Superhero cape!

Someone requested a superhero cape. He wanted a green and black cape, the lightning bolt J was required since I made a similar mini cape for his stuffed monkey (now called 'Supermonkey.')

I started by taping some sheets of newspaper together to create a pattern.

I traced this onto green and black material, then sewed the two fabrics together, right sides facing.  I reinforced the insides of the collar, where I later sewed some velcro. He's a little rough with his toys, as most four-year-olds are, and since this is satiny material, I knew it would need some strengthening. I used Steam-A-Seam to iron some cotton fabric on the inside, where it wouldn't show. It worked great.

Then I turned the cape right side out (through the opening I left!) and stitched around the entire perimeter of the cape. Finally, I zig zagged the Superjack logo onto the back!

Handmade Halloween costumes

Here are a few ideas for cute homemade Halloween costumes I found over at Martha.

I think this last one would be great for a very-pregnant lady like myself, I was thinking of expanding on it and going as a black widow. Hmmm....

Pumpkin bread with cream cheese filling and homemade vanilla extract

Seriously, this looks so good I think I'm going to make it for dinner tonight.  Find the recipe here

I also made some homemade vanilla extract a few weeks back. I found the recipe in this awesome book that I got for Christmas last year.

The homemade vanilla is relatively simple to make, and pretty inexpensive when you consider how much a tiny jar of extract costs. This recipe makes a ton (about two cups worth) and uses just five vanilla beans (about $3 at Whole Foods) and two cups of vodka (the cost depends on the quality of vodka you use, I had Smirnoff on hand.)

To make it, you just gather a mason jar (mine held 16 oz. filled up to the very top,) some vanilla beans (5) and rum or vodka. Open and scrape the vanilla pods, stuff the seeds and the pods into the jar and fill it up with your alcohol.

Then let it sit for a few months before using, shaking every week or so. Mine should be ready around Thanksgiving, before I begin all my holiday baking. And I seriously go through a lot of vanilla, more so than liquor (especially now that I'm pregnant!) The flavor of the homemade variety is supposed to be much better. This is what mine looked like after I made it, but it's already much darker now after just a few weeks.

Pear bread and Liberace pumpkins, ahh...Fall is here

We have a lovely pear tree in our front yard that dumps pears every year from August to October. We let the deer eat lots of them, we share them with friends and eat plenty on our own, but I wanted to find a good recipe for baking with them. I made pear pie last year, which was yummy, and have tried out different crumble recipes, but this pear bread was really tasty. It's similar to zucchini bread, but with a somewhat more grainy, pear-like texture. Very moist and flavorful, great for breakfast and afternoon tea.
Recipe here.

In other news, aren't these the cutest/most gaudy Halloween decorations? I'm making one...or five. Directions here.

Epitaphs

When we are in the dregs of winter, perhaps it's natural to dwell on the darker side of human experiences. Plants die in the winter, or at least hunker down and stretch deeper into the earth. Most animals get thinner as food supplies dwindle, and yet humans get notoriously fatter in the winter. I think it's good practice to live closely with the cycles of life.

In this vein, I present a little collection of possible epitaphs--thoughts on life and death that would not necessarily be carved on a headstone (what do we cremation-choosers use?) but at the very least, sum up a life-philosophy. I suppose the collection is part of what Gretchen Rubin calls my "ongoing, personal research project." Little notes scribbled on gum wrappers, books filled with ephemera, thoughts, quotes, lists of songs to play at my funeral (that's another post.) My mom is a notorious personal research note-taker. She may still have a misquoted saying from LA Story in her wallet.

This is my favorite of all possible epitaphs:

"The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
all goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what anyone supposed, and luckier."  Walt Whitman

Another great one is:

"Is it so small a thing,
to have enjoyed the sun,
to have lived light in the Spring,
to have thought,
to have done...     Matthew Arnold

The weirdest one is on W.B. Yeates' grave in my opinion, although I love it.  I've had the pleasure of visiting this site. There is nothing quite like an old, overgrown Irish graveyard in the rain. It's so romantic.

More cute handmade costumes!

I know, I must stop! But there are so many cute ideas!

Directions here

Directions here

My son would love to be a car! Directions here

Cute handmade adult mini-costumes

These are so darned cute and look so fun to make. Since I became a mom, I haven't wanted to 'really'

 dress up for Halloween, it makes sense for Jack to take center stage now, at least for a few years. The little 'hat-ettes' would be perfect and look so fun to make! For directions, click here

But last year, I made this and wore it while Trick-or-Treating around with Jack.

Homemade Halloween costumes

I really enjoy making beautiful costumes to dress my son in at Halloween. I found some great ideas online for this years' creation.

Source: here

Another sweatsuit costume idea

You can buy this sew-your-own dinosaur here on Etsy.

I love this one!

 

Find directions for the gnome here.

Next, the Superhero!

Directions here

This wouldn't be that complicated, if you could just find a fuzzy sweater/onesie like that to start with.

The owl costume can be purchased here

Homemade graham crackers and an easy baby blanket

Has it really been a month since I last posted? I must say, going back to work outside the home has really been keeping me busy. Monday through Friday for the last month, we have left the house at 6:30 am and we don't get home until 12 hours later. It's all I can do to take a shower and crawl into bed after a day like that. Plus, we are moving to a new house in a week(!) These are all good changes of course, but the transition has been difficult. I've barely had time to celebrate the coming of fall by communing with my oven and sewing machine! But in a week or so, all will die down again and life will hopefully return to a more sane and healthy pace. I am looking forward to daily exercise, a more healthful diet and more time with family and friends.

But in the meantime, here are a few things we've been working on around here the last few weeks.

This blanket was a gift made for a very special little boy, born just a few weeks ago. The fun animal print is 100% cotton, the blue is the ultra soft baby blanket material that you can now buy in fabric stores everywhere. Although this blanket is of very simple construction, it took forever to make because I couldn't sew it without the blue fabric shifting all over the place in my machine. Thankfully, one of my more experienced sewing friends (good to have) told me to machine sew it with the stretchy blue fabric face down. It worked like a charm and the blanket came together lickety split.

Next we discovered how wonderfully easy and delicious it is to make homemade graham crackers! I found the recipe in this book. I really love making things from scratch for Jack, especially things like these crackers: the recipe makes enough to last a few weeks, they are easy to throw in a bag and pull out whenever Jack gets wonky, and they are made (at least partially) from whole wheat flour. Now you can't say that about the store-bought variety. I appreciate that feeling of knowing exactly what is in the food I give my boy.

I've decided this is going to be my Halloween costume this year. What should I call it? Should I just tell people that I'm a bird's nest? I think it's pretty cool. Surprisingly, this will be my second Halloween costume that has included fake birds. Strange.