Olaf Costume Tutorial

Isn't he a ray of sunshine?

My littlest guy was so excited to be Olaf for Halloween. (Although he use to call him Frozen, because surely the movie was all about him!) His costume was pretty easy. I was able to sew it in less than two days.

Materials

White fleece
Brown, orange, and black felt
Fabric Tac
Brown long sleeve tee (I found a thermal at Walmart)
Batting or foam
Craft wire (I used Stampin Up)
Thread
Velcro
Sewing Machine
Scissors


First I started with his hood. Trace your child's head with some seam allowance. You are going to want to leave some long tabs that can then be tucked around his neck. Cut out two pieces. (See pictures)  Sew those two pieces together. Turn them out and try it on your child. I love using fleece because I don't have to finish the edge. You are welcomed to, but to keep things simple I choose not to.

Next grab some orange felt and cut out a nose on a fold. I just free handed the shape. (See pictures)  Then I sewed straight lines horizontally to add some character. I then stitched the nose together with right sides facing each other. My lines didn't match up perfectly, but I was totally ok with that. Then fill the nose with batting or foam. I would also suggest using some craft wire. Fold your wire in half so your half way point will be at the tip of the nose and the ends will hang out. Trim the wire if needed. The wire helps it stick up and having a bend helps the pointed end of the wire not stick out of your seam.

Then cut a line across the seam on the top of your hat. Start small and make it bigger as needed. Put your ends of the carrot through the line. Turn it inside out and stitch. (See picture)

Using felt cut three hairs by folding over the felt and cutting 3 long rectangles. Sew them together with the corners rounded. I liked that they were different sizes.  Again insert bended wire and batting . (See picture) Cut another line across the seam where the hair should be. (See picture) Insert the 3 "hairs" and turn inside out and sew.


Using brown and black felt, cut our oval eyes and brows. I had to groom my brows because he looked a little mean. Using glue ( I love Fabric Tac) glue on his features. I like doing this when the child is wearing the hat. I also cut a small rectangle of white and sew a tooth where the forehead would be.

Because of the size of my nose and it's drooping nature, I hand sew the nose a little bit. Lifting the nose and sewing to a higher spot on the hat helped it stay up.

Finish the hat by adding Velcro to the straps so it can wrap abound his neck.

The body was fairly easy. Using a shirt and pants
to size your squares, cut two sizes of curved rectangles on folded fleece for the bottom.. The one pictured is the bottom part of the costume.  Cut another two pieces for the top making sure to leave one of those pieces a little bit wider. Cut the wider one in half lengthwise to create a seam for the back. Sew the two back pieces together. Then sew the back and front together at the sides. I only sewed about an inch, then left a space for armholes, and then continued sewing the seams together.

Sew the seams together for your bottom pieces. Next sew the top and bottom together, right sides together, matching seams. Have your child try on their costume. From there I was able to see how far I wanted to sew the top together. Make sure to leave space for their head to fit through. You could add a zipper, but I just did a hook clasp. Cut out three squiggly circles and glue them on.

Finally I cut out on folded  brown felt three stick fingers. I did this twice, using my first one as a pattern. I sew them together and turned them out. I was going to sew them on my brown long sleeve t-shirt, but I think we will reuse the shirt. So I safety pinned them on.



Photography is one of those areas that I wish I was better at. I am trying and practicing using my camera in manual. Missing my favorite photographer Shari Hanson. Wishing she was closer and could capture our Halloween costumes again this year. But I am excited we book a session next month. She is having her Fall Special. If you live in Southern California you probably want to check this out.

You can also check out

Baby Elsa Costume Tutorial

The rest of the family's costumes will be here soon. Thanks!!!

General Conference Traditions

I LOVE traditions! And I love General Conference. Every 1st weekend of April and October a General Conference is held where our dear prophet and other church leaders speak to us. And I truly believe that Thomas S. Monson is a real prophet who speaks for The Lord. Like Noah or Abraham of old. It is a great weekend to get answers to struggles or personal revelation on how we can better come unto Christ. It's always inspiring. I always feel the spirit. And everyone is welcomed to listen. They have two general sessions on Saturday and two sessions on Sunday. There is also a Priesthood session Saturday night. Always fun to see the Conference quotes on Pinterest after a session. Love that we can have reminders in our home after conference is over to help us remember the great things we learned.

Our Traditions:

We call it Pajama Church. You can go to a church building to watch it, but personally our family loves to lounge around in our jammies while we feel the spirit. 

Saturday Morning Dad goes and gets donuts. It keeps it simple and fun. 

Conference Bingo. My husband and sons love to put a "fuzzy" on a square when someone mentions faith, pioneers, temples, or whatever. I find it really helps them listen.

Conference Packets. It takes some prep but it's totally worth it. And sometimes you can find me early Saturday morning printing off pages to color or puzzles to do because life is so crazy. I really dislike having toys out unless it's for my baby. It's my personal preference, but I find my kids listen better. Each session is two hours (though there is musical numbers) and that can be hard for kids. I think they are more receptive to the spirit when they are coloring pictures of a temple or Noah's Ark.

In between the sessions I try to get my kids outside or dancing or something to get them moving. It makes it easier for the next session.

 1st time getting her piggies done, Saturday night session 2013

Saturday night is the Priesthood session. I like to go out with girlfriends to grab dinner. Or have a movie night where we can craft or paint nails. Last year we went to our friends house and watched Teen Beach Movie. It was perfect. Baby girl loved the dance scenes. My boys are pretty cool with musicals which I love. And someday when they are 12 they will go with their dad to the Priesthood session. Afterwards my hubby always goes out for a treat. It's a great time to talk about what you loved in that session.

My husbands family always made Banana Pancakes Sunday morning. To be honest, I'm not crazy about banana. Then my in laws started going to their cabin for conference weekend. My hubby wanted me to make banana pancakes. But I didn't want to. I decided to start a new tradition. (luckily he loves them so he has okay with the change.) So we made homemade cinnamon rolls. My 2nd boy was a baby at the time, so we didn't give him any frosting, but he worked on that thing the whole session. It's been 5 years since we started making them and it's my kids favorite thing about conference weekend.  I love that I can roll them out the night before. It makes it so much easier Sunday morning.

We also love doing a FHE before to get us ready. It's a great time to talk to our kids about any problems they may need help from. And our family night after conference we share our favorite conference talks. We got this idea from my friend Michelle. We lived in this great apartment complex with 4 other great couples. I love that we still do this. (Thanks Michelle!)

This year I finally got around to making a apostle matching game. I try to hard to help my kids know the apostles so they will be more likely to listen to their talks. It's so humbling to see what sponges are kids are.

We also try to evaluate our Emergency Preparedness. We check our batteries, rotate water storage, and and make some goals.

This year we won't be going over to my in laws for the 2nd Sunday session. It was always nice sharing our favorite talks as we made an easy dinner. I am so excited for this weekend. I love watching conference with my family. I love that we have a prophet on the earth today. And I love the whispering of the spirit that come to me on how I can be better.

Feel free to share your favorite conference traditions...

Our Dinners and Family Nights....

So I find I am so much better at making dinners when there is a menu planned. (Big surprise, I know!) Earlier this year I found with busy life that after the week where I planned our dinners it quickly became the next week. So I started planning two weeks in a row so if I was going to the grocery store at the end of one week and I could pick up something I might need for the beginning of next week. Then I thought, Why don't I just plan the whole month. And so I did.

And I love it! I try to add leftovers, knowing what dinners make more. And I try to make extra rice one night, when I can add fried rice the next day or so. Of course these plans aren't  written in stone. I will switch some nights or make adjustments, especially if something yummy is on sale or life happens. And I try to plan around holidays and I make sure to do something in the crock pot on Thursday because we don't get home from choir till 6 and my sweet diabetic boy needs to eat on a schedule. And I love keeping things simple on Sundays and Date Night. My dear friend Pam always has a special Sunday dinner. I love the idea, but I love my Sunday nap even more.

So I thought I'd share in case it might give you some ideas.

October
1. Kalua Pork with Mashed Potatoes
2. Leftovers. (I'm thinking leftover pork in a salad)
3. Grilled Cheese on Sourdough
4. Steak Tacos (General Conference weekend) Haven't made them yet, but I pinned them awhile ago. Love looking at my pinboard to get ideas...
5. Leftovers (I love not cooking dinner conference Sunday due to our special breakfast)
6. Breakfast Burritos (Family Favorite!)
7. Steak Quesedilla (with leftover meat, nice and east before cub scouts)
8. Homemade Pizza (some one's birthday request)
9-13 Vacation
14. Chicken Tacos (Taco Tuesday)
15. Pork Chops with Shake and Bake (hubby's favorite)
16. Taco Soup (recipe from my mentor)
17. Pizza (same as listed above, my kids favorite)
18. Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice (recipe from my mom)
19. Taco Salad (cooking extra meat to freeze)
20. Omelette's 
21. Fried Rice
22. Pesto Pasta
23. Southwest Chicken Soup
24. Baked Potatoes
25. Spinach Wraps 
26. Leftovers
27. Enchiladas (My co worker Kristin's recipe)
28. Black Bean Soup (Even my picky one will eat this)
29. Au Jus Sandwiches Just Roast Beef on toasted hoagies with this sauce. Yum!
30. Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken
31. Pizza (A Halloween Tradition)

Of course I throw in vegetables and salad. I try to get what is on sale. And while I have been planning my dinners and writing them down on my large calender I went ahead and planned Family Home Evenings (FHE) as well. This month I decided to have more of a routine.

1st Monday night- A fun family night from my Church Pin Board that my kids will enjoy!

2nd Monday night- A Latter Day Prophet. I thought it might to do a lesson on each of our latter day prophets of this dispensation so my children can become better antiquated with them. (You can check out the link that already has lessons for you)

3rd Monday night- a talk from the most recent General Conference (so excited for this weekend!)

4th Monday night- Preach My Gospel. We usually have a small lesson out of this book to prepare my 3 boys for their missions. We keep it simple and kid friendly.

5th Monday night- Family History. We can read stories or play games to get to know our family that has gone before us. Especially namesakes. 


I love having family night. Monday nights are our night to learn and grow as a family. We usually keep our lesson short and sweet. We sing hymns and pray as a family. And, of course, we have treats. It's a great way to strengthen our family and help us grow closer to each other. It also helps my children to learn more about our Heaven Father. Even if you don't go to my church, I know holding a weekly family meeting will bless your family. Take time to play games, eat and visit while eating, and teach good values. I am so thankful for this sacred time. It has blessed my family tremendously.

My Oldest Boy

It's after church. I am always gathering my littles. Trying not to loose anyone so we can go home and eat lunch. My youngest boy is missing. I peek my head in the Primary room (where the children meet as a group) and don't see him. The leaders of the children's group ask me to come in.

They share that they love my sweet son and I wonder which one. They are all dear to me. They tell me my oldest who we will call Gandalf, shared some wonderful words. They were watching Mormon Messages and rejoicing in an amazing program during our Sacrament meeting, or meeting where we all meet.

Check out this uplifting video here.

It's about a girl who loves her brother. Her brother has autism and sometimes others don't understand how his brain works. After the video Gandalf raised his hand and shared that he sees now that he is more special than he realized. These dear leaders told me the spirit was there and Gandalf had tears in his eyes.

{photo by Shari Hanson}

I'm so thankful he sees how important he is. I have always known it. My husband and I have always felt tender and sure he was a truly amazing spirit. Of course, all children are wonderful. And all my children are really amazing. But there is something about our eldest. And I felt this way before we found out he had Aspergers.

As a mom I tried to read as much as possible about child development and to watch out for markers or cause of concerns. My older brother suggested Autism when he was rocking one time. I knew that was a marker, but it didn't match up with what I knew about autism. There were so many things he was great at. I kept taking note and watching.

When he was four we put him in a great preschool. I am sure The Lord put us there for a reason. At one of the night classes one mom told me Gandalf was a lot like her son. And her son had Aspergers. I am so thankful for her courage. It must have been a little hard to suggest to someone else that their child could have autism. Some times people can be offended by that suggestion. I just listened as she told me about Aspies. It sounded a lot like my son. I was pretty sure that would explain his actions.

I remember driving home, thinking about my son and what this would mean for him. I wasn't upset. I love his brain! I love way he expresses himself. I love his pure heart. I love his quirks! And I remember feeling how important he was. That The Lord has a special plan for him. And I knew I wouldn't change the way he was. Maybe in some ways his brain was more like Heavenly Fathers's than mine.

That doesn't mean it's easy. There are times when we both had to leave preschool, both of us crying. There is heartbreak as children treat him unkindly sometimes. And we haven't even hit middle school.

I wish I could find the letter I wrote him that night when I came home from that preschool meeting. I didn't want him to feel bad because of this label because I knew he was a choice spirit. I knew it would be hard but I told him I wouldn't change the way his brain is because I loved him the way he was. And I trusted that The Lord had great things in store for him.

We had a great experience when we told him he had Aspergers. He was totally fine with it. And kinda thought it was cool. His brother was kinda bummed he didn't have it. I love Gandalf's  view. And I love that he is beginning to see his potential. I can only imagine the way our Heavenly Father sees him. And I look forward to see the great things The Lord has in store for him. I know I need to do my best as his mother and help him see his great worth.

Baby Elsa Costume Tutorial

   Halloween is probably my 2nd favorite holiday (right below Christmas). Before I married my sweet heart I made him promise to have matching Halloween costumes every year. Of course when we had our first son we included him in our theme. To be honest, I am surprised our kids still are on board with doing a family theme. I thought for sure when they started school they would want to do their own thing.
   I was thinking Avengers or Lord of the Rings for this year because I have 3 boys. I asked them last year (because I plan way in advance) and they said they wanted to do Frozen. Super Surprised. But I have no problem letting my baby girl be Elsa. They told me I should be Elsa because I am older, and baby sister should be Anna. But I knew her hair was coming in blond. And she makes the cutest little Elsa, if I do say so myself.

And in case you haven't heard of Little Miss Basics you should check them out. They are my favorite under shirts for babies. Their Girlie tee is my favorite. I can put it under any sleeveless dress. And  I knew their long sleeve top would be perfect for my baby Elsa costume. It's form fitting and snug and would look more like Elsa's dress. Plus I can re use it and make any dress perfect for the fall, or in my case winter. My baby was a trooper taking pictures in the Arizona heat. 

Step 1: Using a dress that fits snug cut out a front piece on a fold. I made mine a sweetheart, you could make it straight across to make things easier. Cut out 2 on the fold so you can line it. Also cut out 1 interfacing to make it stiffer.

Step 2: Cut out four rectangle back pieces and two interfacing

Step 3: Iron interfacing to the wrong side of one of your front pieces.  Sew the 2 front piece, right sides together. Turn it out and press.

Step 4: Iron interfacing to wrong side of 2 of the rectangles. Put the right sides together. Before you sew them together pin in your tulle. I just cut a long piece of tulle and arranged it in a pleat so I could have as much tulle as possible. I sew the rectangle in a U share so only the bottom wasn't' sewn together. Sew and Press

Step 5: Sew sides to front. Because I am not perfect on making pattern pieces I had way more in the back than I needed. I like to play it safe, and I wanted to have enough for the zipper. I just pinned it together. And Later I hand stitched the flaps down, adjusting the extra tulle to fold over.

Step 6: Cut out long rectangles for the Bottom. You can use a dress as a pattern. I made mine longer than the bodice measurement so I could have some gathering. For the back cut two pieces that will be sewn together so make it a big wider to account for the seam allowance of sewing it together.

Step 7: Sew two back skirt pieces together; then sew to the front pieces. I left a slit on both sides. Iron hem and stitch. Pin the skirt to the bodice, matching side seams and such. 

Step 8: Sew together. Then you can sew your zipper to your dress. (kerr-azy story about putting in my 1st zipper. It was the day of Winter Formal in my Jr. year. I went next door to my neighbor to ask her which of the sewing machine feet that I held in my hand was the zipper foot. She looked at me like I was crazy and let me know. And I did it. It wasn't perfect, but hey, I had a dress for that night. And it was an awesome dress)

If you haven't done a zipper, don't be scarred. Sometimes I will read through a tutorial again because my dyslexic brain mixes things up a bit. I like this one here. She is one of my favorite bloggers. Love her!!! And after you put in your awesome zipper, in case it's a little less awesome, the tulle covers it up so we are all good. ;)

Step 9:Hem the very bottom if you haven't done so. Then add a little hook to the top of your zipper.

Notes: I would recommend zig zagging each piece if you use any kind of fraying material. It just makes everything easier. And it will hold up better in the long run.

The wig makes her costume more fun! Years ago when I saw this tutorial I knew if I ever had a daughter, she would need a Rapunzel wig. I added some bangs and made her braid go to the side to make it look more like Elsa. I would recommend that thick woolly yarn. It makes it easier to cover the cap. You can use different colors. I like that mine has some silver sparkles in it. 

I hope this tutorial help you out. There are patterns available at most fabric stores but my little peanut is just too small for most patterns I find. Happy Sewing!!!

Love my sweet girl! No frozen hearts here with this doll face. More family frozen costume to come...

Pirate Traditions

It all started 9 years ago. Our family was in Barnes and Noble checking out children's books with my 6 month old son when I saw this sign. "Talk Like A Pirate Day September 19th" I said no way is this real. I found an employee and asked her. She told me she had never seen the sign before. I ended up buying a pirate book anyway. When I got home I looked it up and found out it was truly a real holiday.

And traditions were made.

Every year since then I have buried chocolate coins in a wooden treasure chest and invited the neighbor hood kids over to hunt for some pirate booty. I always draw a map. Most years I will use sidewalk chalk to draw rocks or shark fins or leave clues. I have even tied my pirate flag to our playground.  {Disclaimer: i didn't do a hunt in 2010 due to the fact I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and I didn't want to walk around the neighborhood drawing bridges on the sidewalk}

The point of this holiday is to have fun. And my family is all about having fun.

But it gets better. A couple of years ago I heard that if you dressed like a pirate and went to a participating Krispie Kreme and used Pirate Talk you would get a free doughnut. And if you dressed up like a Pirate (At least 3 pirate articles) then you would get a dozen FREE donuts for every person dressed up. My baby girl loved her 1st doughnut today!!!

Does is get any better???


So I am about to pick up my sons from early day. And if they clean their room, we just might have a treasure hunt today.

I have loved looking at photos of this holiday through the years. This is one of my boys favorite days. So join us in fun. Read a pirate book. Have a treasure hunt. Score some free doughnuts. Enjoy this fun day by taking time to enjoy the little things in life that are so fun. And if you are blessed with more doughnuts than you need, find someone who would be blessed by them. #sharegoodness

The Platform 9 3/4

Our family LOVES Harry Potter. And usually I like to use the excuse of July 31st (Harry's Birthday) to make some yummy HP recipes. But since we moved into our new place in July it was kinda crazy. So I figured September 1st (The day the Hogwarts Express leaves for Hogwarts) was the next best thing.

I'm trying out lots of Harry Potter recipes because I have already told my children that all of them will have a Harry Potter Party when the turn 11. Like a rite of passage. I've even sent Hogwarts letters to my friends kids. Getting a letter is kind of a big deal. Luckily all of my children have seem to like Harry Potter so far. You can go here for the recipe. It makes cupcakes, but apparently I gave away my cupcake pans. The recipe has you insert some butterscotch ganache inside and I find a Walgreens baby syringe works perfectly. I've been meaning to make cake pops out of them, and make them into a snitch. Maybe next time.

To make the night even sweeter, my eldest son just finished reading The Prisoner of Askaban. Which meant we could watch the movie. We also have Harry  Potter Clue, which I love, and I don't think it has any spoilers.

And because September 1st happen to be on Monday, which is our weekly Family Night, we finally got to play Dunbledore or Deiter? My husband won (probably because I was the MC ;) but my sons really liked it. It was a great way to testify about an apostle and admire a wise man. It was a little tricky as my sons only have read the first couple books. But still a lot of fun. This recipe would make a great treat to go with it. The cake is yummy on it's own. Baby girl got one without the frosting or filling. And I put extra filling in a Kerr jar to use as an ice cream topping later.

All in all it was a great Labor Day. And we only have two more years till we get our letter.