Infant Owl Costume

 

As cute as Halloween costumes for babies are, I have a hard time being willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money on them, when they only fit for 1-2 wears and runs the risk of being spit, peed, and pooped upon at any given time. I love owls (much like everyone else) and wanted to turn my little munchkin into one for Halloween last year, but wanted to keep my budget to a minimum. Using a white hat, onesie, tights, felt, my handy dandy glue gun, and a small, fleece blanket purchased at my local dollar store, I was able to do exactly that (in fact, since I had the tights, hat, shoes and some of the felt on hand, the whole sha-bang cost me about $5!)

Here's how...

 

 

Materials:

 

-white, long-sleeved onesie

-white baby tights

-white baby hat

-RIT dye in brown

-felt sheets (2 of each of the following colors-orange, bright blue, bright green, bright pink, orange, brown)

-small, fleece blanket

-glue gun and glue sticks

 

Instructions:

 

1. Dye hat, onesie and tights according to RIT package directions (be SURE to follow the directions to a tee, or I assure you it will not dye evenly!). Wash and dry according to package directions.

 

2. Cut out leaf shapes in all colors of felt (enough to cover the front of the onesie)

 

 

3. Beginning with the bottom of the onesie (near the fasteners), alternate leaf shapes (aka-"feathers," according to color, creating three across (refer to picture above as a reference).

 

4. Hot glue the tops of the feathers to the bottom of the onesie

 

5. Glue a row of four feathers above the original row, overlapping them slightly. Continue to glue rows of feathers on top of each other, adding feathers across as needed, until reaching the neckline of the onesie.

 

6. Cut the fleece blanket in half diagonally (making 2 triangles) and glue the long side of the triangle across the arms of the onesie

 

7. Cut out six circles-2 pink (large), 2 green (medium) and 2 brown (small with triangle cut out for the pupil) for the eyes and glue to the hat

 

8. Using leftover pieces of the blanket, make two bows and adhere to the hat.

 

9. Cut a triangular piece of orange felt and glue to the hat for the owl's beak

 

 



Cupcake Liner Owl

Whooooo loves a cute, kid's craft??? If you're as obsessed with owls as much as I (and the rest of America) am, this is the perfect craft to help feed the addiction! These owls are made using a toilet paper roll, cupcake liners, and construction paper and take very little time to complete.

Here are the best instructions I've found to explain how to make these adorable, little creatures:

Knock Knock...Whooooo's There?

Check out this ridiculously cute owl wreath, created by Sherri Osborn at aboutfamilycrafts.com. I am in love! Stay tuned for more owl-inspired projects coming soon!

See the tutorial HERE!

A Nursery for Claire Bear

It is hard to believe that, in just a few short weeks, our baby girl will be here to meet us! On one hand, it feels like just yesterday that my husband and I discovered we were pregnant! On the other hand, I am going MAD waiting to see who she looks like and which features of mine and my husband's she bears. I can't wait to dress her up in the adorable outfits my relatives and friends spoiled her with, take her for walks in her stroller, and even change a gazillion diapers per day and comforting her on restless nights. Mostly, I just can't wait to have her in my arms and call her my own.

Needless to say, I have been desperately trying to keep busy in any way possible. Here is proof of my busy-ness in the form of pictures of  Claire's room! Enjoy!!!


My amazingly artistic sis-in-law, @Tiffany Beaver painted the tree and I added fabric leaves and birds to match the crib bedding. We're hoping  baby Claire comes out with lots of hair so that she can put the owl barette holder to the right of the tree to good use!

I painted the wooden letters to match Claire's bedding and hot-glued them to ribbon. Each end of the ribbon was then tied around a nail in the wall and covered with fabric-covered, wooden birds.

This plaque was featured in a blog post about a month ago, and we have finally found a home for it in Claire's room

Can't wait to put this glider to very good use. Notice the beautiful afghan on the glider, made by my fabulous mommy, @Jane Beaver!

Bird puzzle completed by shower guests assembled and displayed in baby's room. Love it!!!

For those of you who don't know me, I am obsessed with the use of Scrabble tiles in craft projects! I am passing on this obsession to my child!

Since Claire's cousins all live hours away, I decided to incorporate them into her room for her to think of them fondly when she can't see  them. Each one used their hand or footprints to create an adorable little character to add to her nursery decor! Also of note is the adorable picture frame to the left of the windowsill made by my aunt, @Julie Heckman and featuring the 3-D ultrasound pic of Claire!

A closeup of Alison's and Camdyn's nursery contributions-a birdie and an owl

Royce's, Derek's, and Adrienne's creative contributious-a butterfly, a frog, and a bouquet of flowers



Handmade Bibs and Burp Cloths

Owl print burp cloth and bib set

Bird cage and bird burp cloth and bib set

Pastel animal print burp cloth and bib set

Back view of burp cloth (fleece) and bib (terry cloth)

For the past five months, it has taken everything out of me to simply get out of bed, much less get any housework or hobby-related stuff done. With that being said, my crafting time has really taken a hit over the course of this pregnancy. Never fear...the nesting phase is FINALLY upon us (or at least that's what I'm calling my productivity level this weekend)!!! I found really simple and adorable patterns for burp cloths and bibs online, along with adorable cotton prints on sale at Joann Fabrics and went to TOWN! Here are the instructions and patterns used for each of the items. Stay tuned, as I have recently discovered some Steelers fabric and black fleece I had on hand, so you can guess what the next burp cloth and bib set will look like!

Velcro Baby Bib (this pattern allowed for the possibility of a pocket, but I decided not to include it in my creations)

Easy Burp Cloth

Owl and Panda Canvas Tote Bags

I recently found some blank tote bags in my craft storage bins and, seeing as how I can’t leave anything untouched, I immediately decided to start decorating them. I found a few clip art pictures online that I decided to use as a guide and began getting to work. Using my personal stock of felt, I cut out and glued various pieces together and onto the bag to make a panda bag and an owl bag.

Felt Stuffed Owls



Camdyn's owl friends

Using felt, I concocted these stuffed owls for my sweet little niece, Camdyn! At almost eight months, she’s not old enough to do anything but chew on them, but she looks ADORABLE doing so! Since my mommy dearest bought me a sewing machine for my 30^th birthday, I decided to start simple. Here are the directions…

Little Miss Camdyn...How cute is this face???

Materials for one felt owl:

-8.5x11 felt sheet (I used green, purple, and camouflage for the pictured owls)

-felt scraps in corresponding colors (two wings, beak, two eyes, two feet

-pinking shears

-fabric scissors

-sewing machine

-needle and thread

-Poly-fil

Glue gun/glue sticks

Directions:

1. Fold felt sheet in half and trace the owl shape on one side

2. Using pinking shears, cut through both sides of felt along the traced shape

3. Using fabric scissors, cut out two large, two medium, and two small circles to complete the eyes of the owl, two feet, beak, and two wings in the colors chosen

4. Glue the cut out shapes onto one owl-shaped piece of felt using a glue gun

5. Placing the felt  with the right sides toward each other, pin along the sides of both of the cut pieces of felt

6. Sew along the edge of the owl shape leaving a gap of about three inches for stuffing around the area in which the owl’s feet would go.

7. Turn the sewn fabric inside out so that the right side of the owl is now facing out.

8. Stuff the owl with Poly-fil and hand sew the existing gap

Bonus Owl: I found some camouflage patterned felt lying around, so I decided to make another owl for my 1 1/2 year old cousin, Cole. With parents who are avid hunters, I thought I might as well start his camo obsession early (if it hasn't started already).



Now for some shameless niece promotion...My sister-in-law recently entered Camdyn into the Gerber Generation Photo Search Scholarship contest. If you want to vote for this little sweetie pie, we would LOVE it. You must "Like" it on Facebook first then you can vote up to one time per day for the remainder of the month of July. Here is the link:



http://apps.facebook.com/gerbe​rphotosearch/entry/143685/camd​yn.aspx