The most apparent and significant sign that indicates the beginning of the celebration of a happy easter day is the Easter eggs. You probably wonder why eggs are closely associated with the Day. The answer turns out to be simple and the notion has its roots in the ancient view of the object itself. An egg is where a chicken comes from.
This symbolizes the cycle of life; an egg is viewed as the bearer of new life multibetzone.com and, to an extent, rebirth. The Christ was crucified and entombed, only to be resurrected and ascended to heaven. The parallelism is so blatant between the two that the eggs are made to represents Easter, the day the Christ resurrects.
Interesting Facts about Easter
In the beginning, the eggs were stained red, as practiced by first Christian settlers in Mesopotamia-who also originated the tradition of incorporating eggs in celebrating Easter Day. The red stain was meant to symbolize the blood the Christ shed due to the crucifixion.
Traditional Easter Decorations
The tradition of decorating eggs other than red stain seems to have been originated from Pagan customs to commemorate the arrival of springtime-the Easter Day is said to coincide with the new season so the Christian incorporated the custom of decorating eggs to commemorate Christ’s Resurrection.
The link between easter day and the Easter Eggs is even more apparent if you are to observe them on a more physical level. The eggshell symbolizes Jesus’ Tomb that has been sealed shut following His death on the cross. The eggshell is then cracked, an act that represents the unsealing of the Tomb of Christ and His resurrection.
Another association with happy easter day is the Easter Bunny, a character that is comparable to Santa Claus for Christmas. As is the case with the Easter Eggs, the presence of the Easter Bunny during the Easter Day is influenced by Paganism, although the Bunny is grounded more on the myth rather than practices.
The bunny was mistaken as a hermaphrodite animal yet it can produce offspring. This caused people of the olden days to associate a bunny with Mary Mother of God. The bunny is also said to have been the beloved animal of Ostara, Goddess of the Spring, further tying the Easter Day’s connection with the coming of a new season, new life, and rebirth. The bunny was at one point a beautiful bird, which was transformed into a bunny by the Goddess, which explains why the bunny can lay eggs.
In the middle of our crazy bedroom switcharoo project, we stopped for a quick, green little snack in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
The inspiration came from the plastic mesh bag that grapefruit and onions are sold in. After the kids inhaled four giant grapefruit, I was wondering if I could possibly make something out this sack before I tossed it. The result was a quick little basket perfect for taming that treasure at the end of the rainbow (or at least a rainbow of fruit flavors.)
Want to make one?
For this project you’ll need:
As always though … rock what ya got.
Trace and cut out the outline of a small cup or jar on a scrap piece of paper …
… then place paper against the bottom of the glass, wrap the mesh tightly around the sides and trim away the extra mesh. You should have just enough length at the bottom to fold into the middle to make the bottom of the basket.
Carefully add a ring of hot glue to the paper base and carefully fold the mesh into towards the center. Again … carefully.
Trim the top edge to make it flat and run a small bead of glue down the back seam of the mesh to close the side seems. When glue has set, carefully remove basket from the mold.
My kids liked the look of a handle Easter basket style so I added a narrow strip of mesh with a dot of glue on each side to the smaller one. A quick coat of spray paint …
… and my pot of gold was done. Drying time was only an hour.
(And I’m already thinking ahead to Easter and picturing a table setting with these little baskets painted white and filled with small pastel Cadbury Robins Eggs. Yum!)
At the last minute I added a quick shamrock out of felt. No biggie.
So there you go!
Some recycling magic and yummy treat that even St. Patrick would like.
My quest to bring Spring to the freakishly red upstairs continues.
Today’s attempt: Make An Easter Tree
Or as I like to call it, “One last holiday display from my ready-to-retired stick tree that keeps hanging around.” (See it for other holidays here and here).
But as soon as I drug out those bright plastic eggs and saw just how violently they clashed with the walls, I immediately switched tactics:
Plan B: I’ll just paint them.
Except as it turns out, I didn’t have spray paint in the colors I wanted … and craft paint isn’t on speaking terms with plastic …
so I dug through theleft-over birthday stuffand improvised.
Paint + Podge + left over gift bag tissue =
Easter eggs that play nice with red
And these were so easy to make:
Glue eggs together … paint a base coat to match tissue paper …
… mog podge tissue paper to eggs … let dry and swoon.
A small loop of clear thread hot glued to the top finishes these little babies off.
Of course then you could skip the loops altogether for display on a bookcase or coffee table.
Other than wanting a few more eggs to fill in the bare spots on my Easter tree …
… I’m loving my red-friendly Easter tree with the beautiful damask print and bright teal pop.
So, it’s almost Easter. And you’re making omelets. Or cookies. Or anything with eggs.
No biggie.
Just crack open those white shells and toss the whole thing, right?
Wait! Don’t toss that!
With two seconds of prep and some wheat from your food storage, those shells and carton can double as cute, FREE centerpiece for Easter brunch.
These come together in nothing flat—so easy.
* Gently crack your egg shells on the narrow end, remove the egg yolk and white, and make something delicious.
* Rinse shells in hot, soapy water and dry. Dye with natural or store-bought dyes as you would for traditional hard-boiled eggs.
* Add a tablespoon-ish of potting soil to each egg …
… and cover with sprouted wheat. *
Cover with plastic wrap and make sure soil stays moist, but not soggy.
Wheat will start to sprout in a day or two, with 4-6 inches of growth about a week later.
If the grass gets too tall or shaggy, just grab your scissors and even it out.
The carton doubles as a display tray by trimming down the sides with your nicest dollar store scissors.
And you can change up the look depending on how many eggs you use:
FULL DOZEN
HALF DOZEN
SINGLE PLACE CARD
(name written on egg)
(name on egg carton)
And when you’re done, EVERYTHING gets composted or recycled so there’s nothing wasted.
So …
Egg shells and carton?
It’s What Not To Toss this weekend!
* – Spouting wheat is easy and simply involves soaking and rinsing whole wheat kernels in water so that they start to germinate. There’s a great video of process HERE.
I love seeing all those fun costumes at the stores, but they’re not cheap.
And with six kiddos to outfit, it turns out that I’d rather pass on spending $120-$200 for a night of trick-or-treating and funnel that money towards Christmas instead.
So I say, “Rock-what-ya-got!”
If you …
1. Shop Your Closet
2. Shop Your Stuff
3. Shop Around
… you can probably throw together some of the 100+ costumes below using items you have on hand and an item or two from the dollar store.
Ready?
Got church clothes?
We can rock church clothes.
WHITE DRESS SHIRT, DRESS PANTS, SUIT COAT, etc.
Here’s what you can make:
Men In Black
Shop Your Closet: Suit coats, black ties, white dress shirts
Shop Your Stuff: Sunglasses
Shop Around/DIY: Spray paint toy guns from thrift store
Secret Service Agents &
The President of The United States
Shop Your Closet: Suit coats, white dress shirts, dress pants, ties
Shop Your Stuff: Sunglasses
Shop Around/DIY: Dollar store ear buds, split apart, dollar store gift bag embellished with the presidential logo printed off in color on a printer and attached with tape
Frankenstein
Shop Your Closet: Black suit jacket, white dress shirt, dress pants, church shoes
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s eyeliner for faux stitches
Shop Around/DIY: Frankenstein mask $1 at Target OneSpot or use green make-up
Clark Kent / Superman
Shop Your Closet: Black suit jacket, pants, white dress shirt, Superman t-shirt, red tie
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store glasses with lenses popped out
Abraham Lincoln
Shop Your Closet: Black suit jacket, pants, white dress shirt, dress shoes
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s make-up for beard
Shop Around/DIY: Wrap a dollar store top hat with black butcher paper; black bow tie make out of scrap fabric and hot glued together.
Member of the Press
Shop Your Closet: Suit coat, pants, white dress shirt, tie
Shop Your Stuff: notepad, pen
Shop Around/DIY: Write “press” on a 3″x5″ card and hot glue to a dollar store fedora
The Mad Hatter
Shop Your Closet: Suit coat, pants, white dress shirt
Shop Your Stuff: tea cup
Shop Around/DIY: bow tie hot glued together from an old shirt; dollar store top hat embellished by adding height and shape with poster board and covered with tissue paper. Paint green, add scrap t-shirt fabric band and hot glue “10/6” paper to side.
News Reporter
Shop Your Closet: White dress shirt, pants, tie
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s trench coat
Shop Around/DIY: purple dollar store glasses spray painted black; dollar store microphone embellished with a blue cube folded out of blue cardstock.
Private Investigator
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, pants, tie, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s trench coat
Shop Around/DIY: magnifying glass and fedora from dollar store
Scientist
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, pants
Shop Your Stuff: pen, safety glasses
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store bow tie from girls’ hair section; dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands.
MAD Scientist
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, pants
Shop Your Stuff: pen, safety glasses; glue cleaning gloves from dollar store
Shop Around/DIY: bow tie made from scrap fabric and hot glued together; scientific beakers made from a dollar store spray bottle and clear toothbrush holder; dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge five inches up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands.
Bill Nye, The Science Guy
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, pants
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: bow tie made from scrap fabric and hot glued together; scientific beakers made from a dollar store spray bottle and clear toothbrush holder; dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge five inches up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands.
Doctor
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, pants, tie
Shop Your Stuff: clipboard, pen, sunglass holder used as a pocket protector
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store purple glasses spray painted black; lab coat – dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge five inches up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands.
Doc McStuffins
Shop Your Closet: purple striped shirt, pink leggings
Shop Your Stuff: stuffed animals, pig tail holders, headband
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store doctor kit; lab coat – dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge five inches up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands.
Chef
Shop Your Closet: white t-shirt, dress pants
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: chef’s jacket – dad’s shirt was temporarily “hemmed” by ironing the bottom edge five inches up to create a level, bottom hem and held in place with clear tape. Cuffs were tucked up into sleeve and secured with tape or rubber bands. Collar was turned down and taped to stay down. The side of the shirt with buttons was pulled far across the chest to create the off-set look of a chef’s jacket and held in place with double-stick tape. Chef’s hat was made from white cardstock and tissue paper similar to this one HERE.
Airline Pilot
Shop Your Closet: white t-shirt, dress pants, black/navy tie
Shop Your Stuff: toy pilots wings (or print off wings on cardstock)
Shop Around/DIY: pilot epaulets made from black cardstock and wrapped with gold ribbon, tape or paper. Held in place with double stick tape.
Waiter
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, tie, dress pants, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: plate, saucer, white pillow case
Shop Around/DIY: wrap white pillow case around waist for a faux waiter’s apron
Russian Dancer
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, dress pants, boots
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s make-up for faux beard, old red t-shirt
Shop Around/DIY: fur hat from thrift store, red sash made from cutting a long, 4″ wide piece of t-shirt and tying it around the waist.
Newsies
Shop Your Closet: dress shirts (any colors) or long-sleeve shirts, vests, dress pants, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: roll newspapers
Shop Around/DIY: newsboy hats $1 at thrift store
Pirate
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, dress pants, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: old red t-shirt
Shop Around/DIY: pirate hook, sword, patch/earring kit from dollar store or Target OneSpot; sash and dew rag cut from an old t-shirt and tied in place.
Magician
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, dress pants, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: cape, top hat and mustache from dollar store. Wand available at dollar store or DIY by wrapping a straw with black/white paper or vinyl.
Vampire
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, dress pants, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: medal from toy box, tied with ribbon (or at dollar store)
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store cape, vampire teeth; sash made from an old, red t-shirt.
Need more ideas for boys church clothes?
* Fairy Tale Prince
* Game Show Host
* Accountant/Business man
* SPY
What about girls’ church or dressy clothes?
Got ya covered.
FANCY DRESSES
Diva
Shop Your Closet: any ‘fancy’ girls dress
Shop Your Stuff: mom’s cell phone and sunglasses, jewelry
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store boa
Pageant Queen
Shop Your Closet: any ‘fancy’ PROM dress
Shop Your Stuff: costume jewelry
Shop Around/DIY: make a sash from an old sheet or fabric. Add letters with paint, stencils, iron-on vinyl, sharpie or iron on letters from the craft store.
Fairy Princess
Shop Your Closet: any girls’ dresses, especially “Easter” or pastel colors
Shop Your Stuff: tiaras, wands from the toy box
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store wings
Glenda The Good Witch
Shop Your Closet: pink ‘fancy’ or ‘princess’ dress
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store wings; crown made from poster board wrapped in fabric with ribbon trim hot glued.
EVERYDAY DRESSY CLOTHES
Skirts, dress shirts, cardigans, etc.
President of the United States
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, cardigan, black skirt
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store bag embellished with a color print off of the presidential seal. Attach to bag with tape.
Librarian
Shop Your Closet: plain dress, cardigan
Shop Your Stuff: book(s) of choice
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Teacher
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, skirt
Shop Your Stuff: hair clip, folder, pencil
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Witch
Shop Your Closet: basic black dress
Shop Your Stuff: black shoes or boots, crazy socks or tights
Shop Around/DIY: witch hat or fascinator
News Anchor / Reporter
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, dress skirt
Shop Your Stuff: lanyard/work ID badge
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store or other microphone
See how easy this is?
Got school uniform clothes?
We can rock school uniforms.
NAVY SLACKS + PLAIN WHITE SHIRT
Han Solo
Shop Your Closet: navy pants, white long-sleeve shirt, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: toy gun painted black
Shop Around/DIY: Add orange lines to pants with vinyl, washi or other reflective tape; vest is an old t-shirt cut down the center with sleeves removed. Raw edges around arm holes and jacket front are “hemmed” with black electrical tape. Faux boots are made by wrapping black fabric (I used vinyl) around pant legs and taping down the back. Fits over black church shoes.
Police Officer
Shop Your Closet: navy pants, white polo
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store police toys; police hat from Target OneSpot
Knight
Shop Your Closet: navy pants, church shoes
Shop Your Stuff: dad’s white long-sleeve shirt; mom’s grey scarf
Shop Around/DIY: helmet, sword, shield, arm plates from dollar store; red sash from an old t-shirt; faux boot covers made by wrapping vinyl fabric around pant legs and taping together.
KHAKI PANTS + PLAIN SHIRT
Explorer
Shop Your Closet: plain black shirt and khaki pants
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store explorer hat, vest and binoculars
Need more school uniform ideas?
* Paramedic (navy pants/shirt)
* Uncle Sam
Got jeans and t-shirts?
We can rock jeans, too!
Super Fan
Shop Your Closet: Team jersey, jeans
Shop Your Stuff: football
Shop Around/DIY: Foam fan hand from Michaels ($3 w/out coupon) or make a hand out of two pieces of colored poster board staples or taped together.
Cook
Shop Your Closet: white t-shirt, jeans, shoes
Shop Your Stuff: dad’s apron, dew rag; bowl and spoon from kitchen
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Construction Worker
Shop Your Closet: jeans, white tank top
Shop Your Stuff: dad’s tool belt/hammer
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store construction helmet
Dr. Who
Shop Your Closet: jeans, white dress shirt, black socks and shoes
Shop Your Stuff: suspenders
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store light up wand (Sonic Screwdriver); bow tie from thrift store or hot glued from scrap fabric.
Cowboy
Shop Your Closet: jeans, long-sleeve shirt, boots
Shop Your Stuff: toy pistol, rope
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store hat (or use own)
Cowgirl
Shop Your Closet: white long-sleeve shirt, jeans
Shop Your Stuff: red bandana
Shop Around/DIY: red cow(girl) hat and vest from dollar store
Lumberjack
Shop Your Closet: jeans; long-sleeve shirt
Shop Your Stuff: knit hat
Shop Around/DIY: “outdoorsmen” beard from the dollar store; glow-in-the-dark hatchet (extra visibility at knight.
Sheriff
Shop Your Closet: jeans, long-sleeve shirt
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store sheriff’s badge, vest and toy gun
Mario & Luigi
Shop Your Closet: red/green t-shirts
Shop Your Stuff: overalls (or get at thrift store)
Shop Around/DIY: white gloves ($1 at Walmart); two red or green foam visors. Cut Mario and Luigi symbols out on Silhouette/Cricut/by hand out of vinyl and attach to visors.
Minion (Despicable Me)
Shop Your Closet: Yellow Hoodie
Shop Your Stuff: $1 knit gloves; overalls (possibly); black vinyl
Shop Around/DIY: Dispicable Me 2 glasses at party stores 8/$1.49.
Train Conductor
Shop Your Closet: long-sleeve grey shirt
Shop Your Stuff: red handkerchief, train hat (or look for at thrift store); overalls
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Rosie The Riveter
Shop Your Closet: denim/chambray shirt or jacket
Shop Your Stuff: red bandanna (or red polka dot handkerchief)
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Need more ideas for jeans? * ZOMBIES! * Bob the Builder * 50’s ‘James Dean’ (with leather jacket) * MAGNUM, P.I.
What about black pants and a black shirt?
Black is the new black.
Mime
Shop Your Closet: black leggings, striped shirt
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: suspenders and hat were $2 at thrift shore; face paint; $1 gloves from Walmart
Firefighter
Shop Your Closet: black shirt; sweats or pants
Shop Your Stuff: kitchen fire extinguisher; fire hat from free from fire department
Shop Around/DIY: cute an adult, long-sleeve black shirt straight down the center. “Hem” raw edges with black electrical tape. Stripes are made with yellow and silver Duck brand tape. Faux jacket clasps are made from pop can pull tabs being hot glued in place. To keep jacket closed, you can attach adhesive-backed Velcro or use double stick tape.
Luke Skywalker
Shop Your Closet: black long-sleeve shirt, black church shoes, black sweats
Shop Your Stuff: single black glove
Shop Around/DIY: Make the black belt on the shirt using black electrical tape; green faux light saber is from the dollar store; faux boot covers are made by wrapping the pant leg in fabric (I used vinyl) and taping the covers in place down the back of the leg.
BLACK LEGGINGS + SHIRT Minnie Mouse
Shop Your Closet: black leggings/skirt; red polka dot shirt
Shop Your Stuff: red shoes; Minnie Ears
Shop Around/DIY: n/a
Need more ideas for black pants + shirt?
* NINJA
* ARTIST (with smock + artist pallet)
* SKELETON (white vinyl bones stuck to clothing)
* STICK FIGURE (white lines painted on shirt/pants)
* CAT/CHEETAH/TIGER
* SPIDER
* BAT
Got old sports equipment?
We can have fun with sports equipment.
Football player
Basketball Player
Fisherman
Soccer Players
Rugby
Alpine Skier
Hockey Player
Karate Kid / Martial Arts
Ice Skater
Tennis Player
Need more sports ideas?
* GOLFER
* GYMNAST
* BASEBALL PLAYER
* CHEER LEADING
* WRESTLING
* TRACK & FIELD
* BALLERINA
* DANCER (Jazz, Tap, etc.)
* DANCER
Got any Camo Shirts or Jackets?
Hey, where did you disappear to?
Hunter
Shop Your Closet: hunter camo coat/shirt, jeans
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store bow & arrow (or use own); florescent cap from thrift store
Inspired by Duck Dynasty
Shop Your Closet: hunter camo coat/shirt, jeans
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: beard from dollar store, $1 Duck Dynasty bandana
Military/Soldier
Shop Your Closet: camo shirt, hat
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: toy dog tags
What about plain ‘ol shorts?
We got shorts covered.
Lifeguard
Shop Your Closet: plain white shirt, shorts, flip flops
Shop Your Stuff: towel or whistle
Shop Around/DIY: red vinyl “Lifeguard” cut and added to the shirt (or paint, stencil or use iron-on vinyl)
Clown
Shop Your Closet: n/a
Shop Your Stuff: dad’s shirt, shorts, socks and shoes
Shop Around/DIY: dollar store clown nose and fedora; suspenders
Surfer
Need more ideas for shorts?
* SWIMMER
* CHARLIE BROWN
Anything else we could use?
Got an old graduation robe?
Harry Potter
Shop Your Closet: white dress shirt, grey vest
Shop Your Stuff: scar made with mom’s eye liner pencil
Shop Around/DIY: scarf is made from scrap t-shirt fabric sewn together; glasses were $1 at Michael’s; wand is a bamboo skewer covered with paint and hot glue; robe is from graduation (or $5 from thrift stores).
Hermione Granger
Shop Your Closet: brother’s white dress shirt; grey vest,
Shop Your Stuff: n/a
Shop Around/DIY: add stripes to a red tie with yellow vinyl or tape; robe from graduation or $5 from thrift store; wand is a bamboo skewer covered with hot glue and painted brown.
Gospel Singer
Shop Your Closet: n/a
Shop Your Stuff: old graduation robe or …
Shop Around/DIY: … or $5 from thrift store
Graduate
Shop Your Closet: n/a
Shop Your Stuff: old graduation robe or …
Shop Around/DIY: … or $5 at a thrift store
What about a leather or canvas jacket?
Katniss Everdeen
Shop Your Closet: leather or canvas jacket
Shop Your Stuff: Mockingjay necklace or pin
Shop Around/DIY: bow and arrow (or bow and arrow from dollar store); quiver made from cardboard and covered in black duct tape.
Even Cardboard Can Make A Great Costume Really? Yes, really. Here’s some cardboard-based costumes we’ve used in years past. Wall-e
Shop Your Closet: long-sleeve shirt, black sweats
Shop Your Stuff: duct tape
Shop Around/DIY: square box painted yellow and embellished with paint and vinyl; Wall-e’s track is strips of duct tape down the front of the black sweats; hands are grey to-the-elbow dollar store gloves that have fingers taped together with duct tape.
Butterfly
Shop Your Closet: black shirt and skirt
Shop Your Stuff: black head band
Shop Around/DIY: cut wings out of cardboard and paint as desired. Attach to child with old nylons. Make antennae by wrapping black pipe cleaners around black headband.
Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends
Shop Your Closet: jeans and t-shirts
Shop Your Stuff: sharpie markers, glue and tape
Shop Around/DIY: train costumes are made entirely from different colored poster board taped at the shoulders to fit over top of a child.
(Bringing out a final project from the THRIVE archives before Tuesday when you’ll be able to find 100+ costumes you can make for $3 or less. Hope to see you Tuesday!)
And it begins.
My daughter’s convinced that she needs an extensive Halloween wardrobe.
I’m convinced that it’s not gonna happen.
Luckily for her I have a closet full of these ripped, stained and worn out gems.
Toss in some thin elastic and scissors and I came up with this candy corn themed, ruffled skirt refashion in a single nap time.
Ah, compromise.
And this has got to be one of the easiest sewing projects ever. Start with a white t-shirt that easily fits around your girl’s waist.
When you flip the cut-off rectangle upside down, you see that you’ve got a handy-dandy skirt base with a pre-sewn waistband all ready to go. And since t-shirt fabric doesn’t have to be hemmed, that raw bottom edge doesn’t need any sewing at all.
You’ll need to cut and piece together strips of white, orange and yellow t-shirt scraps to make the ruffles for each layer. The width is up to you and how long you want each layer. The length of all your pieced together strips for each color needs to be double the width of your t-shirt base.
My t-shirt base was 15” wide so I made sure my strips totaled 30” long. I stitched my scrap strips together to make three long loops of fabric …
… and then ran a long basting stitch along the top edge of each one. I gently gathered each loop of fabric until they were the same width as my t-shirt base.
(Make sure that any screen printing, stains, etc. are facing the inside of your ruffled layers!)
Pinning and attaching each ruffle layer to the t-shirt base was a quick and easy.
And the best part was using that already-sewn bottom shirt edge as a casing for the elastic. Love that.
The only thing left to do was sew the elastic ends together!
Sweet! Done and done!
In less than an hour I wound up with a cute t-shirt skirt refashion in time for Halloween that’s the cat’s meow.
Um, apparently.
And while I was cleaning up, I put those left-over scraps to good use.
I cut some rag ribbon for easy piggy tail love, Halloween treats, or whatever.
So there you go!
I hope you take a look at your fabric stash and have fun whipping up something awesome during nap time!
I’m always on the lookout for fun holiday projects in keeping with the Thrive Philosophy:
No money. No shopping. No problem.
And just in time for Halloween, I’m sharing five of my favorite post from the Thrive archives this week before new projects post in October. Check out these frightfully cute lanterns!
Perfect for adding some whimsy to your mantel, piano or shelf …
… and rocking out a mitten tree until the snow starts to fall …
… and especially for keeping your little monsters safe and easy to spot on Halloween night!
Ready to make your own?
(and a battery-operated tea light that I forgot to include)
As always, I hope you’ll
Rock What Ya Got
andadapt the materials I used to make what you have on hand work. With a little creativity, you’ll probably be able to make this project without a run to the store.
Cut a small piece of sticky back Velcro (mine is 1/2” wide) and attach one side to the inside of the jar and the other to a battery operated tea light. Set tea light aside.
Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge (or a mix of half water, half white school glue) starting at any left over seam from the label.
Trim craft tissue to the same width of the jar plus an extra 1/2” inch. Line top of tissue up with the top of the jar and very gently press into place, working from the center out. Careful—tissue will tear very easily.
Work around the jar one small area at a time, thoroughly covering the entire jar surface, and overlap tissue along back seam by a 1/4 – 1/2” inch, trimming if necessary.
Don’t worry if there’s a slight gap along the back (like in the pumpkin above) or a few tears. Just cover any gaps with more Mod Podge …
… place a small tissue patch over top …
… and cover with a thin coat of Mod Podge. Easy peasy.
Cover the entire top of the tissue with a good coat of the glue as well to make sure all the tissue is good and stuck.
To finish, cut a small circle of tissue slightly smaller than the bottom of the jar, coat bottom of jar with glue, place circle down, smooth in place …
… and finish bottom with a coat of glue as well. Let these dry upside down for an hour or so—until completely dry to the touch.
While the kiddos are waiting for their lanterns to dry …
… and waiting …
It’s time to work on the lids! Mark your handle holes …
… and drill through with a drill bit large enough for your handle. (I used a 7/16” bit for the lids with pipe cleaner handles and 9/16” for the lids with glow sticks).
Trim away any rough plastic on the holes with a craft knife …
… and paint lids whatever color you’d like. I had black paint so I used black. White for the ghost and orange for the pumpkin would have been cute, too.
After the lids and jars are dry, turn the kids loose!
You could use craft paint, vinyl face shapes from a Cricut or Silhouette machine or plain ‘ol Sharpies like we did.
And the best part is the fun faces that appear … like the “Scribble Monster” and the “Vampire Guy With A Bloody Nose and Furry Teeth.”
And your kiddos will be so proud of themselves for making something so totally awesome.
To attach the handle, thread your ribbon/pipe cleaner/glow stick through the holes and tie, glue or attach the ends for form a loop.
Then pop your tea light into the jar …
… screw the lid on and, voila!
Houston, we have Halloween Lanterns!
These fun lanterns are sure to bring out the spooky and the silly in your little goblins:
How many of you grew up with Christmas advent calendars?
I did. This was mine.
My mom made this when I was little and it is such a special part of my Christmas memories. After 30+ years it’s starting to show it’s age, though, so my sister has started extensive felt renovations. 🙂 When my kids saw the pictures of her progress, my kids immediately wanted one of their own. Sewing something like this isn’t hard—in fact my dear friend Becky just made the cutest one for her kiddos here.
But I’m waist deep in other sewing projects … and I already had the Silhouette out … and I just happened to have some scrap vinyl laying around … so we compromised.
It only took a few minutes to cut out a mix of designs from the Silhouette store and tracings from my mom’s calendar.
(I love that my Silhouette can trace any shape! And no, this isn’t a sponsored post.)
And then my kids went nuts putting up “stickers” all over the frig marking out the way to Bethlehem.
All the shapes were applied straight to the frig, but I wanted Mary and Joseph to be moveable.
I ended up cutting two different shapes: one for the journey and one for the manger.
I applied them to some white craft foam, but cardstock would work fine, too.
Add some dollar store magnetic strips and voila! …
… Mary, Joseph and the donkey to move along the path each day …
… and the holy family for the manger.
No Silhouette machine?
No problem!
You could easily make something like this using contact paper, cardstock, whatever. Just add some magnets and go to town. Rock what ya got!
So …
Give it a shot – you’re kids will love this!
And if you make one, I’d love to see it! Shoot me an email, leave a comment below, tag me on Facebook or share it on twitter.
We’re off to move our Mary & Joseph out of Nazareth and on the road to Bethlehem … good night!
(Originally shared as a guest post on Ucreate Kids here.) Holy cow … Halloween is just around the corner. That means me and my six kiddos have been on the look out for everyday items to repurpose for Halloween. This weekend we hit the mother load … in the produce isle. Turns out with some paint and glue, you can turn an apple tray into something frightfully fun.
Frightfully fun for flat-out free! You can use this at home or in a classroom as just a calendar or filled with little treats to open each day. Want to make one with your kids, too? For this project you’ll need a cardboard apple tray from the produce section +
(Produce trays are usually free from your grocery store – just ask the produce guy to grab you one.) As always I hope you’ll rock-what-ya-got and adapt this project to whatever supplies you have on hand so that you can make this for free or dirt cheap. Prime the tray with a cheapy sponge brush and whatever white paint you have on hand: craft paint, house paint, plain ‘ol primer. Just skip the spray paint – the paper tray is crazy porous and sucks it all up.
Add a coat of orange paint …
… and then carefully paint the edges and creases black with a small paint brush.
Add stems and calendar numbers with a Sharpie and paint marker.
(I marked the numbers first and let my kids do the decorating.)
The remaining pumpkins on the sides can be dressed up with jack-o-lantern faces or left plain.
Have a grown up punch two small holes on each side of the stems with a bamboo skewer …
… and thread twisty ties from behind …
… so that your calendar looks a little something like this:
Tame those unruly twisty ties with a bamboo skewer or paint brush.
Time to add the treats! Flip the tray over and add some small treats, toys or stickers to each pumpkin back. Then carefully add school glue along the ridges (orange dots below) and sides of the tray …
… lay the backing poster board or cardstock over top and gently weight the whole thing down for an hour. When dry, gently turn tray back over and cut away any extra paper or poster board from the back.
Punch two holes in the top with scissors and thread through some snazzy ribbon.
Yup, snazzy.
Your calendar is ready to be displayed! Starting on October 1st, you can “carve” each day’s pumpkin and enjoy a little treat one of two ways: 1) turn the calendar over and carefully remove the candy from behind — OR — 2) gently untie the twisty tie, carefully cut around the pumpkin and stem …
… open each pumpkin like a little clam shell and enjoy your yummy treats.
Retwist to close the pumpkin and you’re ready for the next day. (Of course you could cut all 31 pumpkin shapes ahead of time and just retie the little twisty ties, but I chose not to. I don’t trust my little ones to stay out of the treats. 🙂 So there you go – two ways to “carve” a Halloween Advent! And if you’re looking for more fun projects like the ones below, check out Thrive’s holiday tutorial page.
So here you go … the final entry in my front door choices.
Super simple vinyl hearts + lettering to match my favorite Valentine’s Candy.
And since I liked the minimalist candy look, I skipped adding any kind of wreath or other embellishment.
Simple candy heart goodness.
I simply cut four 5×5.5” hearts in different colors on my Silhouette and then added the lipstick pink letters over top.
No Silhouette?
No problem. This design would be a cinch to hand cut out of vinyl or contact paper and add scrapbook or crafting stickers for the text.
This would also be fun on a board for inside the house so you could reuse it.
So, now it’s your turn.
Let me know which of my four designs should be on the door through Valentine’s Day: 1 – Neutral; 2 – Red; 3 – Primitive; or 4 – Conversation Hearts.
I’ll randomly pick on of the commenters to receive a Valentine’s day good pack from THRIVE. Voting closed tomorrow, January 31st at 8 pm MST so that I can hurry and get the prize in the mail.Edited to add:
Congratulations Nydia!
(Leave a comment with your email if you’d like a free copy of the Silhouette file.)
