Some Happy Buns!

More PJ's? Always PJ's, if you ask me. Especially when they have an adorable little bum panel like these Happy Buns Britches by Peek-a-Boo Patterns (affiliate) do. I told you I had an unhealthy obsession with making PJ's, and I'd be lying if I said this is the last pair I'd be making anytime soon.

This moose print and stripe print (both by Girl Charlee) were just begging to be made into PJ's, so who am I to ignore that call? I mean, seriously, the cuteness of that little bum.

We've had plenty of chilly days laying around the house watching TV and eating popcorn lately, so snuggly PJ's were just the thing this little guy needed. And the little bum panel on the Happy Buns Britches was the perfect solution for my out of control scrap pile. You only need a small scrap for the back, and there's even an option for a larger panel if you little one wears cloth diapers (which mine does not.)

The Happy Buns Britches are on sale for 15% off today only, so snag your discounted copy while you can. And psst, they're great for girls too. I love a good unisex pattern!

What Does the Fox Say? PJ's

Is there was one thing that you could make over and over again, what would it be? For me, that thing is PJ's. Sewing can be pretty repetitious sometimes, and there are plenty of times when I'm bored or just not into it - like when I'm making pants. I'd rather chew on a sweat sock than make a pair of woven pants with a functioning fly.

I'm not sure what it is exactly that I love about making PJ's, but I think it has something to do with all the fun prints that you find with kid's PJ's. As my babies get older, the "cutesy" prints that I love for little kids become less acceptable for daily wear, so I focus my undying love of the cutesy prints on making PJ's (denial much?)

While I was shopping at Wal-Mart recently, I came across some fleece throws for $2.88 each for a 50x60 inch blanket. You guys. I almost died when I found these! They actually have a good amount of stretch to them, and there were SO many cute prints. I threw 6 of them in my cart and giddily ran home to sew.

Now before I say any more, please let me specify that these throws are not specifically created for use in clothing, so if you decide to make clothes with them as I have, please do so at your own risk, k?

Colder weather is happening more and more frequently here in PA, so when I found the fox printed throw shown in the picture below, I knew fleece fox PJ's had to happen. Immediately.

The pants were made using Peek-a-Boo Pattern's Alex and Anna Winter PJ's, Since the pants are made out of fleece, they're really warm and cozy. And I love the skinny fit that you get with the Alex and Anna PJ's. After I made the pants, I was able to cut out a shirt and another set of pants for my son!

So I basically got a whole outfit and a half for $2.88. You can't beat that.

And check out the adorable foxes! The only downside to using the throws is that the prints are directional, so if you wanted to cut with the stretch going sideways, the print will look a little wonky (that's why my foxes look like they're diving down in the pants above.) Let's just say they're practicing their pouncing or something? :) There are plenty of other prints that aren't as directional as this one, I just couldn't pass up the cute foxes.

And to go along with the fox PJ pants, or course I needed to make a "What Does the Fox Say" top to go with it. The shirt was made using See Kate Sew's Recess Raglan (probably my very favorite pattern that I own.) I used a white knit from Girl Charlee and some yummy yellow flocked heat transfer material from Silhouette, which happened to match the yellow leaves on the pants perfectly. I designed the wording in Silhouette Studio and cut it out. I just love the little fox face substituted for the "o"! (Any interest in the downloadable Silhouette Studio file I used for the wording in the shirt above?)

This girl loves her new PJ's and was hamming it up until we got a little photo bomber...

Meet Bear! He's actually my in-law's puppy, and he is adorable. And he knows it.

After I bought the first batch of throws, I've been back and picked up plenty more in even more adorable prints, so I'm sure this won't be the last time you hear about my fleece throw sewing :)So run, skip, frolic, whatever you need to do, and buy some fleece throws to make cozy winter PJ's!

DIY Skeleton Gloves + Silhouette Portrait GIVEAWAY!

I've got the perfect, quick addition for your Halloween costumes today (and make sure to read below for a chance to win a (Silhouette Portrait)!

My son, Connor, is obsessed with skeleton everything. It all started with the shirt he's wearing in the picture below, which happens to be an old shirt from last year that he refuses to give up. He now owns several skeleton shirts and a zip-up jacket in skeleton print that I made him this year.

The wonderful folks over at Silhouette sent us a Silhouette Portrait recently to try out, so I thought it'd be fun to make Connor a pair of skeleton gloves using their flocked heat transfer material to add to his wardrobe - and they were a huge hit!

With the addition of a skeleton shirt, these gloves make the perfect skeleton Halloween costume. Or just wear the gloves by themselves for fun! Who says skeleton gloves are only for Halloween? Not this guy.

Who wants to make a pair??

SUPPLIES: a pair of knit gloves (do not use leather or anything other than traditional knit or fabric gloves!), Silhouette flocked heat transfer in white, Silhouette Portrait or CAMEO, scanner, iron and ironing board, skeleton gloves template (available only in Silhouette Studio format.)

Note: If you'd like to use the skeleton glove template that I created for your own personal use, you can find it here. It is only available in Silhouette Studio format, but if you'd like to make this project without a Silhouette, feel free to trace your glove and draw the bones freehand onto the back of Silhouette transfer material, then cut out by hand.

ONE: to create your own skeleton gloves from scratch, first place one glove on a piece of paper and trace carefully around it. Scan your picture and open in Silhouette Studio.

TWO: next, choose the "draw smooth freehand" option and begin drawing finger bones.

THREE: continue drawing bones with the draw smooth freehand tool.
FOUR: after you've finished drawing all your hand bones, you can use the arrow to click individually on each bone and adjust them as necessary.
FIVE: add wrist bones, the use your arrow to select all of the bones. Right click and choose "group" to group all the bones in your hand together.
SIX: you can now move your scanned picture off of your work board.

SEVEN: to make a second hand, simply right click on your hand and select "duplicate." Once you've duplicated your hand, make sure to right click on it again and choose "flip horizontally."

EIGHT: now you're ready to cut! Load your flocked heat transfer material into your Silhouette Portrait and cut according to the recommended settings.

NINE: Weed out your design by removing the extra transfer material.
TEN: place your design sticky side down onto your glove.
ELEVEN: I know the directions say otherwise, but I've found that my heat transfer designs adhere best when I turn my iron heat between the "silk" and "wool" setting, and iron directly on top of the plastic (on an ironing board of course.)

Remove the plastic carefully, and now you have the perfect set of spooky skeleton gloves for Halloween, or just for fun!

Connor loves his new gloves! I'm sure this won't be the last year you'll be seeing these babies :)

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Now for the best part! We get to give away a Silhouette Portrait!

If that doesn't excite you, then there's something wrong with you! Between the two of us, Shannon and I own both the Silhouette Portrait and the CAMEO, and they have been essential to our daily crafting. You can make everything from personalized clothing, decorations, and gifts for friends and family. The possibilities are really endless! Need some ideas?

1. Monster Teeth Treat Bags  2. Trick-or-Treat Bags 

3. Skeleton Bones Treat Bags 4. Faux Stamped Jewelry

5. Library Tote with Library Card Pocket  6. "You Blow Me Away" Valentine  

What's great about The Silhouette Portrait is that it's compact in size (only 3.5 pounds), but has a cutting size of 8" wide, and can be used to cut fabric, chipboard, vinyl, you name it. You can read more about the awesomeness that is The Silhouette Portrait here.   

So, do you want to win one? Of course you do. Enter using the widget below. Good Luck! The lucky winner will be announced here Monday October 27th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guidelines: Open to US/Canada Residents 18 years old or older. Void where prohibited. Giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. Prizes will be fulfilled by Silhouette America. Winner cannot have won another Silhouette America giveaway in the past 90 days. Winners should expect to receive their prize within 4-6 weeks after the giveaway has ended. The giveaway winner will be emailed within 24 hours after giveaway has ended, and will have 72 hours to claim their prize. If the prize is not claimed, a new winner will be selected. 

Two Art Caddy Totes

Have you heard of the Friday Fiver over at Crafterhours? Every Friday, the ladies at Crafterhours host a deal for a different product or pattern that you can snag for just $5 for one day only. They've had some amazing steals (many of which I snagged myself), and I've found myself eagerly clicking over each Friday to see if the Friday Fiver has been posted yet. If you're not a Crafterhours blog stalker every Friday (at least), you need to be!

A little over 2 weeks ago, the Friday Fiver deal was for the Art Caddy Tote by Gingercake. When I first clicked on it, I thought "cute pattern!" and clicked away. But one look at the jumbled war zone that is my kids' collection of art supplies, and I quickly clicked back over and added that baby to my cart. I needed all those pockets. And there are plenty!

I purchased supplies to make two caddies simultaneously, one for my son and one for my daughter. I'm the kind of person who likes instant project gratification, a.k.a. a project I can finish in a day, and I could tell this pattern was going to take a few days and after finishing one, I probably wouldn't want to make another for a very long time lol.

With a smidge of guidance, I let my kids choose the fabric themselves. I wanted them to really love their new caddies and make them their own since they'd be carting around all of their stuff in them. The fabric all came from my favorite local Jo-Ann Fabric, where I spend at least 3 days out of the week - I work out in the same shopping center where a Jo-Ann Fabric is conveniently located, so it would be a shame not to visit, right?? ;) The ladies there all know Connor and his favorite candy (I bribe him so I will have a happy shopping experience - thanks Skittles!)

My favorite thing about this pattern is the many, many pockets. I really stuffed these caddies full, and they held up without a problem and with room to spare.

We are definitely a maker family, if you can't tell by the pictures. At one point while filling my daughter's caddy, I thought I had run out of room for all. the. markers. But then I turned the bag around and found I had forgotten an entire pocket. Problem solved!

She loves having a bag that holds all of her coloring supplies, as well as scissors, glue, and every other odd and end that previously cluttered up her room.

Connor got a decidedly less girly bag :) He chose monsters, which I absolutely adore. I love that he finally has his own opinions on what patterns, colors, etc. he prefers.

I finished these bags just in time for a long road trip that we're going to be taking for a friend's wedding. These are going to be a perfect distraction for the long trip ahead!

Minion Costume Tutorial

Halloween is near, and that means candy...I mean costumes! I've always loved trick-or-treating. My brother and I would dress up each year and set out as early as we could to maximize our loot. We knew which houses were the ones giving out the best candy...and which ones were the ones giving out toothbrushes. When we got a little older, my dad would drive us to the "rich neighborhoods" where they would hand out the really good stuff. The long walk up those winding driveways were rewarded with full-size candy bars :)

Here in Pittsburgh, it's very much a family-centered community, and that includes trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood is full of many young families, and all of them are out on Halloween having a good time. I always ask my kids what they want to be for Halloween, and for the past several years, my daughter has always gone as one of the Disney princesses. Last year, Connor chose to be a dragon (you can find the DIY here.) This year, I thought for sure he'd choose the same thing since his interests are few, so when he asked to be a Minion from the movie Despicable Me, I got really excited.

We love Despicable Me at our house. We own both movies, and they're on repeat frequently. The little Minions are just so cute and lovable! And boy do they love bananas.

The wheels in my head started turning on how to make my boy into a cute little Minion. My main goal for this costume was that I wanted it to be warm and wearable for more than just Halloween - who wants to put all that work into something that's going to be worn for one night, amiright?

Luckily, it turns out Minion costumes are really simple! All you need is some overalls, felt and a hoodie (or hoodie pattern in my case) to alter.

For Connor's Minion costume, I used the Henday Zip Up Hoodie by Gracious Threads as my base pattern, but you could easily use a hoodie you have on hand. I made my hoodie from yellow fleece I got at Jo-Ann Fabric which is super soft and warm; perfect for what are usually chilly Halloween evenings here in PA. The overalls were a clearance purchase from Target, but you could DIY them as well using Peek-a-boo Patterns' Okey Dokey Overalls or another similar pattern.

I didn't make an official step-by-step tutorial because this is such a simple project, but I'll give you a rundown of what I did: I followed the Henday Hoodie pattern as usual, but when it came to making the hood, I folded a square of felt in half and cut strips almost to the center to make hair. Then, I sandwiched the hair in between the hood pieces, and sewed the hood as usual. After the hood was attached, I layered some felt circles in gray, white and black for the eye and goggle and sewed them on. Then I sewed on two strips of black for the goggle band. I then chose to line the hood to hide all the stitching of the applique and hair, but that step is totally optional. Everything else was sewn per the pattern instructions.

And there you have it, instant Minion. Sounds a little complicated but seriously, it was so easy. I think I made the whole hoodie in under an hour and a half, if that. If you're using a RTW (ready to wear) hoodie, it's just as simple as sewing on some felt pieces as explained above.

And now I have a happy little Minion ready for trick-or-treating! Connor has already worn his new Minion jacket outside with several compliments. Wouldn't it be fun to make an evil purple Minion using the same method?? Maybe next year!

What are you sewing up for Halloween?