Happy Halloween!

It has been a busy Halloween! We've enjoyed a Halloween parade, a class party AND now trick-or-treating. Okay, technically I'm not doing the trick-or-treating. I participated in the other activities and am now exhausted. So, I'm on door duty while these little sweeties brave the cold to collect some candy with their daddies. Lucie is Belle, Meli (their cousin) is a beautiful ballerina and Ella is Snow White.

Happy Halloween!

How to Make No-Sew Fabric Pumpkins

Yesterday my little Lu went on her first preschool field trip. Oh my, isn't my baby growing up? When she brought home her cute little pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, I decided that we'd use it to decorate the fireplace. But, this one itty bitty pumpkin looked so lonely. So, I decided to make a friend for it - a no-sew fabric pumpkin!

This is a seriously easy (and cheap) craft to make. Not only is it practically free to make, but you can disassemble it after the fall and reuse most of the components. Guess what it's made out of?

Obviously, it's fabric, ribbon and a bit of brown paper bag. But what is inside?

Yes, that's right. A roll of toilet paper and some plastic grocery bags!

To make your own fabric pumpkin, you'll need:

• a square of fabric (mine was 22" x 22")
• a roll of toilet paper
• some plastic grocery bags (I used 2)
• a strip of brown paper bag rolled up to resemble a stem (you could also try to find a stick that works too)
• a bit of faux greenery
• ribbon

To assemble the pumpkin,

1. Lay your fabric square out flat, and place the toilet paper roll in the middle.
2. Bunch the plastic grocery bags around the roll.
3. Pull up one edge of the fabric and tuck it inside the cardboard roll of the toilet paper. Do this all the way around until you have your pumpkin shape.
4. Stuff your brown paper bag stem (or real stick) and greenery into the cardboard tube along with the fabric.
5. Tie a pretty ribbon around the stem to finish it off.

I'm thinking that you could also make larger pumpkins by using a roll of paper towels and a large square of fabric, but I haven't tested it out. If you do, let me know how it turns out.

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Thanks to my old MOPS group for this fun craft! I miss you all! If you're looking for other frugal ideas, check out Frugal Friday at LifeasMOM.

Halloween Recap

Yes, it is the 11th of November and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures of Halloween. This is just how things go sometimes. But despite the delay, I thought that it was important to post about it since this year we had three firsts -- my Dad was with us for Halloween, Ella carved a pumpkin for the first time AND Lucie dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Well, I guess last year Lucie technically dressed up, but I don't think it counts as "trick-or-treating" if your parents have to carry you and say "Trick or Treat" for you.

Ella went on a preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and picked out her very own pumpkin. Then, on Halloween day, she carved it with her Daddy. She really didn't want to reach in and pull out the insides though. We finally convinced her to try using the scoop.

For trick-or-treating, Ella decided to be Cinderella and oh did she feel fancy in her long white gloves. I looked in every local store I could think of but to no avail. Then I happened to hear about CastlesNCrowns, an online store owned by my neighbor's parents. They had one pair left in stock! Ella was sooooo excited about that because she got to look like the "real" Cinderella.

Lucie was a princess as well. Since she has had an aversion to wearing dresses in the past, I wasn't sure if she would go for it. But, she did. She also wanted to wear a "crown" (aka the blue headband). Before we left for trick-or-treating, we gave her a little tutorial about what she's supposed to do. I think she thought it was pretty cool when we put a lollypop in her bag. However, later when we joined some friends for trick-or-treating, she got a bit freaked out by Darth Vader and wanted Daddy to hold her. It took a few houses, but she warmed up to the idea again. She did not let go of her candy bag the entire time...no matter how heavy it got. It was really quite sweet.

Princess Ella

After talking to my sister Jessica this afternoon, I realized that the pics of Halloween don't quite capture the cuteness of Ella's costume. I don't really have a good full-length shot of her, so this is the best that I can do. She does love being a princess...and she loved me being a queen. Yesterday she wanted me to wear my crown around the house and kept giving me hugs and saying, "Ohhh Queen!"

Trick or Treating 2007

We've gone out trick-or-treating every year since Ella was born. In 2005, Ella was the 95 Theses (while Brett was Martin Luther). In 2006, she was a fairy. This year we all dressed up -- Ella was a princess, I was as a queen doing her royal duty (ie. carrying the future heir of the throne) and Brett was the artist Rembrandt. Ella absolutely LOVED her dress. I bought it last weekend and she didn't want to wear the crown. But, after practicing all week with it, she was fine wearing it last night.

Last night, we had a special treat in that we got a visit from my college friend Jana. She was up from L.A. for a work-related trip to Santa Barbara so she drove up here for the evening. While I waited for Jana to arrive, Ella & Brett headed over to Los Olivos so that Ella could go trick-or-treating with our friends The Mullins. Jana arrived shortly after they left and then we headed over there too. Amazingly, Jana had never met Ella before which means it has been about 3 years since we've seen each other. But, Jana & Ella got along wonderfully. Jana also surprised Ella with a Disney Princess Drawing Book & Magnetic Sketch Pad. She is in love with the thing. She must have said "Oh, THANK you Jana!" at least five times throughout the night. Then this morning, she asked where Jana was and a few minutes later where her "drawing thing" was. Hopefully, it won't be another three years before we get to see Jana again.