River's 4th Birthday

Earlier this month we celebrated River's 4th birthday with a superhero party for 20 kids.  We might have gone a little over the top...

A little back story: we're usually in Las Vegas sometime during March and end up celebrating the plethora of March birthdays in our clan (Uncle Nelse, Thom, cousin Finn, me, River, among others...) with one or two large family gatherings.  This leaves us back in Cambridge celebrating the actual day with a simple dinner or fun day out. Since we didn't travel in March this year, I realized it was an opportune time to host a party for my boy, and with a few weeks to plan we shot for the stars.

We've also been in the process of re-decorating a few rooms in the house, the last of which was the kids' playroom in the basement.  The party was a good excuse to finish the work on that room, so in addition to sewing capes and baking cupcakes for the party, we out-fitted a tumble room with giant soft blocks and a huge mural.

If I accomplish half as much in as short a time for the rest of the year, I'll count it a win.

See more after the jump

Superhero capes

River's birthday is coming up and we'll be having a party with a superhero theme per the little man's request.  What kind of overworked mom would I be if I didn't take this as a direct challenge to make 20 capes as party favors?

 Amazingly, I finished the project in three days and there should be enough superhero mojo for each little guest plus a few left over for the preschool dress up closet.  River got to model one of the finished products tonight before bed.

And of course Lila got in on the act, too!

Here's a little breakdown of how I made the capes (which is a SUPER easy - see what I did there? - project that would take about 30 minutes, if you're not crazy and making 20 of them).  Even with that many I found ways to streamline so, if you're proficient with a sewing machine multiple capes are totally manageable.

First, I found this great tutorial for a quick and dirty cape, and I calculated I'd need about 10 yards of bright fleece for 20 capes.  My math was totally off, so if you have any suggestions for what I can do with 3 yards of leftover fleece, by all means pass them along.  :)

 I followed Amy's instructions pretty closely with two exceptions. First, before cutting I layered four pieces of fleece so I could cut multiple capes at once.  Second, I used a rotary cutter instead of scissors.  I imagine this saved the project because I turned 3+ hours of work into 45 minutes. (If you do this method, do not forget to put a cutting mat under the fabric. Your floors will thank you.)

For detailed instructions, please see Amy's tutorial - it's very clear.  After I assembled the capes, I started on the superhero emblems for the back.

I didn't want to make replicas of existing heroes because I like the idea of the kids making up their own.  So I made card stock templates of four different symbols and traced them onto sheets of fusible web.  Basically fusible web sticks one fabric to another fabric (in this case, felt) when you iron it on.  Remember that any image you draw will be reversed when you're done.

 After I had 20 symbols traced, I cut around them, leaving about 1/4 inch outside the line.  I situated these onto different colored felt, covered them with scrap fabric (VERY IMPORTANT IF WORKING WITH FELT!) and ironed them on.

 Once they were secured to the felt, I cut them out on the line and I had my symbols.

 I removed the backing paper, placed them where I wanted on the back of the cape, and (again, using a piece of scrap fabric) ironed it in place.

 Voila!  Wings!

Considering I was making 20 of these things, I was going to cut myself some slack and stop there.  These capes are supposed to be quick and dirty after all, not lifetime keepsakes.  But I knew one trip through the wash and that decal would be shot.  So I decided to stitch the felt to the cape for extra durability, and I'm really glad I did.

 Doesn't this look better? Once I had an assembly line going, it was actually quick work and I'm glad these will stand up to lots of rough play.

Here they are - don't they look pretty?

Lila's cape is a bit smaller than the others (it was from some leftover purple fleece that was just a couple inches shy of Amy's measurements).  It worked out perfectly for toddler size.

River made goofy hero faces in the mirror for about 20 minutes before I ushered him to bath.

My handsome little hero and his friends are going to have such a blast at his party.  I can't wait!

Don't let those sweet faces fool you

I've been searching for a new sitter since December, and I think I'm close to finding one.  I had an excellent phone interview with someone a few days ago and I'll be meeting her in person this afternoon.  I got off the call and said to Thom, "I love her.  She seems perfect. Please, God, I hope she's the one."  Can you hear the desperation? If she doesn't show up with a hook for a hand and a bag of dead puppies, it should be a lock.

Without any help this past month, I've been basically surviving the daily grind.  No time for sewing, no time for blogging, and without a date night with Thom to remind me I'm more than a mommy machine, I'm kind of going crazy. I've had more than few days of feeling ready to be strapped down in a padded room, but the end is in sight.  I thought I would enjoy my solo time with the kids a bit more, but this past month has brought some insane developmental changes in Lila and a whole new round of monstrous testing and tantrums from River.  So what I thought might be leisurely days at the library or playing dress-up have turned into nearly non-stop screaming matches with a 3 year old broken only by the occasional trek through the house to picking up EVERY. SINGLE. ITEM. pulled from our drawers, cabinets, and shelves by Lila.

So if you've noticed an absence here in Summerland, now you know why.  Hopefully, my sanity and I can make an appearance again soon.

The Dress-Up Closet pt 1

I was inspired by an old armoire that's been taking up space in River's room since we moved in.  I've always thought it would make a great dress-up closet, so I decide this year my big Christmas gift to the kids would be to outfit it for them.

Starting in November, I scoured used clothing stores for costumes, accessories, and clothes I could easily convert into costumes.  Since we're leaving for Vegas tonight (and I can't really carry a closet in my luggage), I had an early deadline. 

 My first find at an antique store was a fantastic vintage hat and a pair of gloves (the hat is wrapped in tulle and is just the kind of thing I would have loved as a girl).  I took a child's skirt and added some straps to make a fancy dress.

 The tutu's were a yard sale steal ($1 for both!) from last summer.

 Another fancy dress and a fairy cape I made from an adult skirt.

 I found the knight costume at the Garment District and cobbled together two different pieces from the Salvation Army to make a martial arts outfit.

 Blue from Blues Clues also came from the Salvation Army, and the turtle was River's Halloween costume from 3 years ago complete with homemade shell.

 Two capes made from adult skirts.

 Magician/Evil Villain and Super Hero.

And a last minute Fairy costume from the Garment District, which needed a little work around the seams.

And that's it!  In all I think it cost maybe $30 and I'm sure it's a present that will get use for years to come. I know River will probably lean toward the hero costumes and Lila (once she's older) toward the girly ones.  But I love that there are options and if River wanted to be a fairy and Lila a knight I would be delighted!  

We gave the kids their big presents last night, so I'll have some reaction shots to show you.

shame is a great motivator

 I was inspired to take some "After" pics of all my various projects...

 New blue walls and T-Rex with "Sera" the triceratops.  And I'd like to say that "duff" cap with the bottle opener is River's, but it's actually his dad's.

 A massive apatosaurus and River's bunk bed.

 Pterodactyl? Pteranodon? Not sure.

 River's new bookcase (which holds half of his books and quarter of his toys).

 Bean bags

 Dinosaur habitat

Tada! There you have it folks!

on how I can't finish anything

Okay, that should be, "on how I finish a sh*tload of stuff, but can't get it together to blog about it."

I've been in an insane crafty mode for some time now.  Besides working on products for my business, I've had an overwhelming urge to make stuff for my kids.  Last night I couldn't fall asleep for the thought of the bean back toss game I want to build for them.  This will involve cutting, sanding, assembling, painting, and sewing, but I was so psyched about the idea I nearly leaped out of bed and started pulling out plywood at midnight.  So today, with the little free time I had, I pulled fabrics and sewed six bean bags.  I've been working on stuff like this for months.

Sometime during the summer I mentioned to River that when he was ready we could redecorate his room - swap out the decals and add some new shelving.  Little did I know my casual remark would turn into a full blown mission for him.  For weeks he talked about putting up huge dinosaurs on his walls and changing the paint color.  It got so bad he would climb out of bed at night complaining of being scared, "because I don't have any dinosaurs on my walls to protect me from monsters."  Geez, kid, you mean business.

So one weekend we got into do-it-yourself mode and took the old car decals down, patched and primed the walls, painted, went to the fabric store and made a batch of dinosaur decals.  I took photos of the entire process - EXCEPT FOR THE FINISHED LOOK!  All of that work - and it turned out great, I might add - and I keep from posting about it because I don't have the "After" shot.

And I'm too lazy to just take the damn photo.

So what follows are all of the many projects I've worked on - and finished - that don't have final photo representation.

Before the dinosaur redecoration, I got an idea that River and I should make a dinosaur habitat for him to play with.   He got really into it and insisted on including a volcano and meteorite to show the possible ways they met with extinction.  (The red and gold glitter were his idea - yes, my son is pretty fabulous.)

I was most excited to work on a paper mache cave with River.  He got really into it, and we had a blast making it.  But it took time to dry and in the mean time, I got some shots of him playing with the (mostly) finished diorama.

No cave, photos, of course.  But it's awesome, trust me.

Then came River's room redecoration.  Here are the patched walls, waiting for new paint.

And a half-painted wall.

Making the pattern for one of four dinosaur decals.

Half-finished stegosaurus.  And that's it!  I'm sure you'd love to see the walls, dinosaurs, and enormous new book/toy shelf, but sorry.  I can't be bothered.

Finally, here's the pattern for two bean bag chairs I made for the kids.   I was going to write a whole tutorial to put up on my design blog, but this is what you get.

A half-finished, inside out bag.  It rocks in real life!  I swear!

Just in the time since Lila was born, I'm sure I've finished a dozen blog-worthy projects, many lacking any photo documentation.  Think there's any chance an "in-process" design blog would take off?

okay, here goes...

I've been working on a project all summer that I'm finally ready to reveal: I've launched a new blog to support my new etsy site!

From now on, I'll be posting crafty projects and tutorials on littlesage, the blog, while I sell some great baby gear and accessories at littlesage, the shop.

Here's a taste of what you can find at my shop:

Please stop by and let me know what you think!

inspiration

The Apatosaurus (aka: Brontosaurus) River and I made out of playdoh this morning:



The Apatosaurus shirt I made for River this afternoon:


(See? I don't just sew clothes for Lila)

what we're all working on

As you can see, dinosaurs have not completely pushed out River's love of all things trash. A bit of packing foam in the mail inspired a whole new round of the city dump game. But since he came down with a fever this morning the only thing River's working on is recovery (mainly in the form of snuggling with mom and napping).

Lila is working on SITTING UP!! Go little girl, you rock!

And I've been working on appliqueing onsies. The skull shirt Lila is wearing above is a recent design as is this inverted-appliqued bouquet. I like the process of "sketching" with the sewing machine. Definitely a work in progress, but I'm seeing all kinds of possibilities with this technique.


Thom is working really hard on just plain work. He's been a machine lately and I'm hoping he'll be able to enjoy some down time soon.