The Making of a Good Witch: Part II

I have been getting inspiration for Glinda from a website called Cinderella's Closet. They feature some lovely gowns and also some helpful screen shots from the movie.

Well here is the gown I am working with:


My dress is decidedly more pink than hers. But actually that's good because I like pink better than peach.

For this part, I am just discussing embellishments. This should be easy to follow. Remember HOT GLUE IS YOUR FRIEND!

Follow closely:I was digging around for glitter and found these old glow in the dark stars my boys had had on their ceiling a few years back. (Here is why I am a pack rat!) I thought: Hey cool! I could make the dress glow for trick-or-treating! So I lined them in HOT GLUE then dipped them in iridescent fine glitter dust (aka. fairy dust) In the middle I hot glued a pink gem (also on hand due to my fine collecting skills) to the center and sprinkled more dust over any excess glue. Then I glued these to the hem of the outer layer of tulle so that they will glow a bit in the dark. yeah!

Yes, I keep this in bulk! You can't believe how often I find a use for it!

Also of note: when gluing tulle: it is best to use a LOW TEMPERATURE glue gun.

Next, I got out the silver sequin stars and gems (Hobby Lobby) and just began randomly gluing them all over the skirt, working from the base up, like the dress above.
I'll be back tomorrow(ish) with more pictures and some fun tips on other cool stuff to do with a glue gun.

The Making of a Good Witch

Halloween is almost here. I have been so busy getting ready for it that I have not had time to post much. But I have been taking pictures to share with you. This year I am all about the fantasy. My beautiful daughter is going to dress up as Dorothy for the second year in a row. She LOVES the Wizard of Oz. And since she has a bit of a spell on me herself, when she asked me to be Glinda the Good Witch, I couldn't say no. Take a good look at the tiny redhead above. She is practically swallowed up in that huge dress. Well, guess what... :)

I will bring on more photos of the dress and it's new owner later. For now, let's talk SHOES. Since I love Halloween and I tend to be a detail person, I had to have the perfect shoes in order to be Glinda. However, there are 6 mouths to feed in this house so I had to get real. Into the attic I dove.

Look what I found!
These are my old wedding shoes that I has dyed for a friend's wedding. The perfect Glinda shoes! Here's what I did to them:

First I sprayed them with alcohol to remove any extra bleed-prone dye.

I then carefully rinsed them (do not soak them. Leather is not fond of being soaked. :) Next I got a super awesome can of Krylon metallic chrome spray paint. Yep! I just spray painted them! How easy! How cheap! (I heart cheap!)

Yes, you can still see a but of dye on the inside, but when I wearing them that won't be visible. Plus, this is Halloween, people, not prom!I will be back later to discuss the making of a hoop skirt petticoat.

By the way, while I was working on my costume, Sugar was working on his:

Sweet New Stuff

For all of you who are subscribers, please be sure to stop by the actual blog once in a while so you can see all the sweet stuff I am adding. Some of this stuff is seriously addicting.

One thing I have been itching to add is a "what's on my nightstand" widget. Well, check it out! Sweet!

And for those of you digi-holics, like me, I am hoping to add a little link list of some of my favorite designers. There are so many that it is a BIG job! :) Leave me a comment and LMK what you think!

Thanks to Shel Belle for all her rockin' designs, like the one I made above with the elements from her super awesome kit "swanky". I love it so much, I am going to add her swanky button to the 'WALL'.

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay well!

Gripety Gripe Gripe

I am opinionated. Everyone knows this about me. Feel free to disagree, but just know that here, on my own blog, I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!

I am pulling out the soapbox for a minute. Is that fair enough warning? :)

See that picture above? It is a moneybag. (thank you jessica'ssweetnothings) Last time I checked, these do not grow on trees. Wouldn't that be nice though?

(thanks to Isabel Mendez for this tree that just makes me smile. I hung the money bags on it, which makes me smile even more!!!)

Anyhoo, back to the soapbox, the kids have had the flu for like 2 weeks. Of course, they never get it all at once, but that is not my gripe. I love my kids. (If I have to clean up barf to be a mommy, as much as I hate it, I'm there!) But, since the yuckies are going around Superman and I have been on alert. We have been only mildly ill here and there, which could be anything from lack of sleep to seasonal allergies. But yesterday I was feeling like a needed a boost, so despite the fact that I am supposed to be behaving (yeah right!) I went through a certain drivethru and ordered a shake to soothe my irritated throat. I used to do this a lot, but have not done it in quite a while because of said good behavior :) I added pecans for um...protein...yeah that's it!

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH A MILKSHAKE IS??
Seriously.

Had I not been feeling a little crappity and really wanting that smooth creamy coolness to slide down my throat and make it all go away, I might have tossed it at her! I know she didn't set the price, but the temptation is still there.

What are we supposed to do? I mean if prices keep going up like this I am going to have to buy a cow and slaughter my own chickens! (While there is a certain appeal to that, don't get me wrong, it hardly seems...likely.) So there's my gripe. Thank goodness I did not attempt to buy one for each of the kids or I would have had to take out a loan.

I'm kidding. Sort of.

It's Tuesday and I have some treasures to share today! First of all: this little banner came from Shabby Blogs. How cute is that? I really wanted to pop it up on my header, but I'm kinda fond of the one I made. lol Hop on over there and check out all the goodies Megan has to offer.

Last week, the little people and I had an excursion and found this little treasure.
Sorry I could not get a better picture. (Maybe Santa will bring me a DSLR for Christmas.) Anyhoo- note the 4 silver hearts! One for each of my kiddos... <3

Don't even ask how much I paid for it because you will hate me. Let's just say I got a good deal and leave it at that, K? Somedays I get lucky and find treasures and STILL have money left over for lunch!

Lastly, a tiny book review. If you have a toddler in the home, you must read 5 Spooky Ghosts this Halloween season! I am not getting paid to say this, nor am I selling it, but come to think of it, I SHOULD! Here's the cover. Now tell me this isn't adorable! Go ahead, try. Liar.

What is up with these tiny pictures today? I promise to do better once the plague has passed and I can think again. :)

The new Diary of Wimpy Kid was released October 12. Every kid wants a copy. Trust me. My boys fought over who could be the first to read it. Get it, or be Square.

Ok. That didn't rhyme at all, did it?

Crafty Mom Creates

Superman: CRAZYMOM, you're so crafty, you can make PEOPLE!
CRAZYMOM: ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!


It's getting chilly here in Illinois, so I whipped up some little goodies for the sickies or anyone else who needs a snuggle.

These are microwavable rice bags.

I used muslin to make a bag, filled it with rice, then stitched it closed.
Then I made a little cover for them in whatever scraps I had lying around. Of course, Sugar wanted fur so it would feel like he was sleeping with a real animal. Luckily I had a little leopard fur left over from an old Halloween costume! Princess wanted purple flowers. MVP actually has a smaller, channeled bag that is for freezing and applying to injuries after a football game, but here he is displaying the family bag in a neutral check.

Easy to make and great to have!

It's Friday again, so I decided we should play a little fashion game called What's Hot and What's Not. I really want to play this game because "What's Hot" for me right now is my 2 youngest kids. Both home with fevers. In other words, I am going no where fashionable this weekend.

So here we go:


Have a great weekend!

It's Costume Time!

So this week, we kicked up the Halloween costume planning.

Princess is going to be Dorothy again. (Wizard of Oz) and I am going to Glinda. This was a last minute change of plans, but I think it will be great because Princess really wanted me to dress up with her last year, but the cost of a costume or the aggravation of sewing one won out and I was a football player (In Superman's old jersey).
The older boys have no idea what they want to do. MVP is torn between feeling too old and...really wanting to trick-or-treat. I told him to go for it while he still can!

Sugar decided to wear his first Communion tux to be James Bond on the condition that I dye his hair black. You know what I said: "Rock on!" But now he is worried that's not scary enough and is looking at some of the Marvel villains.

Turkey is going to be an elephant because MIL made the sweetest elephant costume for MVP when he was little and I cannot stand how adorable they are in it. It even has ears and a soft trunk made of stuffed felt. Seriously, there is nothing cuter! Check out the picture of MVP in it. Notice the sweet giraffe too. Also courtesy of MIL. That woman deserves a badge!
As for Superman, well of course I would love for him to just go as Superman, but I don't want to make all the ladies at the church trunk-or-treat go crazy at the sight of him in his tight garb, so I think I am going to fix him up with a black shirt and a mask and let him be Zorro. I heart Zorro!

Can you tell we are CRAZY for Halloween around here? Seriously. We cannot wait! I'd love to hear what you all are dressing up as. I can always use some inspiration.

TMI on Tuesday

When I was in high school, there was a girl in my class who got into a bet with a boy over leg shaving. I don't recall why or how it started but it ended up that she did not shave her legs for a month. She won the bet.

I have always been fascinated by women who are socially brave. Not slutty, mind you, but brave. It took me a while to take the Oprah challenge to go out without makeup, but once I did it, I was HOOKED! (I hate to credit Oprah with anything, but in the interest of honesty...)

My point is: it takes a certain amount of courage to be who God made you. Especially when who he made you isn't necessarily in fashion right now.

So I was persistent when--a month or two ago--I developed a rash on my legs. I tried lotion, hydrocortisone... but the shaving was making things much worse. I resisted...then, finally, I did it! Yes, I stopped. I don't think I have ever gone this long (5 days ) without shaving. Even after having a baby. I honestly have no idea what my "natural" state is. I am not sure yet if I will be able to reach it either, by the way. But for now, I am curiously observing the sensation of water running over the stubble in the shower, catching the blankets in bed.

I know some of you are cringing, but really, this is how women were for thousands of years! Many women still are this way all the time, and it IS how you were made, so how can that be gross?At the same time, I will admit, I am hoping the rash is gone soon because right now I REALLY WANT TO SHAVE!

I picked up this "interactive timeline" from Waldenbooks last week for Sugar. He loves it! It is like a pop-up book for older kids. It has illustrations and flaps and little blurbs all about the Chronicles of Narnia. The older boys have read all of the books in the series. This makes a nice little supplement and it is currently on the clearance rack there for $4.99! I checked in at amazon to see their price- it is $19.99! What a bargain!

It's Friday. Let's talk weekend parties and FASHION. First of all, a big THANK YOU to KevinandAmanda and lauraskathi for their designs (seen above). Can you tell I LOOOVE making these little blog tags? I need a job don't I? LOL Well, I have one, but I seriously LOVE making these things because they are small, creative, relatively easy, and they involve words, which I also LOOOVE. And Fonts. Whoo hoo! So, back to the fashion...

Let's face it, I am not the most fashionable mom on the block. It's OK. I am at total peace with that. But recently I found Audrey, who IS the most fashionable mom on the block! Check her out. I especially enjoy her videos when you can hear her 4 boys running amok in her house and literally CLIMBING THE WALLS! She makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, someone like me can look like someone like her. :)

Check her out at momgenerations.com and let me know which of her fashion ideas is your fave. And....check her out on my blog roll to the right:

CLEAN YOUR ROOM

I feel like it hase been forever since I posted, but it has only been since Monday. What's up with that? Time really flies, huh? Well, we are kicking off a new program here at the CRAZY house called "Clean Up Your Room, Or Else!" Let me explain how this came about. First a visual:

This is somewhat what I imagine it must have looked like: the tornado that swept through his room, that is.

It was a normal day. We were preparing for a visit from some out of town family and MVP was not well. So I went to his room (a.k.a. the guest room) to change the sheets and clean up a bit. After clearing a path through the dirty laundry, clean laundry ON THE FLOOR! (gritting teeth), shoes, GARBAGE, books and odds and ends, I got down to business with the REAL cleaning. However, by that time, I was a little miffed. Let me be clear: I am NOT the June Cleaver type. I can tolerate a mess. But let me just say, this was SO much more than a mess! I counted 7 water bottles under his bed!!!!! Empty ones...with a trash can right there next to the bed...of course nothing was in it because he threw it all on the floor! paper scraps, lint, bottle caps, Legos....oh my!

Moving on to Sugar's Room. Dirty Kleenxes (OK, maybe those were mine, but they should have been in the trash!) stuffed animals, carpet skates (sweet, but not in the right place) books, old newspapers (does he read them??), mismathced shoes, a cup that hasn't been worn since JULY!, hangers, empty baggies (huh?) and a Starwars battleship. Oy!

Oddly, the rest of his room (above the carpet) was in pretty good shape.

So Superman and I sat down and had a pow-wow. And we launched the new campaign. As I type this MVP is home sick, but I am making him clean his room. Big meanie!

I guess another idea would be to turn out the lights and charge admission, calling it a HAUNTED HALLOWEEN TOUR! wah-ah-AH!

What I Didn't Know Then

What I Didn't Know Then

Last week, I discovered this song. Something about it made me laugh out loud. It made me happy. And not just because the beat is good, or because I happen to love Beyonce. (I am a surprise a minute aren't I?) I know it is a break-up song about a girl whose live-in lover has cheated on her but, SHE KICKS HIM OUT! It just thrilled me. I kept flashing back to my own single days...and to my mistakes. I was not as strong as I would have liked to have been. I was just wishing they had songs like this when I was younger. I could have used a little bit of the
"I could have another you in a minute!" attitude.

Happy Monday. You know, you can't trust that day!

Happy Fall Ya'll! I am so in the mood for Halloween! I have been brushing up my photoshop skills to spread a little spooky here at the Ain't She Crazy. I am not totally happy with it but it's Saturday night and I'm tired, so I will leave it for now. All elements came from Colie's Corner at GottaPixel I am absolutely in LOVE with this kit!!! Keep checking back because I may have to sprinkle in a few more of these *SPOOKY* elements.

True Confessions

I am very excited to add this new category to my blog postings! I have been thinking about all the ways I screw up as a parent and potentially scar my children for life. It would do me some good to unburden myself to anyone who is willing to listen. So here we are! Please feel free to jump in and confess your own "sins" in the comment section. (PG only, please!)

SIN #1
So this morning we are all in the van driving down our long driveway towards school. Suddenly from out of the woods jumps a HUGE red tailed fox! I mean this sucker was HUGE and yes it was a fox, not a coyote. It ran right in front of the van, crossed the drive, went down into the valley and across, so we got a really long look at it. All the kids were fascinated except Ian who was busy gagging himself with his fingers (a new trick he learned). So here's the confession part. I have a bit of a potty mouth. Yes, I have tried to tame it and I have improved some but I had to hit this breaks in order not to make a fox pancake in the driveway, so the first thing out of my mouth was "HOLY SHIT!"

Disclaimer: This is not the actual fox...just a likeness of him from a random site_but see how big he is!

What a great example, huh? So when I get a call from the school saying that one of the kids is cussing up a blue streak, I'll know why.

So, tell me, in what ways have you ruined your kids? Surely I am not alone here!