Homemade Halloween Costumes: Toddlers and Tiaras Tu-Tu Tutorial!

Along with making mine and my boyfriend's halloween costumes (which you can find here!)

I have been working on two of my friends halloween costumes
. 
They came up with this "toddler and tiara" costume idea, with my creative input of course!

So because I couldn't participate, I enlisted myself to help!

This costume was pretty cheap and makes a great costume if you're going solo or in a group.


Since there is so many great components to it I'll upload posts as I do them.

The final product will include a tiara, a princess sash, sparkly jewelry, a blinged out pacifier and a tu-tu. 

So let's start with the Tu-Tus:

1 inch x 3 yards white knit elastic
3 yards matte tulle (for each)
1 yard sparkly tulle (for each)

So there are a million gazillion tutu tutorials out there.
 Im not kidding, google it.

But I'll still explain basically how I made them

First I cut the tulle into strips of about 4 inches



After that I measured the waist of my friend who was going to be wearing the tutu with the elastic. It's import to allow stretch in the measurement so that the band will actually stay on. So make it a little tight, just enough to allow it to stretch a bit. Then sew the ends together to create an elastic belt.

After that is the tying step. 

The knot used is simple, easy and provides great volume!

First you create a "U" with your tulle. Keep the bottom part of the "U" under the elastic and allow the tails of the "U" to be above it.



Then, pull the tails down and through the lower "U"



And you have your knot!!



After this continue knotting all the way around the elastic band.



Then I added my sparkly tulle.



And TA-DAAAA! 



I then went on to create more layers for additional volume.

And did the same thing with the purple one!



Good Luck Mini Grand Supremes!! I'll keep posting so you can complete this look!



Until Then, "STAND PRETTY!"

Candle in a Crockpot

So I guess it's actually called "potpourri" and although that is super fun to say "candle in a crockpot" really explains why I went about creating this yummy smelling concoction.

Although there is no candle involved. Or no crockpot. (Although I suppose there could be..)

So anyways being an undergrad student living on-campus, I am not allowed to burn candles. However I can have a stove and an oven. Makes total sense, not.

 So on days when the trash starts to smell and hasn't been taken out my apartment smells gross and I am not allowed to burn candles.

So here it comes, my fabulous idea..

CANDLE IN A CROCKPOT!!

Here's what you need:

Fruit and Spices

I used:

1 Apple

1 Orange

& A whole lot of Cinnamon

So I filled a small sauce pan about half way up with water and let it come to a boil.

Then while it was boiling I cut up my fruits.

Then I put them in the boiling water along with lots of cinnamon.

AND THEN....

I let it sit.

after about an hour my whole apartment started to smell fantastic.

One of the best things about this non-burning candle? After you're done with it for the day, DONT THROW IT AWAY.

Rehydrate it by putting a cup or so of water in it and repeat.

You can keep this mixture (and even add on to it!) for about 2-3 weeks.

Here are some great "recipes" I found from apartmenttherapy.com:

(mine was most similiar to #1)

Recipe #1:

Cinnamon sticks

Apple peels

Orange rinds

Whole cloves

Recipe #2:

Peel from 1 lemon

Peel from 1 orange

2 bay leaves

3 cinnamon sticks

2 Tablespoons whole cloves

Recipe #3:

A few drops vanilla

Orange peels

Recipe #4:

1 cup dried lavender

1 tsp anise

1 Tablespoon nutmeg

1 Tablespoon whole cloves

1 Cinnamon stick

Recipe #5:

5 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon whole cloves

2 sticks cinnamon

I would encourage you to use different fruits and spices to make your concoction your very own.

Good Luck! 

Until next time!

Homemade Halloween Costumes: Fred & Wilma Flintstone

Hello my fabulous fall friends!

Today I'm going to talk about my latest project, mine and Jared's Halloween costumes! What are we going to be? Your favorite stone-age cartoon characters, The Flintstones!

But before we get into that I'll share with you the principles I grew up with surrounding Halloween that my mother has instilled in me to this day.

I know what you're thinking, I have this crazy mother who thinks that Halloween is the devil's holiday, no.

The thing is, my momma always insisted on making our costumes homemade. These weren't the days that pinterest inspired adorable creativity into almost every mother. These were the days where my 5 year old self didn't understand why instead of going to Meijer to pick out my favorite princess costume like all my friends, we got dragged along to Jo-ann's to pick out fabrics and patterns. 

Most times we had the cutest of costumes.

But other times my mothers desire to go with a theme didn't turn out quite as well...

All in all, homemade costumes provide more memories and, in Michigan's cold Octobers, more practicality than any store bought costume available.

Now looking back it makes me appreciate my mother's love and creativity and explains why I took an hour long bus ride to Jo-ann's last week instead of picking up a slutty nurse costume like some of my collegiate counterparts. 

So, back to Mr. & Mrs. Flintstone.

Fred Flintstone Costume:

For Fred, I choose to use felt. Practical, cheap and no need to hem! 

The actual design of the Fred costume is very simple. Essentially a tunic, cut a rectangle with arm holes and a hole for the head. After that, simply cut out the misshaped black patches and stitch them onto the tunic. For the tie, the bigger the better, make this piece very noticeable. To finish, simply cut jagged edges along the arm holes, bottom and the tie.

As far as the amount of fabric I used?

I purchased: 

2 yards of orange felt

1/2 yard of teal felt 

1/2 yard of black felt

But I ended up with plenty extra. Keep in mind, many times felt runs "tall" so 2 yards of felt is a lot more fabric than 2 yards of cotton.

Wilma Flintstone Costume:

For Wilma, I struggled with a fabric choice but I ended up choosing a satin-like fabric.

I first made Wilma's statement necklace! To do this I simply strung small styrofoam balls with needle and thread, done! To create this one-shoulder dress (which I'm still doing!) I doubled up the fabric (4 layers total) and laid one of my own dresses over it to estimate the appropriate length and width. Cutting around a dress, make sure to allow plenty of seam allowance (you can always take it in later!) This is as far as I've gotten, but I plan to finish sewing the dress, add elastic around the waist for shape, and cut jagged edges (similar to Fred's) to complete the look!

What did I get for this one?

I purchased:

4 yards of satin-like white fabric

12-pack of 1-1/2 inch white styrofoam balls

1 inch x 3 yards white knit elastic

I'll be sure to upload the final products! and fill you in on my first college Halloween experience!

Until then!