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Another Big Bite

Another Big Bite

Tag Archives: sewing

There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales from the glories of Halloweens long, long ago…

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting, The Good Ole Days

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

brave, costumes, disneyland, diy, family, halloween, halloween costume, kids, merida, sewing, traditions, yeti

Another Big Bite Hal11

I could easily be listening to the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” on repeat right now.  Not because I am excited that Christmas is sneaking up on me like a White Walker.  Not because I particularly enjoy Amy Grant (truth be told, her version grates on my nerves like nothing else at Christmastime – you know what I mean, Mom).  Because THIS is the most wonderful time of the year.  HALLOWEEN.

Last year, we had the best Halloween costumes EVER.  This year, I knew there wouldn’t be any way to top them.  The kids are getting older (and so are Nae and I), and getting everyone on board for one cohesive theme is… Difficult.  Which is fine.  Pretty soon, Nathan and I will be left to our (my) own devices and we’ll get to choose what to go as together since neither of us wants to dress up as a Skylander or something from Monster High.  But for now, the kids are into the things we expose them to and don’t take notice of much else.  Not having cable – not having commercials – really cuts down on the crazy shit they regurgitate from television.

Finn at the Matterhorn

Since our trip to Disneyland this summer, Finn’s Yeti obsession kicked into overdrive and he firmly decided that he would be a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti (not to be super specific or anything).  After balking at the cost of faux fur, I opted to stick with a white hoodie with a fur hood, gloves and boots.

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And (obviously) Nathan had to be a Yeti as well.  It was either that or a mountain climber.  Not some high-speed 2014-era adrenaline junkie, but a 1950’s, Swedish, Riiiiiiiiccccccooooooolllaaaaaaa-yodeling dude in Lederhosen.  Yeti it was.

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Oh, and the eyes HAD TO GLOW.  Because they do on the ride.  And we are all about authenticity in this family.

Alice in Scottish Highlands

I did a little happy dance when Alice picked Merida from Brave.  I was dreading making that stupid Elsa cape, but a Halloween miracle occurred and she burned out on singing “Let it Go” and watching Frozen daily sometime in July.  Merida – or “Orange Mother” as Alice refers to her – is a bow-and-arrow-toting badass compared to Elsa and Anna.  Brave centers on the struggle between her and her mother (who she has turned into a bear), so when Alice proclaimed that I was to be “Orange Mother’s Mother” I had a slight panic attack over twenty thousand yards of green taffeta and me in a floor-length gown with bell sleeves.  Queen Elinor?  Christ.  Here we go.

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Not to worry.  Alice wanted me to be the bear.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear.  Black hoodie?  Check.  Furry ears?  Check.  Crown?  Check.  Orange Mother’s Mother as a bear? Done.  Waaay easier than Alice’s Merida dress.  Which only took me a week and a half.  Only.

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Outtake alert.  Here is Alice “hunting yetis.”  Finn is not alarmed at all.  Which is somewhat worrisome when your kid doesn’t even flinch when someone is pointing a weapon at them.

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We went to Boo at the Zoo at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We were fully prepared for pandemonium like last year, but it turns out that it is way less crowded two weeks before Halloween and we had more than enough time to do the whole lap twice.

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We went on the Skyride for the very first time.

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We went on the carousel for the fifty-seventh time.

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And thank god that everyone recognized who the kids were.  Not that anyone who complimented Finn on his Abominable Snowman costume was politely corrected by the little man himself.

“It is a Disneyland Matterhorn Yeti.  AND his eyes glow.”

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We also got to wear them to the grade school’s Trunk or Treat on Saturday.  And on Halloween on Friday.  After that, they go into heavy rotation via the costume/dress up pile where the kids will wipe peanut butter on them and roll around in the grass while wearing them.

But that’s not the end of our Halloween story.  Oh, no.  Here in Colorado Springs, the population is a wee bit on the Jesus-loving side and lots of people don’t celebrate Halloween.  I am betting this has something to do with the bizzaro Halloween Costume/Celebration norms that have sprung up in Finn’s school.  The kids aren’t celebrating Halloween at all.  Sortof.  I dunno.  They are having “Literacy Dress Up Day,” in which a pre-approved list of (not-Halloween) costumes was passed out.  Spoiler: Yetis were not on the list.  Little Boy Blue was.  Georgie Porgie was.  Abe Lincoln was.

Whatever.

Which meant I had another costume to make.  And though I would never dream of buying a costume off the shelf, it isn’t like they have The Little Red Hen costumes at Walmart anyway.

I begged for Teddy Roosevelt.  “Round Glasses!  Mustache!  You could ride Alice’s stuffed moose!!”

Shot down.

“Oooohhh!  Three blind mice!  Mickey ears!  Sun glasses!”

Nope.

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In the end, Finn chose to be the grasshopper from Aesop’s Fable The Grasshopper and the Ants.  It took me some time to warm up to the idea, but it was more exciting than George Washington.

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And here is an action shot….

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(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

(And Alice is quite smitten with it as well.)

I am bracing myself for the onslaught on post-Halloween cavities and looking toward Thanksgiving to fill the vacuum that Halloween has left in its wake.  Something tells me that construction paper pilgrim hats and handprint turkeys won’t give me the same thrill as fashioning fishing bobbers and battery-operated votives from Ikea into Yeti eyes.

But it will have to do until Amy Grant starts belting out, “its the MUUUOOOST wonderful time…. Of the YEAR” on the Christmas station.

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Biding My Time Until Halloween

31 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

disney princesses, diy, dress up, princess, sewing, snow white dress

alice snow white

Though I seem to repeat myself time and time again that I am not much of a “pink” person, I am a girlie-girl on a ridiculous level.  Alice wants her room painted pink? Pink bubble mower?  Nope.  But tempt me with an all-day Disney Princess marathon and I’m yours.  Whether it is an extension of my love for all things Disney World, my incredible nerdiness or my denial that dude, I’m like, an actual grownup now; who knows.  What remains is this; if I could dress up as Tiana from the Princess in the Frog on Tuesday and rock out Anna’s coronation gown on Wednesday (and have it be an accepted social norm), I’d be on my way to the satin aisle at Joann Fabrics instead of of tapping out this post.

It seems like it was just a few months back when I wondered if and when Alice would want to play dress up.  Once she tried on a twirly Cinderella gown at our local bouncy house place she was a woman obsessed.  Suddenly I was getting the evil eye from Nathan as he realized that Alice was wearing a crushed velvet, tulle and silk flowers over her jeans at Costco.

snow white dress 1

But one dress will not suffice.  As long as I have a working sewing machine and an arsenal of rotary cutters and (don’t-you-dare-use-those-to-cut-paper!) scissors, I might as put them to work.  Alice was going to get an Ariel dress, even if I had to sacrifice two nights of sleep for her to get it.

Nathan doesn’t have to remind me that I do this stuff more for myself than for the kids.  I do have to question what my outlet for girlie stuff would be if I didn’t have Alice.  The fact of the matter is it is NOT socially acceptable to run to Walmart dressed as Belle.  (How slippers, jammie pants, fishnet shirts or flesh colored leggings are deemed as appropriate Walmart gear and flouncy gold ballgowns are not – that is beyond me.)

Truth be told, the Ariel dress I made for Alice was a bit of a let-down.  Not that she cared much.  I still could not shake this image of my little lady tugging at the Snow White dress that we had her try on in Disney World last June.  Even Nathan considered forking over the enough cash to buy a week’s worth of groceries… She was THAT cute in it.  But hated it.  Now that she was older; decided to strike while the iron was hot.  This girl was going to have a Snow White gown; damnit.

dresses

I adapted this pattern (I picked it up when it was on sale for a dollar); I made the skirt a bit longer and spent more time than I’d like to admit wrestling with fusable interfacing to get the collar to pop.  I added blue satin ribbon to the red sleeves and a stripe of yellow fabric down the middle of the bodice.  Once it was finished; I realized that it HAD to have a cape; Snow White has a pink one in Disney World.  Alice would, too.  Hers attaches with velcro on the sholders and loops over a covered button in the front.  (It also hides the hack job I did on what was supposed to be an invisible zipper – win.)

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We had a total “mirror, mirror” moment the first time she tried it on…

photo 1

Now she wears it around the house singing, sweeping, making pies and playing Disneyland Adventures on the XBox with her brother.  You know, all things Snow White would do.

alice

Sure, Alice loves it.  But not as much as I do.  And I think she could totally get away with wearing it to Walmart.

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A Halloween Dry Run

14 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

cosplay, despicable me costume, despicable me lucy costume, diy, family, gru costume, halloween, halloween costume, homemade costume, lucy wig, minion costume, purple minion costume, sewing

They are done.  OH EM GEE!!!  DONE!

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Me Costumes

Halloween costumes are done!!  I was so excited.  I arranged them all on the floor while Nathan and Finn were out and Alice was asleep.  And then I got out the camera because I could. not. help. it.

Which is when the guys walked in, with me standing on a chair, hovering over our costumes with a camera dangling from my neck.

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Family Costumes2

By some miracle, Nathan was easily persuaded to try them all on and shoot some pictures.  It helped that I promised if we took them now, we wouldn’t have to take a hundred of them right before trick or treating on Halloween.  And I was expecting Alice to have a mini-minion meltdown, but holy lord, she even kept her hat on the whole time.

The miracles just kept coming, ladies and gents.

If you’re new to this neck of the woods, we decided to be characters from Despicable Me (the second one).  Finn decided.  We all followed along.

The kids are Minions, and adorable…

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Minion and Purple Minion Costume

Nathan and I looked like complete freaks, but I ‘spose that is what Halloween is all about.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Gru & Lucy Costume17

For the kids’ costumes, I whipped out very simple pairs of overalls – just pants with a bib on the front (Finn’s were an old pair of jeans in a past life).  They each got a pair of $.87 gloves from Walmart and I made them each a coordinating hat (you can read all about the hats here) to got with their fleece sweatshirts.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Minion & Purple Minion Costume

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Purple Minion Costume

Nathan’s Gru costume was the easiest and cheapest costume of the bunch.  I made the striped scarf from black and gray fleece.  We dug one of his old coats out of the basement, I tacked on the “G” logo as a pretend zipper pull and made a nose out of Fun Foam.  A not-fooling-anyone kinda nose.  One that is hilariously unsophisticated and not awe-inspiring at all.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Gru & Minion & Purple Minion Costume

We had two options – buy the “witch’s nose” kit from one of those Halloween pop-up stores or get the Gru mask.  The witch’s nose was all wrong and had an enormous wart on it.  We found the mask, but besides the fact that it felt like cheating and not half as much fun, when I tried it on, it sent Alice into a panic.  So no to that idea.  Fun foam it was.

And his skinny pants?  I have to hand it to him; he is totally rocking out a pair of his long underwear.

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Lucy & Minion Costume

My costume, Lucy (Gru’s love interest), was the hardest one of them all.  It sucked up the most time and funds.  I found a pattern at Joann’s for a trench coat and made a few alterations to it – and used fleece to cut down on the cost.  Never in my life have I wanted to murder a piece of fabric more….  The collar was a disaster and I spent over an hour staring at the instructions trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next.  I spent the entire night dreaming about it.  I wish I was exaggerating.

I bought a pair of cheapie sunglasses at the dollar store and painted them with blue nail polish.  Want to know how to entertain yourself for an entire nap time?  Try painting pink polka dots on a scrap of white fabric one day to make a scarf – that was fun!  (Eye roll.)

And the wig?  Ahh.  A hot mess.

photo 2

It is actually two $6.00 orange bob wigs from Walmart.  One wig is balled up and pinned to the top of my head for Lucy’s bun.  The one I wore got pinned up and under – and I’m lucky that she popps her collar – since the back is even worse than the front.

Another Big Bite - DIY Despicable Me Gru & Lucy Costumes

Another Big Bite - Despicable Me Costumes

I can only imagine what Alice is thinking about her brother in this pic.

Either way, it is fine – since all we plan on doing is trick or treating at the zoo and around the neighborhood with all of our costumes on.

The only thing left to be decided is this… Nose, or no nose?  Nathan’s fake nose is terrible…. but it is kinda what makes Gru “Gru.”

Whaddya think…. should we keep it?

photo 1 (2)

Totally thinking this should be my new “About Me” photo.

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DIY Minion Hats

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo', Nerd Alert, The "Joy" of Parenting

≈ 45 Comments

Tags

costume, crafts, despicable me, despicable me costume, diy, diy costume, family, halloween costume, kids, minion, minion costume, minion hat, purple minion, purple minion hat, sewing

Another Big Bite - DIY Minion Hats

First of all, I have one word for you…  Mutiny.

After I got knee-deep in Finn’s Minion Costume, Finn and Nathan ganged up on me as he was trying it on.

“Please, can Alice be a purple Minion??  Please, oh please??”

And so my dreams of dressing Alice and I up as dweeby Disney World characters were dashed.  Now we are all going to be characters from Despicable Me.

For those of you who have not seen the second Despicable Me, this is what I was dealing with…

Okay, I ‘spose I could get excited about this…

Another Big Bite - DIY Minion Hats2

The hats were the hardest part of the costume, since the rest is nothing more than a yellow or purple shirt and overalls.  I started with Finn’s winter hat as a template on fleece; Finn’s yellow Minion hat was nice and round on top, but Alice’s got a little extra up top to give some height for ALL. THAT. PURPLE. HAIR.

photo 1 (1)

After a test fitting, I was properly schooled that Minions have mouths…  And so crooked teeth were constructed out of fleece and fitted for the purple one, and a tongue for the yellow fellow.

For the goggles, I used the top of a mailing tube for Alice’s before I realised that mason jar lids were the perfect size – and subsequently used them for Finn’s.  The eyeballs were more fleece and hot glued into place.

photo 4 (1)

Hair for the yellow Minion was a piece of cake; black pipe cleaners were fed through the top of the head and glued into place.

The purple hair was a different story all together.  Ohmygod.  I am rolling my eyes as I recall the process.

1minion5

My first yarn purchase was too – stringy?  I hit up Walmart for the chunkiest cheapie yarn I could find, and then subsequently spent an entire evening making purple quasi-pom-poms.  Thirty two of them, I’ll have you know.  After they were all properly combed and coiffed, each of them was tacked on to the hat with a needle and thread.  OH, what FUN.

photo 3 (1)

Once the eyes were glued into place, I had a hard time wrestling the hat away from Finn.  If he had it his way, he would wear it all day long.

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As you can imagine, getting a toddler to stand still with a head of purple hair long enough to snap a clear picture is not easy.  Finn was kind enough to model Alice’s hat.

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Now that the Minion costumes are thisclose to being in the bag, I have to turn my attention to Nathan and I’s costumes.  Nae is going as Gru, and I’m going as his love interest, Lucy.  God help me if I can find a wig for that one…

Because I have learned that my sanity cannot take another head covering made from combed-out yarn.

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DIY (Faux, No-Sew) Roman Shades

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by anotherbigbite in Fixing Up the House, I'm a Crafty Mo' Fo'

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

before and after, boys room, diy, home, kids room, new sew, roman shades, sewing

Another Big Bite - DIY Faux Roman Shade

Finn’s room is coming along quite nicely.  And by “quite nicely,” I mean that nothing of interest has been done since I painted it.

Baby steps.  Baby steps.

Yesterday I busted out a roman shade for his window.  It is just for show.  Even though I love the look of roman shades, the process of opening and closing them twice a day is a pain-in-the-ass…  Since his blinds are in pretty good shape and not a wonky color (like my kitchen blinds were), I figured I would throw a valance up over the window to give it a little extra height and bring some more white into the room.

I fell in love with the greek key trim that I spotted at Hobby Lobby, and while I still think it is awesome, I’m a little on the fence about how I feel about it in Finn’s room.  I’m hoping once everything is pulled together, it won’t look so out-of-place.  Maybe it’s too girly.

Since the only thing I had to buy was the trim, I didn’t feel so bad about breaking the bank for what amounts to glorified ribbon… After my 40% off coupon it was $17.00; but everything else I used was lying around the house.  The white fabric is left over from Alice’s curtains and the length of 1×2 was raided from Nathan’s ever-growing scrap wood stash.

I made the shades about an inch and a half wider than the window.  I cut the fabric slightly larger than I needed so I could hem the seams with iron-on seam tape.  The fabric is only about two-thirds the size you would need to cover the whole window.

photo 1 (1)

To attach the trim, I ironed on fuseable seam tape (with the peel-off paper) the entire length first; it needed two strips since it was so wide.

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Once I peeled off the paper, I flipped it upside down and ironed it from the back.  The trim would have melted under the heat of the iron.

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The mitered corners were the trickiest part, but were much easier than I thought they would be.  I made sure NOT to iron the trim all the way to the corner.  Then I folded the trim at a 45 degree angle backwards at the corner (away from the next edge) …

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And then folded it back in the direction of the new edge.

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Finally, I carefully flipped the whole thing over and ironed the hell out of the back.  (Even though none of that made sense in actual words, I hope the pictures made it easier to understand.).

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I cut a length of 1×2 just shy of the length of my shade.  I used an old-school manual saw and miter box, but if I would have had to buy a new piece of wood at Home Depot, I would have had it cut there (for free – if Nathan wasn’t around).  They also have a self-serve hand saw and miter box to use in the trim department.

Another Big Bite - DIY Faux Roman Shade2

I hot glued the top of the fabric to the back of the 1×2.  To get the folds, I whipped out my handy-dandy electric stapler (literally one of the BEST Christmas presents I have ever received – Thanks, Mom!!) and popped two staples into the wood where I wanted my folds to be.  I also stapled the top of the fabric just for good measure.

photo 3 (2)

To hang it on the wall, I marked a level line where I wanted the top of the shade to be and drove three screws through the wood.  I had a tiny bit of a sag in the middle of the fabric when I was done, so I popped a couple extra staples through the back of the fabric and into the wood.

I also hung Finn’s rhino head back up.  A few months ago, it leapt to its death and made sure to maim poor little Finny in the process.  After that trip to the ER, I decided to screw that bitch into the wall.  It. Does. Not. Move.

Another Big Bite - DIY Faux Roman Shade3

Another Big Bite - DIY Faux Roman Shade4

And wouldn’t ya know?  Finn hates it.

He thinks that he should have Spiderman curtains.  And I keep holding back from buying Spiderman sheets and pillows for two reasons… They are ugly AND I think he’ll be over Spiderman before I even send them through the washing machine once.  This second reason is mostly self-justification, though.  He has been totally into Spidey for over half of his life.  And that is a long time when you are four.

And Nathan wants the room to have a giant AT-AT from Star Wars in it.

I simply cannot win.  (This is why I do all this stuff without telling anyone before hand, I’ll have you know.)

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