Link to Love: Baby Halloween Costumes

Have you ever typed random search terms into Ravelry's pattern library just for fun?  If you haven't done it before; I highly recommend it.

The search that really got me smiling today was Baby Halloween Costumes.

It renders 3 whole pages of adorableness like The Very Hungry Caterpillar Halloween Costume by Shayna Denham.

Image via Shayna Denham on Ravelry

The knit and crochet baby costumes pretty much max out the cuteness scale.

If you've already checked that out and you're in the mood for more, the Pet Halloween Costume search will also make your heart smile.

Have fun browsing!
xoxo
Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Taking the Time to Line

During the first five years of my skating career, I used to always skip my lipliner and go straight for the lipstick when I was putting on my show makeup.

I thought that the only real purpose of lipliner was to prevent my lipstick from creeping off of my lips and into the fine lines around my mouth, and that’s not a problem I’ve ever really had.

Therefore, I skipped the liner because I thought the time I saved outweighed that benefit of putting it on.

What I didn’t learn until recently were the subtle differences that lipliner makes.  

Most importantly, using lipliner creates a slightly crisper line between your lips and your skin than using lipstick alone, and the crisper the line is, the more your lip color pops.

Second, it’s easier to make your lipstick perfectly symmetrical if you line your lips first.

Plus, it turns out that spending a little extra time on lipliner makes the lipstick application easier and quicker, which disproves my old “saving time by skipping the liner” theory.

So that’s why I never skip my lipliner anymore.  Like so many things in life, it’s all about the subtle details.

Happy lining!

xoxo

Laura

Sewing a Halloween Pennant Bunting

Want to know a secret?  When I found out I only had one day to pack and leave for this new ice show, I spent a little bit of time packing and a whole lot of time finishing up and photographing all the craft projects that I had been working on at home.  I guess it’s pretty obvious where my priorities lie.

This string of Halloween flags is the last of those projects from home, and looking through the pictures this afternoon, I really wished I were still there.

That’s my mom in the picture with me.  (Hi, Mom!)

I’ve been gone for two weeks, and I bet those leaves are all yellow now.

I used my mom’s sewing machine to make these flags, and I didn’t use a pattern; I just made one up as I went along.

For six double-sided flags, I used two quarters of fabric from Fancy Tiger Crafts.  I strung them together using double fold bias tape.

To begin, I drew a triangle on my fabric that was 8 inches wide and 10 inches long.  Then I cut it out and used it as a stencil to trace and cut out five more triangles on that fabric and six triangles on the other fabric.

Next, I made six triangle sandwiches, using a triangle from both fabric colors for each sandwich, with the front sides of the fabric facing in.  I pinned two of the sides together and left the 8-inch top unpinned.  

Then I sewed along all the pinned sides.  I left the unpinned side un-sewn on each triangle so that I could reach inside each triangle and turn it right-side-out.  

Once they were right-side-out, I ironed each of the triangles so they had nice crisp edges and then top stitched around all of their edges (including the edge that hadn’t been sewn shut before).

Now that I had six finished triangles, I drew myself a little diagram to decide exactly where to place the flags on the bias tape.  I settled on 2 inches between each flag.

I snuggled the 8-inch edge of each triangle inside the fold of the bias tape and pinned it together.

After the triangles were all pinned to the bias tape, I sewed along the bottom edge of the tape, took out the pins, and I was finished.

I’m super happy with the finished product!

The only detail that I didn’t love was the way the bias tape was folded.  When I took it out of the package, it wasn’t folded perfectly down the middle.  I left it the way it was, but if I were to make this project again, I think I would try to fix it with an iron.

Do you know if all bias tape is folded ever so slightly off center, or do you think I just got a funny one?  If you were making this project, would you bother to re-iron the fold to make it perfect?

Either way, I’m proud of this little project, and I’ve currently got it hanging in my cabin on the ship, spreading some fall cheer.

Happy sewing!

xoxo

Laura

Link to Love: A Cozy Sweater Pattern

I'm back in the Caribbean again.  It was all very sudden.  We were planning to leave for our next skating show a bit later, then there was an injury in the previous cast, then we got a phone call saying we'd be leaving the next morning.  That's show life!

I'm happy to be here, but I had really been looking forward to spending a little more time with my friends and family at home in the crisp fall weather.

Luckily (if you look at it the right way) the ship we're living on is super air conditioned so it's like fall weather all the time when you're inside, and fall weather is sweater weather!

I've been browsing the internet for sweater knitting patterns and I think I've found a great one: the Ease sweater pattern by Alicia Plummer.

Photo via Alicia Plummer on Ravelry

I love how cozy and laid back and sweatshirt-like it is.

There's also a really adorable kid-sized pattern to match called Abate.

Do you have a favorite sweater knitting pattern?  I'd love to hear about it.

Happy knitting!

xoxo

Laura

DIY Doily Pumpkins

I love Halloween crafts!  I feel like the possibilities are endless.

Last year, I created mason jar jack-o”-lanterns, and I tied myself a poofy tutu the year before that.  

This year I was so excited for Halloween crafting that I ended up making three things!  There was the Halloween party backdrop last week, today I’ll be sharing a pumpkin that I decoupaged and drilled, and I have one more project up my sleeve for next week as well.

To decorate a pumpkin like this, you’ll need the following items:

1.  A pumpkin with all the insides removed (Mine came from the “medium” bin at the grocery store.)

2.  A package of 20 paper doilies that are 10 inches wide

3.  Mod Podge glue

4.  An old toothbrush (or other brush-like tool that you’re fine with throwing away)

5.  Scissors

6.  An electric drill

Here’s how to make it:

1.  Cut the doilies in half.

2.  Cut out the solid center of the doilies so you’re left with just the pretty outside parts.

3.  Using the tooth brush, paint some mod podge onto a portion of the pumpkin.  Place a doily piece on top of the mod podge, then brush more mod podge on top of the doily.  Repeat this step over and over until the entire pumpkin is covered in doilies.

Wait a few hours for the mod podge to dry.

Once it’s completely dry, it’s time to start drilling!  Use an electric drill, to make little holes all over the pumpkin, preferably in spots that make sense with the doily pattern.

Pop a candle or two inside the pumpkin, set it on your front porch, and you’re all finished!

Happy decorating!

xoxo

Laura

Showgirl Beauty Tip: Powdering your Hair

Dry shampoo.  It’s a beautiful thing.  But what if you’re in a pinch and you don’t have any? 

Miscalculations in a hair-washing schedule can happen to anyone.  There are a couple of very reasonable alternatives to dry shampoo lying around in any dressing room, and they’re probably in your bathroom at home as well.

To remove grease from your hair, pour some baby powder into the palm of your hand, rub your hands together, and then run your fingers through your hair.  

The baby powder will soak up the grease.  If you can see white residue in your hair afterward, simply brush your hair and it will disappear.

Don’t have any baby powder?  Foot powder works just as well.  This summer I watched one of my friends rub foot powder into another girl’s hair before the shows and it worked like magic.  Her hair looked clean again.

This tip is obviously not an alternative to washing your hair and practicing good hygiene, but it sure works beautifully for the occasional “I mistakenly thought I could make that blowout last one more day” moment.

Happy powdering!

xoxo

Laura

DIY Photo Backdrop for an Awesome Halloween Party

Snowboarders!

I bought 4 quarters of Halloween fabric for a sewing project (that I'll be sharing soon!) and I only ended up using 2 of them.  The fabric was way too fun to let it go to waste, so I decided to make a photo booth backdrop with it.

I think it would be the perfect place for all my friends to take pictures of themselves in their Halloween costumes.  Don't you?  I'm going to be off at my next skating contract when Halloween finally rolls around, though, so I'm giving the backdrop to my friend Lei to use at her upcoming Pumpkins & Pino party.

To make this backdrop, you'll need the following things:

1.  2 quarters of Halloween-appropriate fabric  (I got mine at Fancy Tiger Crafts)
2.  Some leftover yarn
3.  Scissors
4.  Tape  (I used washi tape because I'm addicted)

Here's how to make it:

1.  Cut both quarters of fabric into strips that are 1 inch wide.  While you're doing this, don't worry about cutting your lines perfectly straight, as no one will notice if the strips are flawless or not once they're tied onto the yarn.

2.  Stack the 1 inch wide strips on top of each other and cut them again so they're 5.5 inches long.

3.  You should now have tons of little strips of fabric that are 1 inch x 5.5 inches.

4.  Lay out all the strips on the floor so that you can get an idea of the shape of the backdrop and how many fabric strips you'll want in each column.  I settled on 9 columns with 15 fabric strips in each column.  Now lay a super long piece of yarn next to your strips and start tying the strips onto the yarn, 3 or 4 inches apart.  I tied mine with a simple half knot.  Once you finish tying one column of fabric strips, continue onto the next piece of yarn, then the next and the next until you've completed all of them.

5.  It's finally time to hang it all up with some tape!  I tied a little knot at the end of the yarn and placed the tape just under the knot to prevent the yarn from slipping away from the tape.  I also used washi tape because it's pretty and I love it, but any kind of tape would be fine.

Now it's picture-taking time!
Karleen, Justin, and I had some fun with this part...

Ladies who Lunch

One more lady?

Fairies

My personal favorite: the grumpy traveler

Happy October!
xoxo
Laura

Creating Laura is turning 2!

Today is this little blog's 2nd birthday, and it's time to do a couple of big things in honor of the occasion!

First of all, I uploaded a new header.  I used to really like the polka dots, but lately I've been wanting something a bit more personal.  Do you like it?

Second, Creating Laura is now offering sponsorship opportunities!  Yay!  I want you to know, however, that I have absolutely no intention of "selling out."  I'll only be accepting ads that fit in with the content and aesthetic of the blog.  There will be no flashing diet ads.  Ever.  Seriously.

If you're interested in advertising here on the blog, click on the new button in the left column that says "Click here to sponsor Creating Laura" or shoot me an email at creatinglaurablog@gmail.com.

So that's what's going on around here.

In other news, there's no better time to reminisce than on your blog's birthday, so here's a list of my 5 favorite things that I've made in the past year:

1.  My circle skirt definitely takes the cake because it was my first-ever sewing project and because it ended up being a garment that I want to wear all the time.

2.  This robot stamp art is high on the list because I came up with the idea on a whim and I had no idea how much I would like the final result.  It's something that I want to hang in all my future houses forever.

3.  My favorite knitting project that I completed this year is the collection of hair bows that I made for all the ladies in my cast this summer.  It made me so happy to see the girls wearing them around backstage.

4.  I also loved my sticky note calendar project because it was fun to make and even more fun to use as time went on.  When I left Ohio and came back to Colorado, I re-made the calendar on my wall here because I simply couldn't go without it anymore.

5.  And last, but certainly not least, are the mason jar Jack-O'-Lanterns that I created for Halloween last year.  Spray paint is so fun.

Last year was great, and I can't wait to see what the new year has in store.  I have so many ideas for upcoming projects; I'm really excited about the future!

Thank you so much for reading my blog and participating in the journey!
xoxo
Laura