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