Just wanted to drop in and say… I’m still alive, kicking, and hoping for that writing inspiration to hit me again.
Pray for me folks that I’ll be inspired once more.
I kind of miss it…
Peace & love,
Chrissy
http://ads.blogherads.com/bh/33/331/331818/2342315/influencer.js
Hello all you wonderful pinning peeps! I have sadly been absent from Pinterest for too long. I logged in today and realized there are over 2000+ request to be added to the 2 Let’s Pin Each Other boards. So here is what I will ask for TODAY ONLY (9/24/2015):
If you have asked to be added to either board and have not been added yet, send another request today. I will add you when I get the notification.
My problem adding people has been that Pinterest only shows me 2 names and then says “and 79 others” have asked to be added…so let’s try this again folks (because the 79 others are being left out!
Update for 9/30/2015: I am still only receiving notifications lumped together on Pinterest so help me out. Let’s do this:
Follow me and the board(s) Let’s Pin Each Other and/or Let’s Pin Each Other 2 and also leave me a comment below with your user name and I will do my best to add everyone as swiftly as possible!
I’m in an adding mood, so let’s do this. And….go!
Love y’all,
Chrissy
The last few posts have been about DIY projects and this is not a DIY website, I promise! If you can bare with me through one more post, I will get back on track soon! I guess this one could be seen as an adventure…nah!
My insomnia was still an ever-growing issue and my late-night compulsive googling was filling my mind with all these crafty little ideas. I knew I was not a crafty person and it had actually resulted in many personal injuries but for some reason I thought one day I would get at least one project right! Besides, I assumed there must be at least one project out there on Pinterest that was accurately detailed enough that I could follow foolproof instructions. Late one night, when the world was asleep, I found an amazing product online: Mod Podge
Mod Podge
I found women everywhere (and a few guys) that proclaimed the wonder and amazement of this fabulous product. It was hailed as the greatest crafting invention ever and had accumulated several million loyal customers, followers, and advocates. It was so infamous that there were knock off products on the market to mimic it and people freely share “recipes” for cooking up your own batch at home to save money. With so many rave reviews and obsessed consumers, I decided I had to find out what this incredible product was and give it a whirl.
In my searches, I found that this life-changing product comes in multiple formulas!
Mod Podge
How exciting…I thought. I ran out the next day to a local craft store and purchased the biggest bottle they had. Oh glory! I had the coveted product of all products that millions of people raved about. Once I brought it home, I realized I didn’t know what to do with it 😦 The googling resumed. After locating some projects online, I decided on a photo transfer project.
I followed the directions I found online and the project wasn’t too bad…I thought.
Us – Mod Podged a piece of wood
You see, it was simple. I printed off a color photo to use with our printer. I selected a piece of wood – Cut the photo to fit – Slathered a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the wood – Layed the photo face down on the wood – Trimmed off the edges – smoothed out air bubble pockets and allowed it to dry. See? Simple! The entire process took maybe 20 minutes (as a beginner) and was not difficult at all.
This Mod Podge product has a glue consistency and reminded me of elementary school. It said on the label that even though it goes on white, it dries clear AND it cleans up easily with basic soap and water. The dry time is about 24 hours though, so some patience would be required.
I was excited! I was going to accomplish a craft with no personal injuries and it was going to turn out nicely!! Yay me…for an hour…
After cleaning up my work area and washing my hands, I came back to the office, took off my shoes and began working on some paperwork. I happily made my way through a lot of internet work and then moved to filing within 25 minutes or so. When I stood up, a customer invoice was stuck to my elbow. Not thinking much of it, I pulled it off and moved to the filing cabinet and put away some files. As I moved away from the filing cabinet, my foot stuck on the wood floor. I stumbled, almost tripped, and regained my composure. I can be so clumsy sometimes. So, I put my shoes back on.
In the restroom, the toilet paper stuck to my hand. At this point, I realized something wasn’t right. On the way back to the office area, I picked up a dryer sheet from the laundry room…on the bottom of my shoe. As I leaned down to peel it off, I lost my balance and leaned back against the wall for support. My shirt peeled off the wall as I attempted to reach down and remove the dryer sheet. My mistake was lazily leaning back up against the wall when I had the dryer sheet in my hand. That’s when my hair stuck to the wall…
I was loosing patience with myself and my surroundings. I didn’t feel sticky, so why was everything sticking to me? MOD PODGE!
Oh NO, that wonderfully fabulous, incredible invention that went on white and dried clear was all over me!! It’s glue. How do you not know that you have glue on you? Well, I’ll tell you… this thoughtfully incredulous material goes on smooth, thin, and sleek. It is only during the seemingly forever drying process that the tackiness appears. I went to the place where I had placed my photo transfer project to dry (on the dryer in the laundry room) to check it also. The cat was stuck to it 😦 There he stood shaking it as roughly as he could to get it off his back paw. When he saw me, he bolted off the dryer, down the hallway and into the living room dragging my project with him! He was not happy. I was not happy. My house was slowly becoming covered in glue.
The kids would be home from school in under an hour and then my husband would be home. I had to get the house cleaned up! My problem was that I had no way to see what I was cleaning! This miracle product of the ages turns clear as it dries, not after it is completely dry. I grabbed my shoes and cleaned them. Then I started cleaning the house. I cleaned the floors, door knobs, washing machine top, dryer, and anything that I thought I may have touched. I thought I did rather well covering up my goof. 🙂
After supper, everyone usually retires to their rooms or does their own thing. I showed my husband the nice little picture on wood thing I had created and he thought it was awesome 🙂 I was happy once more. Then, my youngest son yells “ouch” from the livingroom as he tried to get up from the recliner. His arm and his head had stuck to the recliner as he tried to move. “Mom!” he called out to complain. “Oh you kids,” I said embarrassingly, “Y’all clearly need to eat in the kitchen. I bet there’s something sticky on it. Just wipe it down.”
I got away with it… or at least I did until they read this 😉
My husband wanted to try his creative hand at building with pallets after we made the garden. He set out to build a dog house. I’m not sure how he did it or what tools he needed. Here is my non-educated dissertation, which by the way, is the exact type of pallet DIY instructions you can find on Pinterest or anywhere else on the internet. None of the instruction article or websites I’ve been able to find have all the details, so I guess my instructions here will fit in nicely!
I do know he began by creating a foundation of sorts by using blocks and a piece of plywood. He built some kind of “footer” thing and a “band board” thing and the pallets sat on top of that. Then, using 3 pallets propped together to create a boxed in frame. The pallets were secured together with screws. Anyway, he cut up 2 pallets for the front entrance part. I can’t describe it…just look at the pictures below. He purchased some 2×4 boards and fashioned roof trusses. After those were screwed together on the house, he put the roof decking on (plywood) and then he enclosed the roof triangle thingy in front and back. He even shingled the little roof and used cap.
So, this is not the best DIY instructions for building a dog house out of pallets, but if you are a dude, maybe you can figure out what I am talking about! My role in all this was very little. I think I held a board or two during the process and I broke down 4 pallets for him to use as “siding”.
Here you can see how the pallets were put together in a box fashion and 2x4s were cut to create roof trusses.
Here you can see the front. 2 pallets were cut into pieces to make the front & allow for a door. Also notice the plywood (roof decking) has been added to one side at this point.
Here you can see how “siding” was fashioned out of pallet boards after taking several pallets apart.
Here you can see the mostly completed pallet dog house – including dog.
My husband says it’s not “finished” yet, but the dog LOVES it! And because I wasn’t involved in the building of this project – no one was accidentally harmed in this creation! 🙂 It was a win-win!!
Insomnia is a terrible thief that steals one’s ability to think clearly the following day. What’s worse is that the body does not physically coordinate with you the way you think you are telling it to do. Combine these things together for a wonderful crafty result coupled with physical injury for the safest of household objects. In other words, I seriously should stop trying to do DIY projects the day after no sleep!! Insomniacs beware.
During the course of the year, I continued to struggle with what seemed to be a never-ending cycle of sleep deprivation. These late nights or early mornings laying in bed awake led to browsing the internet for hours on end. After reading millions of articles, books, and shopping online at 3am, I would end on Pinterest browsing the DIY category. I would find so many things that I just knew I could do! I would make lists of supplies needed and the next day would sneak out to the store and buy them. Some of these projects turned out nicely, others were just a huge disappointment 😦
Lesson 1: I discovered that many of the DIY links on Pinterest were just plain junk! Most of them were just pictures that had been circulated several thousand times as many well-meaning would be crafters have pinned them in great hopes that 1 day they’d get around to trying them. Many didn’t have enough instruction to complete a task or seriously important details were missing from the processes, so I’ve had several mishaps. Here are a few things I’ve tried. Some were a giant FAIL and others turned out nicely 🙂
I promise to write as many of these as I can remember, but for today, here is one of the more famous “pallet” adventures!
I decided that since I had access to more pallets than the average person, I would create something out of them. I announced to my husband that I wanted him to start bringing them home to me. He dutifully complied and after bringing 5 or 6 home asked what I was going to do with them. I answered, “I’m not sure, but it’s going to be GREAT!” He would give me a strange look and then ask me again after 5 or 6 more pallets. My answer, always the same, was no longer good enough after we had over 25 pallets stacked in our back yard. (Insert cheesy grin here)
My first thought was outdoor seating. I would go outside and stare at the pallet stack and try to visualize how to physically go about constructing my creation. After about an hour of gathering the tools and supplies I needed and all this thinking, I would be mentally exhausted and defeated. Everything I saw online looked so simple, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the pallets into the shapes I needed. Lesson 2: Nothing seen online is as easy as it looks! I knew I could take them completely apart, but the point of using the pallets is to lessen the workload, not add more to it!
I began by using a hand saw to cut the pallets down to size keeping 2 slats connected on front and 3 on the back. (Note: I used a hand saw because I am just the average housewife here, not the host of a lady’s only DIY show with a production crew and unlimited access to large power tools and emergency people ….should I cut off a digit.) [It is true that my husband is a contractor and I could have access to a ton of tools, but this was my project and I didn’t want his help!.] Once the 2 pallets were in sections, I leaned them against one another trying to visualize how to make them fit into a bench. Lesson 3: Pallets are made of wood. Wood Rots. Nothing looked right and the wood the pallets are made of would need to be treated or they would rot quickly in the weather concerned me. I have no “patio” to sit them on. They would sit directly on the ground. Hmm… I changed my mind. No outdoor furniture. It sure looked cool on Pinterest though, even though in reality it wouldn’t work for me!
I stopped working for the day and resumed my nightly insomniac googling. Then decided to make a swing! Ah yes, I love to swing outdoors. A swing would be perfect! The next day I went outside and started placing the pieces together. Before I screwed anything together, I sat on one pallet piece while it was on the ground. It bowed beneath my tush even with the ground beneath me supporting it. I’m not a “large” lady, yet the piece that would be the seat would not really support me well. There would be no way that my rather large boys would ever be able to sit on it with me 😦 This is when I learned a very important lesson – Lesson 4: Not all pallets are created equal! Pallets that hold large amounts of ceramic tile are great. Pallets that hold shingles are not as strong – believe it or not.
Back to square one again, the day passed and I waited for sleep once more. Sleep did not come, so I had plenty of time to do more nightly research. I found several project idea types to use the pallets to make a raised garden bed. BINGO! The soil in our yard is mostly clay and growing a garden has always been a challenge. So, this was perfect. My husband had mentioned how he longed to have a garden and I thought it would make us both happy.
The next day was much better. After finishing my work for the office, I began gathering my hand tools again and started off by cutting the pallets as described above. I left 2 slats connected on front and 3 slats connected on the back of most sections. Other sections had 1 slat on front and 2 on back. Our yard is not exactly level, so I had to compensate a little. Once I had 4 sections, I leaned them against one another to make a rectangle. It looked fine, so I grabbed my hammer & nails. After trying several ways to nail them together, I realized this wouldn’t work. I couldn’t hammer the nails into the sections because the overlapping slats prevented me from doing so. In short, my hand, nail, & hammer wouldn’t fit into one spot to do the job. I thought about it for a while and then decided to tie them together with the left over jute twine I had from earlier projects. It was strong, natural, biodegradable and well – it was the only thing I could think of! 🙂
After all 4 sections were connected, my day was done. My husband saw my little creation, but didn’t say much about it. I guess he was letting me do my thing happily 🙂 He was probably glad that I was finally using the pallets for something. He agreed to bring me more.
Lining inside pallet raised garden box
The next day, I decided I needed to line the inside of the garden box so my dirt wouldn’t fall out of the slats. I used a tarp cut to size. After placing the tarp inside, I ran to the local hardware store. I bought some garden soil with several coupons and gift cards I had collected from rebates. With some muscle help from the boys, we got all four of the 25 lb bags of dirt from the car to the new garden box. Excited, I cut a hole in the top of the bag and declared, “Pour!”. My son lifted the bag high and dumped the soil on the tarp inside the box. Guess what happened… the tarp sunk in on all 4 sides and the dirt went everywhere! It went inside the box, outside the box, on the tarp, over the tarp, and all over the ground too! Lesson 5: Think things through all the way before beginning. For some reason, I never learn this lesson. 😦
Lining inside pallet raised garden box
I couldn’t think of any way to keep the tarp edges up, so I used binder clips from the office supply store to clip the tarp up on all 4 sides. Then I scooped massive amounts of dirt off the ground and put it in the box 😦 I decided that I had learned so many lessons from this little project, I should build more boxes! 🙂 Cutting commenced with the hand saw and my children thought I had lost my mind. (This is normal around here.) My youngest son said, “uh, Mom? You need help?” I declined and then went on my business …sawing away. I took my weak little arms a whole day to saw 2 pallets for the next box. Each box I made went faster in the creation process. I was doing better (avoiding all my earlier mistakes) and I was working faster.
Completed pallet raised garden bed
By the time the second box was completed and I was working on the third box, my husband noticed. He was amazed. He kept saying, “Wow! You built these? …by yourself?” 🙂 I smiled and kept on building. When I was ready to start the 3rd & 4th box, it was a weekend and my husband offered to help. This 4th (and last) box would be the largest one. He whipped out his drill, power saw and some other tools and took to building. Needless to say, he created that box in a smidgen of the time it took me (which was all day long). Actually, he was completely finished in under an hour! After he was finished, he sured up my other boxes with screws so the jute twine became decoration instead of structural.
Hubby came to help 🙂
After all boxes were completed, I started planting. After planting was completed, my husband was staining our deck and stoop. He moved over towards the raised garden beds and started the process of staining them. In the picture below, the staining wasn’t completed yet. But, you get the idea 🙂 We also added a few stakes around the tomato area in preparation for their growth.
Staining the pallets was a great idea!
Oops! I haven’t written anything since last November.
How could I forget about this site? Simple…I’ve been a bit busy with work, the house, the kids, the hubby, and taxes. So I don’t bore you with all the details, I’ll hit the high spots for you. We’ve had a few adventures, turning points, milestones, and even a few laughs along the way since my last post. Scroll down to enjoy!
Our oldest boy is not new to the stage. He’s had roles in plays before, but this past Nov, he had the esteemed honor of playing the King of Hearts in a magical steam punk rendition of Alice in Wonderland!
King of Hearts (Center)
(As I am sure you can appreciate – this picture is purposely blurred to protect identities of other children in this play.)
We’ve visited some historical places and paid respect…
Briceville Coal Creek Cross Mountain Disaster
It snowed in late November…
November Snow in East TN
We searched for arrowheads…
Arrowhead Hunting
We visited Gatlinburg (right before it flooded)…
Our youngest son had a choral concert in December…
Cole’s Chorus Concert (he’s in the middle)
We celebrated Christmas. The most fun was listening to the boys guess what was inside the 3 large boxes. They knew each one of them had a box and the guesses were hilarious. I heard: “Microwave for college”, “Individual mini fridges”, “Clothes”, “A giant book”, “Fluffy”, and lots of other silly stuff.
Christmas 2013
The most exciting part of Christmas came from the post office though! We received a surprise present from Royal Mail delivered from the UK. The mail delivery lady was so impressed by the package, she made a special stop by the house to make sure I went by the post office to pick it up and advised me she expected to know what it was. When I went to the post office, the branch manager handed it to me while the other ladies working there huddled all around. They all looked on quizzically in wonderment, fully expecting me to open it in front of them. I said my thank yous and told them I would wait until Christmas morning to open it with my family. Disappointed, they asked me to come back in and let them know what it was. The kids also guessed what was inside everyday until Christmas came. (Thank you John & Family!)
Royal Mail
My fabulous friend at Praying Seven Designs made an apron for me!
I LOVE my new apron!
We had more snow January 29, 2014…
More Snow
The kids had laaaaazy days…
Lazy kids
While looking for arrowheads along the river with my husband on February 1st, 2014, I stumbled upon a creepy doll buried in sand! Oh the stories that came from that day…from the mysteriously appearing and then disappearing tiny foot prints that appeared afterward to the creepy doll theories – we had many stories to share.
Creepy doll
We took the kids on a retreat to The Wilderness in the Smokies in Sevierville, TN. They had a lot of fun that day, but since it’s a water park – there are no pictures to share with you. (Camera+water=disaster). We stopped in a small Chinese restaurant during a stay and I received a nice fortune :
Nice!
Snowlady duck-face Selfie
On February 12 & 13th, it snowed again! I made a duck-face snowman selfie 🙂
The kids were party poopers. They wouldn’t come out to play in the snow with me, but Nick made a snowman too!
Nick’s Snowman
For Valentine’s Day, my sweet husband gave me my absolute favorite little golden balls of happiness! We also went out for dinner.
my absolute favorite little golden balls of happiness
So, all in all, we’ve stayed busy. Combine daily football workouts, ACT prep work, multiple choral events, working 7am – 8pm each day and all the regular daily house work, plus trying out some DIY Pinterest inspired crafting disasters equals…kinda busy. But, to you, if you’ve come all this way to read – I offer my sincerest apology for not writing something before now. I’ll be writing more soon, I promise!
Please scroll to the bottom for an update – 9/29/2014 – After using for almost a year…
Working from home gives a person much-needed time to take care of things around the house and sometimes, when business is slow it even allows for hobbies, crafts, or whatever you may choose to do in your spare time. I’ve so enjoyed working from home and here’s one thing I did with my spare time…
Last month I had a bit of down time and began to search on the internet again for DIY projects and penny-pinching budgeting ideas. (I’ve always been a penny pincher, so this is nothing new for me. I’ve always been a couponer, but not to the extreme. I compare cost & value of the return before buying anything. I guess this comes from years of necessity and became a lifestyle overtime. I’m the gal that signs up to get free samples from various companies and will send out a tweet or make a status update to receive a free roll of toilet paper. It’s habit. It’s also saved me thousands of dollars over time if you add it all up though.)
My husband knew I was pinching pennies and saw a post on Facebook about making homemade laundry soap. He piqued my curiosity. After he left for his business day and I completed the necessary office work I needed to do, I began to browse the internet to learn more about this concept.
I kid you not, I found over 200 websites, articles, posts and write-ups about making homemade laundry detergent (soap) before I ever thought about going to Pinterest! I also found many articles indicating that people got upset when the word “detergent” was used instead of “soap”. Amongst the many articles, I was able to identify a common trend. Although many people had written about this subject, there were only about 40 different recipes for liquid laundry soap and 37 for powdered. People were sharing the same recipes over and over again.
The reviews, comments, articles and posts were pretty straight forward. People either absolutely loved using this type of laundry cleaner or they hated it with a passion! The one aspect of this concept that captured my attention was the money-saving factor, so I wanted to put this theory to the test using my family’s usage and budget for laundry care.
Below are the results. It is important to know that at this time, I have only used the dry/powered form of home-made laundry soap. I opted for this method because it is more cost-effective and time-saving than the liquid recipe.
Our family unit:
Our family usage/dirt/stain/category levels:
Total loads washed per week on average: 30 large loads and 3 regular loads = 33 loads
What I normally spend on store-bought detergents, stain removers, and additives= $40.96 monthly. Divided by 4 weeks = $10.24 per week.
$10.24 divided by 33 loads = $0.31 per load.
Home made laundry soap recipe and costs: (brand names omitted)
Washing Soda
Detergent Booster
Laundry Soap
Make it – Mix in a large bowl (that you’ll never eat out of again) 2 cups of Washing Soda, 2 cups of Detergent Booster. Smooth and de-clump powder mixture. Getting all lumps out is important. Mix together well. (I used my hands). Last, using a cheese grater (that you’ll never use for food again) grate 1 entire bar of laundry soap into itty bitty flake pieces directly into the bowl of the powder mixture. This was time-consuming for me, so I did it while watching television with the kids. Stir to mix up the entire product when finished grating bar of soap. Store in an airtight container. This mixture makes approximately 1 quart of laundry soap. (I make 2 batches at one time so I only have to do this once a month.)
Usage: 1 tablespoon for small or regular loads. 2 tablespoons for large or heavy loads. Definitely use 2 tablespoons for very dirty clothes.
The Results
I read that this recipe would create enough laundry soap for 64 loads. I discovered that the 1 quart mixture listed above actually only washed 48 loads of our laundry. We do tend to possibly have more heavily soiled clothing than most people (description above).
The cost break out:
1 box of washing soda will make 4 batches. $3.53 divided by 4 = $0.88 per batch. 1 box of laundry detergent booster will make 5 batches. $4.32 divided by 5 = $0.86 per batch. Each batch needs one full bar of laundry soap. $1.09 per bar.
$0.88+$0.86+$1.09 = $2.83
$2.83 divided by 48 loads of laundry = $0.06 per load
So after doing the math, it truly is a cost saver!
But, how effectively does it clean?
Below are my ratings on a scale from 1-10. (1 = not effective at all 10 = very effective)
Time and Effort
Making this formula did take a little time and effort but was far less effort than used in making the liquid recipes I found.
Was it worth it?
So far, I have already noticed a difference in our laundry care budget. But since using this method, I have also worried about our utility bill. I use to wash our laundry on the cold cycle when possible to avoid using our water heater, but used it on the warm cycle when needed for stain removal.
With this recipe for laundry soap, it is most effective to run hot water into the basin of the washer long enough to effectively dissolve the powdered mixture before adding clothing. Our utility bill actually came in a couple of days ago and it has not been affected. Actually it dropped down from what it has been, but I attribute this to the changes in the weather and not running the AC unit. Fall is such a lovely time of the year 🙂 So, I cannot truly calculate a cost analysis yet to factor in utility usage. However, things are looking good so far!
I plan on using this recipe and soap until I run out of ingredients. I have been told about some other great alternative products that are cost saving also and I want to try those too. I’ll compare the actual cost of those products after I’ve tried them and share with you.
If you’ve had an experience making and using homemade laundry soap, I’d love to hear from you. Many of my friends I asked about this (before I tried it) had very distinct reactions. They either loved or hated it…well, most of them hated it honestly.
I’d love to hear from you and what you think!
Love always
Chrissy 🙂
UPDATE – 9/29/2014
After using the homemade laundry soap for almost year, we have switched back to other commercially produced products. Here’s why: I noticed that even running a natural cleaning solution (such as vinegar) through the washing machine weekly, the homemade laundry soap caused a terrible build up of stinky scum in the washer. After resorting to the commercially developed washing machine cleaners, the scum and smell were successfully removed by running it through the machine 6 times.
Did you read that? I had to run harsh chemicals through the machine 6 times (or washes) in a row to remove the build up!
So in the end, I like the homemade laundry soap, but it was a terrible mess in the washing machine and since I had to resort to running the cleanser through 6 times to get the machine truly clean somewhat defeated the purpose of saving money using this method.
I’m not going to say that I’ll never use this method again, but I am saying that I am no longer using this method primarily.
Sorry that I haven’t written anything in a while. I’ve been sidetracked. Sorry! Anyway, my sis (Nikki Lea) has inspired this post. We were discussing Halloween on a budget and all sorts of memories came flooding back to me. Before my kids were “too old” to trick or treat, I use to make their costumes for them each year. Since Halloween wasn’t a big holiday for us, I refused to spend much money on costumes! So here, for all my DIYers, I have put together a list of simple to make costumes that need only a few supplies. Many of these things you may have lying around the house and will not need to buy. I haven’t tried these costumes, but I have dressed my boys through the years in many of them. As with any costume, the amount of time and effort you put into them will decide the outcome. Enjoy!
DIY Halloween Costumes
Cereal Killer (Cute take on a Serial Killer) – This one is one of my favorites because it takes something unthinkable and makes it cute! All you need is:
To make the costume all you do is drip tiny spots of fake blood on to shirt or use red marker to make red splatter. Let shirt dry. Dress the child warm, (put the tee-shirt over a long sleeve shirt for warmth). Then remove the small bags of cereal from 3 or 4 boxes. Set aside to eat later. Punch safety-pin through back of box and then pin it the front of shirt. Can pin on back of shirt too. The child wears the boxes with red marks on shirt and could carry a fake knife, gun, bow and arrow, or he could just carry a big plastic spoon from your kitchen! Boom – cute little “cereal killer”.
Political costume: Everyone, no matter what their beliefs loves this one! This one is easy to make too. Here’s what you need:
To make costume, take white tee-shirt and iron on letters spelling out TAXANATOR or write it on the back of shirt in block letters. This one is a cute spin on the Terminator and let’s face it…NO ONE LIKES TAXES! Child wears tee-shirt and regular clothes. There’s no messes, no make up, and very little time involved in this one!
Military or Duck Dynasty Costume: This one is simple for you and I see it a lot! Here’s what you need:
It’s as simple as that! Everyone now recognizing camo as “Military” or as “Duck Dynasty”. Simple, no mess, warm, and comfortable.
Pretty Fairy: This one is girly. Since young children’s costumes have very few accessories, this one is cheap if you buy these items at a Dollar Tree or Everything is $1 store. Her regular clothes will do. You could use a pretty dress or jeans and a tee-shirt for warmth. Your accessories make the costume, not the clothes. Here’s what you need:
Pick up any 3 of these items:
That’s it!
Fitness Trainer: This one is cute and you may already have some of these items already! Here’s what you need:
Take plain tee-shirt and write with marker or use iron on letters on front or back of shirt to write TRAINER. Let dry. Put on her pants then let her wear mommies’ socks pushed down to ruffle them. (This looks like leg warmers on her). Put hair in pony tail. (If it’s a messy look, that’s okay.) Put on head band. Even if she won’t wear the headband, it looks great!
Fitness trainer can be used to boy too. Change type of shirt to sleeveless to make it look like a muscle shirt!
Pumpkin: Children’s costumes are all about the accessories because kids don’t do well with face paint. This one is pretty simple too. Here’s what you need:
If they already have orange clothes, this one is the most simple. Dress them. Put on head band. Optional: Paint eyes, nose and mouth with black face paint to make jack-o-lantern appearance.
Doctor or nurse and patient: You can get the supplies from a Dollar Tree type place. Here’s what you need:
This one is cute because 2 kids can dress up together and look sooo cute! One child wears the white clothes or large white button up shirt as the doctor or nurse, carries the needle, and wears the stethoscope. The other child covered in band-aids!!!
Little Green Army Man: Here’s what you need:
Put outfit on child. Paint face, hands, arms, any showing skin – green. Then add accessories.
Lord of the Rings (Froto): Here’s what you’ll need:
Put on white shirt & button all the way up. Put on brown pants and roll up the legs 2 turns. Do not tuck in white shirt. Add Vest buttoned up. Add the green cape. Shoes are optional because they were always bare foot in that movie!
Easy Honey Bees: Here’s what you’ll need
Lay yellow shirt on flat surface. Remove all wrinkles. Measure out 3 or 4 strips of black ribbon that will fit across shirt horizontally. Cut ribbon. Glue ribbon strips to front of shirt. Let dry. Put on black pants and shirt & you’re done.
Cowgirl: Here’s what you’ll need
First make the lasso. Unravel yarn from skein (about 6 ft). Cut. Take yarn and form a large oval-shaped form on flat surface. Cut another piece of yarn (about 4-5 inches) and use to tie your lasso in middle.
Dress child. Hang the end of lasso on from belt loop on side. Tie bandana around neck.
Mummy: Here’s what you’ll need:
Cut sheet into 1″ strips of material. Set aside. Dress child. Drape 2 strips of bed sheet from child’s left shoulder to right side of waist. Use safety-pin to hold in place. Repeat on right side. If wrapped correctly, there should be extra material hanging below the child’s waist line. Wrap 1 piece of material around waist and tie in bow in back. Remove safety pins. wrap child’s arms and legs in pieces of material and tie to hold in place. Continue adding strips of material to complete the desired look. Remember to remove unnecessary safety pins!
Business Man/Corporate Woman: This one is so simple! All you do is dress the kids in their “Sunday best” suit and you are done!!
Pair of Aces:Here’s what you’ll need:
Lay tee-shirt flat on surface. Remove all wrinkles. Draw your choice of design in middle of shirt (heart, spade, clover, or diamond). Let dry.
Next draw or iron on letter A of same color you chose for middle symbol in upper left corner of shirt near shoulder. Iron on or draw another letter A in the lower right hand corner of shirt.
Dress child in any pair of pants you want and put on Tee shirt.
Indiana Jones: Here’s what you’ll need:
Dress child. That’s it!
Big Kid: Here’s what you’ll need
Put hair up in ponytails. Put on Pjs. Carry stuffed animal with you!
Nerd: Here’s what you’ll need
Place tape on the nose bridge of glasses or glasses frame. Get dressed in long pants and shirt of choice. Put on suspenders. You’re ready!
Vampire: Here’s what you need
So many shows on television have glamorized the modern-day vampire and changed the way we see them. Now, it is easier than ever to be a vampire for Halloween because they look just like normal people. Apply foundation to face. Insert fake teeth extensions. Apply a dot or 2 of blood. That’s it!
Shaggy (Scooby Doo): Here’s what you’ll need
Get dressed!
Velma (Scooby Doo):Here’s what you’ll need
Get dressed!
Daphne (Scooby Doo): Here’s what you’ll need
Get dressed!
Silent Film Star Charlie Chaplin: Here’s what you’ll need
Apply white make up to face and neck. apply black eye liner to lips and upper lip to create a small rectangular mustache.Get dressed.
Tennis Player: Here’s what you’ll need
Get dressed. Carry racket.
Internet Error Costume: Here’s what you’ll need
Lay tee-shirt flat on surface. Remove wrinkles. Iron on or write “Internal Server Error 404. Costume Not Found.” Allow to dry. Get dressed.
Etch a Sketch: Here’s what you’ll need:
This costume is cute, but takes some time and effort. Take your large piece of card board and make sure it’s rectangle shaped. We are using this as the frame of the etch-a-sketch. When cardboard is right size to hang around child’s neck, cut out the center. When you are finished, it should look like a chunky cardboard picture frame. Next, paint or color the frame red. Let dry. After dry, in the center of bottom of frame, in white write Etch a Sketch. Let dry. Attach the wheels/plastic or foam plates to the bottom corners. (These are your knobs that you would use to draw with.)
This should be lightweight enough to hand around the neck of a child using yarn. Dress the child anyway you want. The accessory you just made is the costume!
Toothpaste Costume: This one is cute, but your babies may be too little for it just yet. Here’s what you need:
Take pillow case and cut hole for child’s head and arms. Lay flat on sturdy surface. Remove all wrinkles. We are going to paint or draw the word Crest long ways down the pillowcase. Using Red paint or marker, draw or paint a C. Then using Blue paint or marker write the letters r. e. s. t. Let dry. To put the costume together, allow child to wear pillow case and place lamp shade on head. You may need to wrap the inside of lamp shade with a cloth to make comfortable to wear.
Traveling Art or Moving Artwork: This one may be too old for the kids now. Here’s what you need:
Spread sheet flat on working surface. Remove all wrinkle. Throw paint on to sheet, flick paint from toothbrush, or make a design somehow. Let dry. Dress child as normal. Safety pin sheet twice on each sleeve and once on chest of shirt. When they come up to someone for candy, all they do is stretch their arms and boom – they are moving art.
Scary Costume “The Ring”: This one probably won’t work at a church function! Here’s what you need:
Take dress outside and make it dirty (mud, dirty, grass stains, etc). Put on dress. Use makeup to create a dirty look on legs, arms, and face. Put on Wig. You are now the little girl from the well in “The Ring”.
Spaghetti:This one is cute if child will be sitting for a while, but not so good to walk much in! Here’s what you’ll need.
Take Styrofoam balls and spray paint them brown. Set aside to let dry.
Cut bottom almost completely out of laundry basket. Leave a small rim at bottom. Take masking tape and cover any sharp corners. Next, plug-in glue gun so it’s warm when you need it. Then, get out your yarn. Begin cutting pieces off about 2 ft long each. cut about 40 pieces of the yellow and only about 20 pieces of red. The yarn is your noodles. Glue yellow yarn to laundry basket so that it seems the noodles are flowing out of the basket from bottom to top on inside of basket.Make sure that you’ve covered the basket all the way around with the yellow yarn. You may need more or less than what you cut off. Next glue the red yarn 5 pieces at time in various places around the basket. The red is your sauce. Set aside
Glue to brown Styrofoam balls to the basket/yarn. These are your meatballs.
Dress child in red outfit. Allow child to sit in basket. Drape remaining yarn cut over child. Give child the two remaining Styrofoam balls to play with.
Wednesday Addams: Here’s what you’ll need
Part hair in middle of head. Braid each side. Apply light foundation or white face paint. Get dressed.
Men in Black: Here’s what you’ll need
Get dressed. Put on sunglasses.
If you have your own DIY costume recipe, I’d love to hear from you! How are you dressing up this year? What will your kids be?
Bringing the inside out
thoughts on things
"Whatever you are not changing, you are choosing." —Laurie Buchanan
Lo que uno desecha otro lo aprovecha
A Smart & Quirky Lifestyle Blog
bare ruined choir practice
Smiling • Writing • Dreaming
Thee Life, Thee Heart, Thee Tears
Random thoughts, life lessons, hopes and dreams
Tips for living life full with a frugal mindset.
Edebiyat burda, kahve tadında.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Honest reviews, amazing products, and lots of giveaways!
It's Time to Be Happy! Live Free From the Grips of Depression!
There is so much to discover in The Good Life state.
Journey to a Stronger and more Confident You.
Crazy stuff happens
www.bosmate.wordpress.com
The miscellaneous minutiae of my thoughts on being a mummy, a wife and a poet at heart
Tips, reviews and plenty of real life chatter.
Plant Based Living and Gardening
