I'm not sure if I've mentioned this a million trazillion times or not but I'm a huge fan of Fall. It's my favorite. Ever. I'm like a little child about Fall like children are about snow and Santa. Oh, the falling leaves (that we have to use the blower on every other day), the smell of the leaves (come to think of it that means I like the smell of dead leaves and that's a little weird), the crispness that eventually makes it to the Florida air... which also means warm clothing!! Actual pants! And sleeves!! (I am a northerner at heart.)
There's something about the Fall that makes the craftiness set in. Along with my obsession with pumpkin anything and the smell of apples and cinnamon and having to decorate the mantel and burn pumpkin spice-scented candles whilst also having the cinnamon plug-ins throughout the house...
There's something about the Fall that makes the craftiness set in. Along with my obsession with pumpkin anything and the smell of apples and cinnamon and having to decorate the mantel and burn pumpkin spice-scented candles whilst also having the cinnamon plug-ins throughout the house...
I like to bake and I recently picked up sewing and I love doing tablescapes, so for the next couple weekends I'm going to share some of my ideas that I've picked up, from Fall (mostly pumpkin-related) recipes to Halloween costumes and Thanksgiving tablescapes. I live for this stuff and I troll magazines obsessively and cut out pictures and articles and dvr Martha appearances on the Today Show and pretty much totally obsess over these things. My mom calls me when anything fall-deco-related is on or happening somewhere, anywhere.
So this week, (since Halloween is rapidly approaching) I'm going to show you how to make a Robin costume for pretty cheap (and also because there are a million Batman costumes out there but no Robins! None! No where is there a Robin except for online.) and it took me no time (which was good because I didn't have any.) This for a 2t toddler. Go ahead, compare away! (What do you think?)
Now, the batman costume was pretty much store-bought (found at Wal-Greens, miraculously, for about $15. I know. Giving total credit to the mother-in-law who spotted it one day.) But for Robin, I wasn't a big fan of what I saw online (plus I was in a rush) so I put it together myself.
What you shall need:
-1 spool of 1 inch thick yellow satin ribbon
-green duct tape (yes, they make green duct tape. Believe that? I found it at JoAnn Fabric, totally by accident on my part but solving the problem of green shoes and I'll get to that later)
-plain white onesie
-Kelly Green RIT dye (also found at JoAnn Fabric)
-Size small red tee-shirt, needs to be a bit bigger on the child so as to be a vest
-Fabric glue
-One yard yellow satin fabric
-No-fray fabric liquid
-Black felt with sticky back (JoAnn Fabric)
-Precut yellow letters in package ($3 at JoAnn Fabric though if you trust yourself to cut an R out of yellow felt for about 70 cents feel free. I'm crafty, but not that crafty.)
-Velcro with sticky back
-Velcro with sticky back
-Any boots in the world that fit your child that you don't mind putting green duct tape on. I used a pair of fireman boots we already have. I'll let you know Nov. 1 if the duct tape leaves marks behind)
-A plain black headband/ear warmer to be used as a belt (dollar section of JoAnn Fabric)
-One sheet of yellow foam with stickyback
-black eye mask (not guaranteed to stay on). It's not in this picture. Probably won't be in many pictures.
How I did the vest (aka red tee shirt): I cut the shirt straight down the middle in the front. Then I cut the arms of shirt off at seam. There's your vest. I folded all the edges on the arms and down the center where I cut, then used fabric glue for "hems" to clean up all along the areas that were cut so there is a nice edge. Let dry. Then, I cut about 10 small strips of the satin yellow ribbon the same size and fabric glued them to the shirt, connecting one side of the shirt to the other (see above). I glued them at equal distance all the way down the shirt. Then I cut a circle out of the black felt with the sticky back (I used the ribbon spool as my template, it was about 6 inches in diameter.) Then I glued the yellow "R" into middle of circle and stuck the sticky circle onto the top left side of the vest. $10 (cheaper if you do an R yourself). Of course, now I have an abundance of yellow letters I haven't used, so if you want to borrow any, let me know.
Directions for onesie: I have never dyed anything before and probably did it wrong, but I figured it was a white onesie, it will definitely take on the color of this dark dye no matter how badly I screw it up. So I tried to follow the directions on the dye box and I dyed the onesie kelly green. There is a little bit of a tie-dyed look to it in places but you can't tell with the vest on so whatever. Anyhoo, I'd have found myself an actual kelly green onesie or leotard 'cept I had no time to run around and do that. So I bought a plain white onesie and dyed it in about 5 minutes. Kind of. $5
Directions for crazy duct tape: I covered up a pair of fireboots we have with green duct tape. Try as you may to keep the folds and the wrinkles out of the tape; I couldn't but whatever, they're now green boots and he won't take them off. They must be magical. Oh sure, they kinda look taped, but where am I going to find kelly green boots in two days? $3 duct tape (already had the boots.)
Directions for cape: I measured my child for length of cape (ours goes to about mid-calf in the back). At the top, I left a semi-circle for his neck, and left room at top right and left edges for the one-by-one inch squares of velcro. Once the cape was the shape I wanted and the edges were all nice and even, I stuck the velcro pieces on and then tried the cape on the child to make sure it was loose enough. (I also used my trusty sewing machine to sew on the velcro pieces for insurance, but you don't have to, it's pretty sturdy.) Then, I used the anti-fray liquid all along the edges of the whole cape, let stand for 30 minutes, then cut any frayed edges off. Amazing stuff that anti-fray liquid!! Recommended to me by a wonderful helpful lady in Wal-Mart a couple months ago. $10
Directions for belt: The headband actually fits my almost 2-year-old as a belt! I had no idea what I would use for the belt until I was about to check out of JoAnns and I walked past the dollar section. Sweet! I held it up to his little waist and voila! A belt! So I cut out a square "belt buckle" out of the yellow foam and sewed it on the front. (If I happen to want to be a miner next Halloween I could put the "belt" around my head.) $1.50.
I happen to think it looks pretty sweet! Plus I avoided shipping which is always a plus.
By the way, the reason they're dressed up already is because we were going to a little Halloween thing at our local zoo. But it was pouring. And plus my oldest had a fever out of nowhere. So we let them dress up and they trick-or-treated in the house by knocking on our bedroom door, the laundry door, and their bedroom door (because you gotta mix it up!) You can see me handing Robin his "treat" in the picture above.
Next week, I'll have an AWESOME costume if you're pregnant and have a husband who will dress up
Among the other things I'll feature are great Halloweenie party fare, of which I continue to add to my repertoire.
I also just want to state for the record that Saturday, the high here is 77. Finally Fall is here.
