Thursday, October 31, 2013

Baby Jesus Advent Calendar!

Last year I pinned this idea and wanted to make it, but I just didn't have enough time. This year I was determined so I started WAY early! 


This was the biggest piece of felt I had on hand. I didn't really want to use white, but I also didn't want to use a dark color for the background either. 


All trimmed and ready to be made into something cool! 


Next I brought out my Big Shot and used it to cut out a bunch of letters and numbers. 


Then I cut out everything else just by looking at the pictures online. It was a lot of work, but it was actually really fun. 


I was super glad I had kept a bunch of felt scraps...they definitely came in handy! 


I was able to cut out all the pieces for the advent calendar during one afternoon. 


The next day was all about glue, glue and more glue! Surprisingly I only burnt myself once! 



For Mary and Joseph I needed to make them a bit more sturdy since they are going to travel up the advent calendar. 


I ended up gluing them onto a piece of hard white felt that I had one hand. 


Baby Jesus I was worried would look a bit cheesy, but I think he turned out really nice. The the back of both Baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph I attached a small piece of Velcro so they can stick and then be removed. 


Photo bomb! 


All done! Well almost...I ended up needing to put two pieces of white felt together since it was a bit see through. So the only thing I have left to do is stitch up the sides with some embroidery thread. It took two days from start to finish and I'm still really impressed with how well it turned out. The kids are all very excited to get to move Mary and Joseph closer to the stable where Baby Jesus will be born!  

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Half The Fun Is In The Preparation!

When I decided on the kids costumes I had to do some crafting to make them possible. Thankfully my awesome friend Starr had lots of ideas on how to make it work out without spending a bunch of money. 


The first thing I did was take a long sleeve white onesie and cut a slit in the middle and stitched it up. 


Then came the orange dye. I had never used dye before and I was super nervous about it. It is SO easy and so fun....it might be my next crafting obsession! 


From white to orange! 


Here was Zeke's costume all ready!


Then I needed to dye Jack's white dress shirt a worker man blue! 


I was so surprised how fast the dye took and even more surprised that I didn't get dye on anything I didn't want to! 


Once Jack's shirt was dyed and washed I made a Felix patch for his shirt and slip covered our Ikea plush hammer with some yellow felt. It was my first slipcover and it was surprisingly easy to make! 



As for Jack's worker man hat, I used one of Michael's work hats and covered the water district logo with Fix-It Felix's initials. 


I LOVE LOVE how his cute ears bend forward with the hat on. He's such a handsome boy! 


As for Ella's outfit it was so easy! First I asked on FB if anyone had a black pleated skirt and my friend Lane had one. Then I found the turquoise sweater at Value Village for $2.99! When it came to Vanellope's crazy tights I used a pair that were a bit small for her and I drew the stripes on with a sharpie marker. It took about a half and hour and when I was done it had bled threw the tights so Ella had "tattoos" all over her legs! 


To make Ella's hair look like Vanellope's I used a red pipe cleaner to look like a piece of red licorice and then I hot glued a bunch of foam cut outs to bobby pins to look like candy pieces. On Halloween I have a can of black hair spray to make her hair really look like Vanellope's. 

I had so much fun making the kids costumes! 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Trunk Or Treat!

On Sunday we went to our churches Trunk or Treat and Harvest Party. The kids had been looking forward to it for weeks. 

About a month ago I started planning the kids costumes. Jack wanted to be Fix-It Felix Jr so I thought it would be fun to have a whole Wreck-It Ralph theme. The only problem was Owen didn't want to be anything but the same pirate that he was last year. I had a lot of fun making the kids outfits....another post is coming on that! 


Here we have Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Fix-It Felix Jr and a Pirate! 


Last year I tried to get Owen to let me put make-up on him so he'd look like he had a beard. He wanted NOTHING to do with it. This year though he was all for it. His missing tooth just added to the whole pirate look! 


Fix-It Felix and his Golden Hammer! 


Beautiful Girl! 


At first I wanted Owen to be Wreck-It Ralph since he's the biggest, but I knew it would be impossible to find brown overalls in his size. 


At Trunk or Treat there were lots of cars for the kids to visit and get candy. 


Some of them just handed out candy and some of them had games for the kids to play. 


All the themes were so cute! Next year we are going to participate by decorating our van. 


The kids also got to enjoy cotton candy and popcorn! Inside the sanctuary there were tons of carnival games for the kids to play and win either candy or little prizes. There was also a photo op, cookie walk and face painting. 


Jack fittingly chose a hammer to go with costume! 


Ella was very clear that she wanted a purple butterfly. Miss Jan did one better and did her whole face as a butterfly. 


Miss Jan was amazed that Ella sat still long enough for her to paint it, but this was something that Ella actually enjoyed. She's not much for all the games....this is right up her alley! 


The boys waiting for Ella to get all beautified! 


After we had enjoyed all the festivities it was time for a bite to eat. The church had corndogs and pizza for a dollar. 


They were almost out of pizza by the time we got there, but thankfully we were able to get one piece. 


Zeke was so funny...he ate all the corn on the corn dog, but none of the dog! 

After eating we headed home where the kids got to check out their bounty and eat a few pieces of candy. It was a nice dry run for Halloween!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Snuggles!

Whenever it's time for us to go somewhere I always put Zeke up on the dining table so I can put his coat and shoes on. Last Tuesday we were getting ready to go to Taekwondo and Owen decided that Zeke needed a snuggle and he was at the perfect height to snuggle. 


Zeke is all smiles right now for the camera! 


I love seeing my boys hug! 


Jack decided he needed to be in on the action! 


Cheeeeeeese! 


So precious! 


Big time squeeze! 

Sunday, October 20, 2013

He's One Cool Dude!


Posing in Daddy's shades! 


Ahhh!!


I see you! 


What are these things? 


Hmmm...


This way? 


Almost got 'em! 


Handsome boy!