Friday, September 27, 2013

Halloween Mummy Pumpkin

Once again, I am excited to be a part of a "Craft Lightning" event put together by Angie at The Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from Thirty Minute Crafts.

This one is a special "Super Spooky Edition" featuring Halloween projects in 15 minutes or less (minus drying time of course)!


My project is a super cute and easy Mummy Pumpkin, inspired by a flyer/brochure I picked up at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.


I really had fun making this mummy pumpkin and my Granddaughter liked it so much she asked if she could have it and asked if we could make one for her teacher!
(Something we haven't done yet, but will be on the list for next week's activities)

The good thing about this craft is that you can find most of the items just laying around your house or in your craft stash to complete it!

I purchased the faux pumpkin at Hobby Lobby, but I've heard that the dollar store also has these pumpkins, so check that out for sure if you are on a budget!

To keep this craft under 15 minutes, you'll want to choose a fairly small pumpkin.
The one I chose was 17" around and 6-1/2" Tall (to the stem).

Of course you can use a bigger pumpkin, but covering it will take a little bit longer time wise.


You can use gauze wrap or cheesecloth to wrap the pumpkin, though gauze wrap would be faster as it is usually cut to a good width already and cheesecloth is not.



I used cheesecloth and cut it in strips and then I used Mod Podge to apply the cheesecloth and seal it.


There is nothing more fun than playing with mod podge!


For the eyes and lips I used some white, black and red felt I had in my craft stash.

I found the fake eyelashes at the  "99 cent only" store, but you can use pipe cleaners or even craft paper to make eyelashes if you want.

It's crafting...and anything goes here!

Just use your imagination and create away!


I used the Hobby Lobby brochure as inspiration, but tried to make the mummy pumpkin "my own" by adding my personal touches, like the purple netting with glitter dots!


The purple satin flower spray was something I had laying around and I can't even remember for sure where I got it, but I think it was on a present I received years ago.


I thought the touch of purple was fitting for Halloween and added a pop of color that was needed to make this pumpkin stand out!


Here is what I used to create this project:


Faux/Fake Pumpkin (small to medium size)
Cheesecloth
Mod Podge
Felt, Sparkle Black, White & Red
Fake Eyelashes
Nylon Netting, Light Purple
Flower or Bow Embellishment
Crayola Glitter Pens
Aleene's Tacky Glue
Stamp Pad, Purple
Straight Pins
Foam Paint Brush
Flat Bristle Brush
Pencil
White Marking Pencil
Black Sharpie Pen
Scissors

Thank-you to Angie from Country Chic Cottage and Carolina from 30 Minute Crafts for hosting another great Craft Lightning Series, I always enjoy being a part of it!







This project/post is linked to the following sites/link parties:


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Disney Little Mermaid Princess Outfit for 18" Dolls - Simplicity 5705

As my regular visitors have already surmised...I have a lot of doll loving little girls in my life at the moment (3 Granddaughters and 2 nieces)!
So, you won't be surprised to see that I've made another doll outfit.


I tend to be a pattern hoarder and have purchased almost every American Girl (18" Doll) Pattern out there, so about a year ago, I showed a good sampling of these patterns to my sweet little ones and they all picked out an outfit that they wanted, so I had to get busy!

This is the second outfit of that bunch, you may have seen my first one, this pajama ensemble that I made for my niece "K".

Her Sister "H" picked out the Disney Princess Little Mermaid Dress from this adorable Simplicity Pattern:


I was a little worried, as I am still somewhat of a novice sewer and wasn't sure I could handle the fabrics that are required for this project, but it's the one that sweet "H" wanted, so I was going to give it my best shot!

I did have some problems with the purple fabric used in the bodice.
It was called "Confetti Dot, Purple" and contained nylon filament and metallics.


I kept getting the fabric stuck in the hole of the throat plate and tore up several pieces of fabric before I realized that I needed not only to change the needle (fine needle 60-70) but needed a different or "special" throat/presser plate made for sewing such delicate materials on a small scale (doll clothes).

I did not come to this realization on my own however...as much as I'd like to claim credit...lol!

After total frustration, I did a lot of "googling" to try and find a solution to my problem.

I finally found a somewhat obscure site that solved my problem: http://www.sew-fashion-doll-clothes.com/sewingmachines.html .

There was some great advice on this site and best of all it addressed my specific issue with the delicate fabric and presser plate.

The only problem was...Singer (the mfr. of my machine) does not make a straight stitch plate for my model, so I was still in a bit of a pickle...I tried making a makeshift cover made out of card stock per the instructions on the above site, but I just couldn't get it right.


It did work, for a bit, but it definitely wasn't a long term solution.

Fortunately, my good friend "D" has a Janome machine that has a straight stitch plate and she let me borrow her machine to finish my project!

I think I will stay away from the delicate fabrics for doll clothes for awhile...at least until I can afford a different machine that accomodates a straight stitch plate!

Overall, I was pretty happy with the finished product!









I was really excited to finally get it to my sweet niece "H" and was so pleased she was happy with it!


Hope you all enjoyed looking at my project and if you'd like more info or have questions you can e-mail me or message me on my facebook page

If you'd like to see more pictures of my project check out my Flickr page.

Thank-you for visiting!

Skip To My LouThis post/project is linked to the following sites/link-up parties:
 sweetcsdesigns.com


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