Upcycled Boy Hat

So, I love Cheri's projects involving making something new from something old.  You can find her post on how to make the oringinal Upcycled Boy Hat from old t-shirt here on her blog I Am Momma Hear Me Roar.

Cheri gives excellent instructions.  I am terrible at sewing and I figured it out.  I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, grabbed some of my son's outgrown shirts and went to town.  I have to admit it took me at least one and a half hours to make this.  In my defense, I had to change a bobbin and deal with my almost 2 year-old son at the same time.  I didn't take pictures of it step-by-step because you can go to Cheri's page and get all that.

I couldn't get the flaps right and I only used one layer of fabric.  I ended up cutting the flaps off of the second (brown) hat.  The red hat is one I hand-sewed before I went and borrowed the sewing machine.  I have to say I was impressed with myself, meaning it actually looked like a hat.  Except the ear flaps are really wrong, I plan on cutting those off too.  I'm gonna try making more hats soon.  I think I'll use some of Jax's old fleece baby blankets to line a few.  I have a really cute monkey pattern blankie that would be adorable.

Sorry the photos are not the best, my son didn't wan to cooperate.  Anyway, here they are:

As you can see, the flaps are WAY too small.

I used a thinner t-shirt material and it is a wee bit too tight.

I used a thicker knit for this one.

I hand-stiched a pawprint cut from the same shirt.

They are not even close to Cheri's original, but hey, I do not pretend to be a seamstress.  I do think that with a little practice I can do a better job. 

Until tomorrow,

Natosha

Halloween Fun

Growing up, my mother always decorated and celebrated all the holidays.  So I, naturally, get very excited when Fall arrives and the holidays are creeping closer.  And speaking of creepy creeping, Halloween is drawing near.  It's never too early to start planning your decorating or party.  At my house, the Halloween decorations go up on October 1st so we have a full month to enjoy them.

Here is some Halloween fun I found on Etsy.

This is a cool piece of art for your haunted manse.



by APageInTime

 
 This ornament is indeed very cute.


Made by verycute and found here.



 These shoes make me wish Jax was a baby again.

Handmade leather baby shoes by bornbespoke can be found here.

Next, some jewelry for the holiday.

by onceuponasugartree



by macymo

by LynnAquaheart

by BrunetteDoll

Now here are some cute holders for all the loot the kids bring home:



by lizziejeans

by LittleChicBoutique


 

by Dotted Designs

And here are some fun blogs to get you jumpstarted on all things Halloween:

A Nostalgic Halloween

 Fright Catalog.com:  Halloween Blog


A Glittered Halloween (awesome list of Halloween blogs)


My Ghoul Friday (seriously fun stuff)


Well, that's it for today! 

Happy Haunting,

Natosha

Picnik

Ok, so a lot of you already know about Picnik.  For those of you who don't, go see them.  They offer a free membership to use their photo-editing software.  It is all online, no huge downloads.  I highly recommend the paid membership for about $24.95 per year.  (They also offer monthly and 6-month options.)


The following shows my favorite features of Picnik.  I am using a picture of my son Jaxon (pronounced Jackson).

I usually click on Auto-fix, if I don't like the effect I Undo it.

Next, I go to the Touch Up tab where I love to use Eye Bright and Teeth Whiten.

On this photo, I also used the Clone effect (only available with Picnik Premium).  JP had grass all over his shirt.

Grass all gone!



Now on to the Effects tab where I first used Vignette.

Then I chose Boost and painted his shirt and Easter egg brighter.

Here I used Fancy Focus to make the background fuzzy.  You can make the focal area as large as you want.

Next I added text.

By choosing the Frames tab, you can see before and after images of your photo.

Here is the final picture:

I hope you enjoy playing with Picnik as much as I do.  Until next time,

Natosha