Rapunzel {Halloween Costume}

My daughter is obsessed with princesses. Like seriously obsessed. We even threw her a Tangled birthday party. So naturally she wanted to be a princess for Halloween. I was perfectly ok with that since I already had her Rapunzel outfit from her birthday. So I whipped up a braid for her to wear and she is set for trick or treating!

Now this costume is super easy and can definitely be a last minute costume. You can find the instructions for the tutu here. For the shirt you just need a plain shirt. I know Rapunzel’s is purple but they didn’t have one so ours is pink. Still works. Then get some ribbon, some lace trim, and liquid stitch. I just liquid stitched the ribbon down onto the shirt. The lace trim I liquid stitched onto the neckline and sleeves. Seriously. That’s all I did. You can reference my picture for ideas.

The braid was super easy too once I finally figured out how I was going to do it.

Supplies Needed:

• Yellow yarn
• hot glue
• headband

I’m not sure why Picnik decided my carpet should be purple…but whatever!

Step 1: Cut a whole bunch of strands about 5’ long. Keep in mind that the braid in the back will actually be double the amount of strands you cut (it’ll make sense in a second). Find the middle. Place that on the ground and match the middle of the top of the headband up to it. Place the hair around the headband and tie off one end at the bottom of the headband.

Step 2: Braid the yarn long enough to fit around the headband. Basically you’ll have a braid in the middle of the yarn with two long ends on each side. Tie off the end of the braid.

Step 3: Hot glue the braid to the headband.

Step 4: Untie the strings tying off the ends. Bring all the yarn together and make one long braid. Be careful not to go too tight or the headband will come together. You don’t want to bend the headband.

Step 5: Fit the headband onto your child’s hair. I put it more like a crown and then I used bobby pins to pin it in place. For my daughter’s real hair I just put it in a ponytail at the nape of her neck.

CLOSED: HummingBee Designs {Giveaway}

Hello everyone! I am so excited for today because I have a fabulous giveaway for all of you! Today we have Britni from HummingBee Designs. She makes the most fabulous wallets! Here’s a little preview of some of her designs:

Here’s a little note from Britni herself:

Hi, this is Britni from HummingBee Designs. I create, invent and inspire (mainly myself). I love what I do and I want to share it with you! I started making these wallets over a year and a half ago and have since been perfecting the pattern. After receiving such great reception from basically everyone who saw my wallet and my friends' wallets that I made for them, I have started selling them!

All of her wallets are handcrafted with quality products. The newer designs have magnetic clasps unless otherwise specified. Wouldn’t they make fabulous Christmas presents? (cause let’s face it: unfortunately it’s time to start thinking about those!)

Now let’s get to the giveaway! Britni is giving away one custom wallet from her shop. You can choose between a wallet already in her shop or a completely unique wallet using her design!

You MUST be a follower of My Decoupaged Life to enter!

Please leave a comment and your email address for each entry. Giveaway will end November 2, 2011 at 11:59pm. Winner will be announced November 3.

Mandatory:

• Visit HummingBee Designs and leave a comment telling me the name of your favorite design.

Optional:

• Favorite HummingBee Designs on Etsy
• Follow My Decoupaged Life on Facebook
• Follow My Decoupaged Life on Twitter

Thanks everyone for entering!

ABC Wall Hanging {tutorial}

I guest posted a little over a week ago on Not JUST a Housewife. I really appreciate Stacy letting me come over and hang out. She has a fabulous blog and I love checking out all her ideas. So in case you missed the tutorial, here it is:

My playroom is a definite work in progress. we don’t have a lot of money for decorating and such so I’m slowly making things. And generally the playroom is the low man on the totem pole. But my daughter is getting to the age to start learning her alphabet and so I decided to make this wall hanging. It was super easy and looks so cute!

Supplies Needed:

• large frame (we had ours leftover from the people who owned the house before us)
• cardboard to fit the frame
• pack of large chipboard letters
• paint for cardboard (this was leftover from painting our house so it matched perfectly)
• paint for letters (purple spray paint)

Step 1: The cardboard I was using actually came from the frame so I didn’t need to cut it down to size, but if you’re using a spare piece of cardboard I would recommend this. Then paint the cardboard. Like I said, I used leftover paint from our house so I just rolled it on (our playroom as 3 walls in a chocolate brown and 1 wall in this color). Let dry completely.

Step 2: Spray paint your chipboard letters. For our playroom we have purple accents so I chose a nice rich purple for the letters.

Step 3: After all the paint as dried line up your letters how you want them on the cardboard. Make sure you leave enough space on the edges for the frame. Do not start gluing until you know exactly where you want the letters to go. After you have everything set, hot glue the letters one by one.

Step 4: Set your cardboard in the frame and hang where you want it! Our playroom is still very bare so I’ll just provide a picture of it hanging. I just might be too embarrassed to let y’all see the rest of it!

Husband Skeleton {Halloween Costume}

Ok so if I’m going to be a pregnant skeleton, then I better have my husband match me! Obviously he’s not going to have a baby skeleton in his belly. On Make It and Love It she painted a burger and fries, but I knew what my husband would love to always have on his x-ray: a steak! So that’s what I did.

Here’s his costume:

I just used the same templates for the bones as mine. You can find them in this post. If you would like the template for the steak  you can find it here.

These are great last minute costumes. They seriously only took me a few hours each.

Pregnant Skeleton {Halloween Costume}

ok so this year I was completely planning on throwing on a witch’s hat and calling it good. But then someone on Facebook asked for great pregnancy Halloween costumes. Of course I had to look at the ideas…and I’m glad I did! Someone posted this costume from Make It and Love It. I instantly fell in love! She has a great tutorial on making it so you can refer to hers. You’ll need a black shirt (and pants if you want but I’m skipping that part), white fabric paint, and freezer paper.

Now unfortunately she didn’t have a template for the skeleton shapes. So I freehanded it. But guess what?? I decided to scan in mine so you can have the template! Woohoo! It’s like a Christmas Halloween present!

So here’s how mine turned out:

I have to say I’m pretty proud.

Do you want to make one of your own? It was super easy and took me only a couple hours (and that was mostly from waiting for the paint to dry!). It’s a great last minute costume. Well if you want to make one for yourself (with or without the cute baby skeleton) click here for the templates!

Magnetic United States Map Puzzle {tutorial}

So I know everyone else in blogland is focusing on Halloween but unfortunately my costumes are not quite done. I’ll probably do a “last minute Halloween costumes” tutorial since our costumes are actually quite simple. I just haven’t taken the time to finish.

So today’s tutorial is something for my playroom (did you miss my ABC Wall Hanging over at Not JUST a Housewife? Don’t worry, it’ll be here next Tuesday!). I really want our playroom to be a place of fun and learning so I made this map puzzle of the United States. I think it turned out great! Oh and I should mention that my husband the history teacher loved it so much he wants one for his classroom!

Supplies Needed:

• Sheet Magnet (I get mine at Walmart)
• Map paper (JoAnn’s…or you could get an actual old map)
• Background paper
• Sheet metal (we had some laying around from the previous owners, but you could just use an old cookie sheet)
• Frame
• Spray paint
• Map template (I had one from something else, but you could probably just print one)
• Stamp ink or distressing ink
• Mod podge

Step 1: Tape your map template (I think I got that Name That State map from Walmart) up on a bright window. Tape the map paper over it. I had to use 2 sheets to fit all the states. Carefully trace all the states using a pencil.

Step 2: Since I had used a pencil the lines were pretty light and I only wanted to have to do this once. I traced all the lines with a fine tip permanent marker to make them stand out more.

Step 3: Place the sheet magnets on the back of the paper. Make sure all the edges line up perfectly so there are no gaps. I think I used 5 sheets. Cut out all the states. This is the most tedious part. Be careful. I’m a perfectionist cutter anyway but if you’re not this is the time to be one. After you cut the states out distress the edges. I just used a brown stamp pad and brushed it along the edges. This made each of the states stand out from each other when they were put back together.

Step 4: Brush a light layer of mod podge over all the states to seal them. Let dry.

Step 5: While the states are drying, work on the frame. I had a big frame that the map would fit in so I took that out and spray painted it purple to match my playroom.

Step 6: Cut your sheet metal to fit in the frame. BE CAREFUL!!! My husband did this and wore gloves because the metal is very sharp. I did get a tiny cut and man that thing hurt. My metal wasn’t wide enough so I taped two pieces together to make it big enough.

Step 7: Decoupage your background paper onto the metal. Once again, BE CAREFUL! This was the part I got my cut. I used two different papers. Once looked more like a mat and then I found paper that looked like an old map. Let dry.

Step 8: This next step is a two man job. Glue the metal into the frame. I used hot glue but you could use something stronger like E6000. Let dry.

Step 9: Assemble the puzzle on the metal. This will test your knowledge of the United States! Hang on the wall. I would recommend some putty in the corners so it stays still while you do the puzzle. When I make one for my husband’s classroom I’ll just be using a cookie sheet because he won’t be hanging it up.

 

I’ll be linking this project up at the following parties:

Psst! I’m Over Here!

Today I’m over at Not JUST a Housewife guest posting. I’ll be doing a tutorial on how to make this:

Come on over and join me!

Halloween Apothecary Jars {tutorial}

Since this will be the first Halloween in our new house, I am very slowly getting decorations together. We have a couple things leftover from years of apartments, but not much. I decided I wanted a witch theme this year. I saw these great apothecary jars from Design DNA and I knew they would go perfectly with the décor. They were super easy and inexpensive.

Supplies Needed:

• Candlesticks (I found mine at Goodwill for $.99 each)
• Jars (I used mason jars, pickle jars, and baby food jars)
• Hot Glue
• Black flat spray paint
• knobs (or old chess pieces)
• Jar fillers
• Primer

Step 1: Prime the lids and candlesticks. Let dry.

Step 2: Spray paint the candlesticks and lids black. If you are going to use knobs (I had 3 on hand so I used them but they’re not necessary) paint those as well. Let dry.

Step 3: Now for assembly. Glue the jars to the top of the candlesticks. I would recommend a strong glue like E6000 for a stronger bond but I didn’t have any on hand so I just used hot glue and it seems to be holding up just fine.

Step 4: Glue the knobs to the top of the lids and screw on the lids.

Step 5: Fill with your favorite Halloween objects and you’re set to go. I haven’t quite finished filling mine but I’m loving it so far! I found some rubber cockroaches at Walmart and the eyeballs at Target. I put the spiders in just until I find a bunch of black ones, which for some reason have proven hard to find this year.

So what would you fill your Halloween Apothecary Jars with?

 

I’ll be linking this project up here: