I decided to refresh my autumn garland this year. While digging through my fabric stash, I found a leaf print and cut out one of each leaf. Then I stitched each leaf to one half of a yellow rectangle, doubled the rectangle. stitched the sides together on the sides and bottom, and stitched a casing at the top. After threading them through a piece of baling twine (yes, I was raised on a farm!), it was ready to hang. It makes me smile when I walk in the room! ♥
A couple of weeks ago I showed you the tutus and tops I made for Ally and Kira, and you made me promise to post a photo of them in costume. Here they are with their mom! (I have many amazing daughters-in-law, including Catwoman!) Click here for a link to the tutututorial. ♥
Even though I named my blog for pillows, I haven’t made many lately, have I? But here is my latest cushiony creation concocted from scraps of last year’s Halloween pillows, a fun black and white remnant for the back, and some of my grandma’s mismatched black buttons. I knew I wanted to do a chevron design, and I found a perfect tutorial from Nicole at Modern Handcraft. Thank you, Nicole . . . and have a fun Halloween, everyone! ♥ P.S. The other one is a sweater pillow from my earliest blogging days . . . it’s the softest, coziest cushion in my house, and I love getting it out when autumn arrives!
Ally and Kira found some adorable “superhero in tutu” photos while checking out Halloween costume ideas on Pinterest, and of course I said, “Let’s make some!” The girls decided on Batman and Robin, so first we poured over illustrations of the real characters to figure out our colors and designs. For our versions, their mom first bought appropriately-colored tank tops. I found logos on Bing Images, which I traced onto fabric, cut out, and appliqued onto the fronts of the tanks. Next, I made short capes (so they won’t get in the way of the tutus), ruffled them at the tops, and attached them from shoulder to shoulder along the backs of the tanks. Then I studied dozens of cut-and-tie and sewn tutu tutorials (tutututorials???), and I decided on this this lovely version from Rachael Rabbit. Now all the girls will have to do is add simple black masks, tights, and boots . . . plus long-sleeved t-shirts for warmth (black for Batman and green for Robin, which their mom has ready to go). Here are the finished pieces . . . I can’t wait to see them on my little superheroes! ♥
If you followed the Good Neighbor Award, you know that Crafty Staci is the giveaway winner . . . a “What Can You Make With” redo of a loved but no-longer-worn garment. I received her choice in the mail last week—so beautiful! I’ll save that photo for the reveal, but today I want to share the gift Staci sweetly included. She makes lots of adorable coffee cup sleeves (as well as fun camera accessories!) to sell in her Etsy shop, and she sent me this fun pencil sleeve. It’s perfect for my “real” job, and I just love it! She even has a new bat sleeve for Halloween! Plus, Staci’s packaging is so tasteful and professional, including printed sleeve holders and lovely fabric tags. Thank you, Staci, and I’ll be starting on your project very soon! ♥
I met my super-crafty, super-sweet, and super-pretty daughter-in-law Shannon for coffee, and look what she made for me! Tiny easels with paint and ribbon a-la-mode and tiny art canvases with paint and paper decoupage (and tiny spools for Frankenstein!) for my Halloween decor! I LOVE them! THANK YOU, Shannon! ♥ P.S. Click here to see an example of Shannon’s mixed media “She Art.”
Welcome to the Pillows A-La-Mode contribution to Collectively Creative! For my project, I made two pillows (what a surprise, right? 🙂 ) for some Halloween-lovin’ sweeties I know. ♥
(1) The large pillow has a jack-o-lantern print on the “Trick . . .” side (a gift from a friend!) and *sparkly* cupcake and candy print from Jo-Ann on the “or treat!” side. The letters are orange felt handstitched with black embroidery floss.
(2) The small pillow has the cupcake/candy print on the front and “BOO” fabric (also a gift from a friend) on the back. For a-la-mode, I marked the center of the front and back (after stitching and stuffing), double-threaded a L-O-N-G needle with orange floss, stacked three buttons, went down through the left buttonholes to the back and up through the right buttonholes, pulled the floss tight to create a valley, and tied. (Click on photo for a larger view).
Oh, and before I go on . . . you MUST click here and here for two more fab Halloween pillows from Punky Purls and here for a fun burlap version from House of 34. I love them all!
NOW . . . DRUM ROLL . . . here are EIGHT . . . yes EIGHT!!! . . . more Collectively Creative posts with amazing Halloween tricks n’ treats for you to try. Please take a moment to visit each one . . . you’ll be glad you did! ♥
My crafty friend Debbie gave me a fun gift. . . a sample of her new Halloween treat bag! Isn’t he cute??? Mine is filled with paper to use as a decoration, and he looks right at home beside my bowl of giant fabric candy corn! I’m going to try my best to make some for our trick-or-treaters this year. Thank you, Debbie! ♥ P.S. If you love owls, remember that you can get a free David Bromstad owl art print by following the link you’ll find here!
When I saw these black cat pillows on the Women’s Day website, I knew someone in my family who would LOVE them! I already had black fabric in my stash, as well as buttons and white embroidery floss. They’re quick and easy and cute, too! Have fun! ♥
PILLOWS A-LA-MODE 