged them in the bin on top of her toy chest. she wasn't walking at the time so i had to set up something for her to hold onto. i also had some cute ones of her in a white wooden rocking chair, holding some of the monkeys but i thought this set-up made her look like she was a more of a "big girl". i'm so happy i got some cute pictures of her in that party dress! i didn't feel as bad when she grew out of it...

for decorations, i wanted to keep it simple. i wasn't finding what i wanted so i purchased this adorable sock monkey clip art from cupcakecutiees on Etsy, got plain pink and red party hats and gift bags and made my own using printable sticker paper:

the birthday banner i made using the sock monkey clipart (i added the letters), printed on white card stock and cut into circles:

since most of the kids were 2 and under, i figured favor bags full of candy wouldn't work. i thought it would be fun (and would fit with the theme) to give parents kits to make sock monkeys at home. i found printable instructions here and included them with a pair of red-heeled socks (of course, my 7 year old nephew was a little disappointed to be getting a pair of socks instead of candy but lesson learned for next year - older kids need candy!):

my daughter wore a sock monkey onesie that i found on zazzle.com and my husband and i wore matching shirts (yes, we're big dorks). she ended up wearing her bathing suit for most of it anyway since it was a very hot july afternoon. this is me & the birthday girl:

the cake - my first attempt at fondant!

i know, it's a little goofy looking. i made this cake as well as a sheet cake with white frosting and pink and red fondant polka dots. i thought i was being clever (and budget friendly) when i just bought white fondant and then got red food coloring to make pink and red myself, since i only needed a little bit. if you decide to do this, make sure you have disposable gloves! that didn't occur to me until i was kneading the fondant to get the color mixed in properly and, in the process, dying my hands red.

the birthday girl seems to like it:

 i love kids covered in birthday cake (good thing she was in her bathing suit):

 

i have to figure out the theme for her 2nd birthday, which is right around the corner (i can't believe it!). of course, i'll keep you posted...

p.s. a big THANK YOU to my in-laws for letting us host the party at their house and use their big back yard!