DIY Skeleton Costume

I love making the boys Halloween costumes each year and I'm busy prepping for this years costumes. Finley wants be a super hero (Super Fin) and Oliver wants to be a bat. I'm glad that they both chose things that are still kind of classic and will be fun for me to make. I hope to get them made soon so I can document the process in case any of you would like to see.

 Some of you might remember that I made skeleton costumes for the boys last year. I've had a bunch of questions about the construction of their costumes so I thought I'd share how I put them together. These were a bit more labor intensive (time wise) than other DIYs I've posted but they were not hard to make and they turned out RAD! Totally worth the effort.

What you'll need:

• Long sleeved t-shirt 
• Matching leggings 
• White felt (Eco-fi felt by Kunin is the best for holding up in the wash)
• *Fusible webbing (I used Heat n Bond Ultrahold for this project)
• Scissors (small scissors with a pointy tip work best)
• **Skeleton Template - download here. The mask is not included in the template.
• Embroidery floss in color of your choice (I used black on Oliver's and red on Finley's)
• If you make the mask, you'll need elastic for the band and a piece of black felt and white felt

*Since I use Heat n Bond, my instructions will follow Heat n Bond's instructions. If you are using a different fusible web, simply change out my instructions with the instructions on the package.

**I scoured the web last year for a template I could use for the boys' costumes. I wasn't able to find one so I came up with my own by taking measurements of the kids. I'm warning you that my template is pretty rudimentary but I like it that way. It would most likely fit costumes in the 3T/4T size range. If you want to make the costume bigger or smaller, just adjust the size of the template.

I did not take photos when I made these costumes but I know you guys are smart and I will answer any questions you may have. If you want to see photos of my applique process, check out any of my applique tutorials and you'll get a good idea of what's in store for you.

Directions:

1. Print out skeleton template and adjust size if needed.
2. Place the template under your fusible webbing and trace all of the bones.
3. Iron the webbing/bones that you traced onto your felt. For Heat n Bond, set it on the "wool" setting (NO STEAM). Iron the design onto the felt for about 3 or so seconds
4. Cut out all of the bones. Small, pointy scissors will make it easy to get in between the ribs and cut out some of the small openings.
5. Peel off the wax paper from the back of the bones.
6. Carefully place the bones where you want them on the shirt and leggings and iron them on for about 10 seconds (remember, no steam). For this step, I like to place a scrap piece of fabric between the applique and the iron for extra protection. Check to be sure that all of your bones are firmly adhered.
7. Now that your bones are attached, you're ready to start the applique process. You can do this with a machine or by hand. I'm a hand stitcher and although it took a while with both of these costumes, it was totally worth it - the stitching was the icing on top! To stitch by hand, cut about 3-4 feet of your embroidery thread. Your skein of thread will have six strands. Separate two of the strands from the piece you've cut and thread them through your needle. I used a blanket stitch for these costumes but a straight stitch (running stitch) would look great too. Pop in a movie (or two or three) because this part takes the longest. 
8. I do not have a template for the mask and to be honest, my kids hated wearing them. If you want to make one, it's pretty simple. I took two pieces of different colored felt (I used black and white for one mask and white and grey for the other) and cut out two matching ovals that would cover the top half of their faces.  I guesstimated where the boys' eyes were and cut out circles through both pieces of felt for the eyes. For the nose and teeth, I cut out just the white felt so that the darker, contrasting felt would show through. I then sewed an elastic band in and hand stitched them together using the same blanket stitch that I used on the body of the costume.

Once you're done, sit back and marvel at the handmade awesomeness that you've just created for your kiddos! And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect - that's part of the charm.

ETA: The leggings and tees are from American Apparel.

As always, feel free to comment or message me at finleyandoliver@gmail.com if you have any questions. 

What He Wore: BOY style

It's been a long few months but BOY style is back and I can't wait to show you guys my newest discovery for the little guys. Several weeks back a friend of mine posted a link on Facebook to iLego. The second I clicked on over I knew my boys would flip when they saw the iLego tees.  Especially the Ninjago ones.

I admit that I'm not a huge fan of character tees but I am a huge fan of anything LEGO and these shirts are pretty darn rad. They are well priced, well made by two creative mamas, and my boys think they are the coolest things ever. Win/win.

 

On Finley:

Blue ninjago tee - iLego

Jeans - Denizens from Target

Shoes - Converse

Hat - Crewcuts

On Oliver:

Grey ninjago tee - iLego

Green pants - H&M

Shoes - Vans

Be sure to pop by the iLego shop and check out their awesome tees. Also check out their Facebook page because they offer some pretty generous coupon codes from time to time.

DIY Personalized One Piece

A friend of mine is having a baby girl in the next couple of weeks and I wanted to make her a small gift to celebrate her upcoming arrival. Appliqued one pieces are usually my "go to" gift because they are fun to make and people always appreciate the thought and uniqueness that goes into them. Baby Liv will be adorable in this. How could she not?

Making personalized one pieces and t-shirts is super easy following the exact same steps in my appliqued love tee tutorial. The only difference is that you will create your own template. Simply type up the name or word of your choice in the font of your choice. A larger, chunkier font is always easiest for cutting and stitching. Another thing to keep in mind is that you will need to flip the text so that it is backwards on your template. The image will be reversed once you've put your applique together. (If you have questions about making your own template, feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to help).

These one pieces whip up pretty quick and make an awesome handmade baby gift.

 

Try it! I promise - super easy. Your friends will thank you. And so will their babies.

Follow the instructions in the tutorial here.

Catching up

I have to apologize for being seriously MIA from the blog these past few weeks. The boys started back to school and it's taken me a while to get back in my groove with the new schedule. Oliver started pre-k and Finley started kindergarten! Yes, kindergarten. I can't believe he's old enough to be in school all. day. long. And I can't believe I miss him as much as I do. I was itching to get those little guys out of my hair towards the end of summer and now I can't wait until it's time to pick them up each day. 

Anyhow, they are loving school and having a blast.

I'm not usually one to dress my kids alike but they have to wear uniforms to school and holy heck, it makes things so much easier!

A few of you have asked how our Johnny is doing and he is still fitting in like a champ and running around like he's got four legs (which he doesn't). He is totally living up the puppy stage that he didn't get in his earlier months and getting into everything he can (fortunately, he leaves the stuff inside the house alone for the most part but he can't keep sticks, rocks, pine cones, etc. out of his mouth) - we're working on that. He's a super curious and clumsy dog and the veterinarian was joking with me this morning that I might need to start a savings account for an inevitable emergency surgery. Yikes.

This post was a bit random but the point is that I'm alive and will be back to regular blogging soon! I've got some really fun BOY style features lined up that I'm looking forward to sharing with you and I'm hoping to whip up some tutorials for the best day of the year - HALLOWEEN!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Backyard Olympics

We had our second annual (is it annual if it's every four years?) backyard Olympics yesterday and it was a blast. My mom spends hours organizing this event and pulls out all the stops. We were assigned our teams a few weeks ago so we had time to properly prepare.

I was selected to be the captain for Team USA and my number one priority was getting our team uniforms together. You know what they say, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how awesome you look doing it." I whipped up the tees and actually had to fabric paint the socks. Who knew that the striped tube socks of our younger years would be so freakin' expensive now!? I blame the hipsters.

We had four teams representing in our Olympics: USA, Great Britain, France, and China.

The events ranged from shot put, shooting, diving, relays, etc. (These terms are all used very loosely).

Look at Jason's form!

Despite the storm that blew in in true British fashion, it was crazy hot so we moved on in for some diving and shooting.

We finished the games off with anthems, medals, and Cornish pasties. 

Yes, we are big dorks. And yes, we totally embrace it. Looking forward to our games in 2016!

My New Friend

I went to LA last weekend for an architectural photography workshop and came home with this little (big) guy. Meet Johnny.

Johnny is a 7 month old doberman who was rescued from a high kill shelter a few weeks ago. He had pneumonia, a severely deformed leg, and some battle scars including a hole in his ear. My best friend who is out to save the world one dog at a time, had been fostering him through an amazing rescue the past few weeks following his rescue. She knew that we were looking to adopt a new dog for our family after we had to put my mom's dear old dog down a couple of months ago and suggested that Johnny (a.k.a. Brownie/Dobie) would be a perfect fit.

While he was being fostered, he had his leg amputated. It's only been three weeks and he is getting along like a champ. I'm absolutely amazed at how gentle and trusting he is considering what he's been through in his short little life. He's only been with us for a week now and we are all absolutely smitten with him.

Johnny is a super snuggly guy and the boys and Sodapop can't get enough of him. Sodapop was particularly depressed over the loss of her dear friend so Johnny has been a welcome addition for her.

I am so grateful to West Coast Animal Rescue for saving sweet Johnny from certain euthanization. Dozens of people donated to help Johnny on the road to recovery including my amazing BFF and we are so incredibly thankful. This guy is such a gift to us and we promise to give him the life he deserves.

{A missing leg definitely isn't slowing this guy down}

Keeping Chickens Cool

I have been getting a lot of traffic lately to this post from last summer about how I keep my chickens cool so I thought I'd put up a quick little refresher for everyone. I am not a chicken expert by any means but have come across so many great tips and tricks from other chicken owners that we have incorporated for our girls. Because it is always in the triple digits here during the summer and early fall months, we strive to keep our girls as comfortable as possible.

 

Our chicken essentials for summer:

• Plenty of shade. It is important that chickens have lots of shady spots to enjoy during the heat of summer and our coop and chicken yard is shaded throughout the day.
• Plenty of fresh water. Our girls have three different water sources available to them. I don't know if it's true but I have been told that chickens don't like to walk through direct sunlight on a super hot day to access water so we've got water placed in all of their favorite hangouts.
• Ventilation. Our coop has plenty of ventilation to help keep air moving. We also ran electrical to our coop last summer and installed a fan in the ceiling that is now on 24/7.
• We have 4 large terracotta plant saucers in their "chicken yard" and fill them with fresh water each morning and afternoon. The girls love to stand in them and wet their feet. We also like to freeze milk cartons and large plastic bottles with water and place them in the saucers to keep them cool.
• No scratch. I don't give the chickens any scratch treats in the summer no matter how hard they beg for it. Their bodies have to work too hard to break scratch down which causes them to heat up.
• The best investment we have made in keeping our girls comfortable is a $10 dollar portable mister from the local hardware store. It attaches to our hose and we keep it on during the hottest parts of the day in their chicken yard. The girls love it and spend the majority of the afternoon hanging out underneath the mist.
• Occasionally we'll make the girls veggie popsicles. We'll chop up leftover veggies from the garden and place them in a tupperware container filled with water. Freeze and then let them enjoy. 

If you have any tried and true tips you'd like to share, please do. We're always looking for new ideas to keep the chickens happy and comfortable.