For the Love of the Child....: Wizard of Oz

Hello!! What a week!! First of all, I will tell you that being that this is only my third post EVER, I have diligently been doing my homework and I promise to become a better blogger as time progresses!! My first couple were a bit rough, but, onward and upward....things can only get better, right.
The first thing that I learned this week is that my pictures needed some zip to them...and, as I am not a photographer but do have a decent camera, I spent some time taking some random pictures and editing them to make them look more professional....I will continue to practice...I need it!! However, I also figured out how all you practiced bloggers' get your before and after pictures up. Yes, I made my first before/after collage.

Look!! There it is....the dresser that I obtained off of my local freecycle.org and upcycled it into my little boys firetruck and dalmatian dresser. I think it got a nice face lift....and, its a great little dresser....just perfect for a little guy to be able to even put his own laundry away!!

So, I am feeling a bit accomplished making my collage and all!!

I have also finally completed the first of two Halloween costumes that I am making this year. The Tin Man is complete as of last night. The scarecrow will begin....soon?? I hope. Let me just say that I am a novice at patterns. I use them only for costumes...honestly, I never make clothing, so, costumes are like clothes....more complicated then pillows and curtains and the types of things that I typically sew. Anyway, simplicity.com has great patterns that are very easy to understand.....with that said, Mr. Simplicity Pattern Maker, could you please give better directions on these collars!! This is year number two that I have been so proud of my costume, only to have the collar all wonky (spell check didn't catch the work wonky, so, it must really be a word :)) I think I need a tutorial on how to make a collar that looks finished. It looks great until I attach it and then it looks unfinished.....so, more practice on the collars for me. But, aside from the costume looking a bit "Michael Jackson-esque," it does look pretty cute. I hope the scarecrow is as easy....I'm sure I will let you know.
But, here is a picture of the top:

Your comments, critiques, helpful tips are very welcome!!

And, for the last update for the week, I have gotten all of the fall things out of storage and gotten the inside of my home decorated. The outside is a work in progress, hopefully to be finished tomorrow. The hay, cornstalks and mums are accounted for. The wreaths didn't quite survive the year in the attic, so, I am going to redo them and take the opportunity to do my first step-by-step blog....told you I was learning....

I have just realized that Halloween is not so far away!! I don't know where the time goes; work, school, soccer, life....time sometimes just escapes me.... I have been so consumed with finishing Gabriel's bedroom that I completely overlooked the fact that I have TWO costumes to make this year. Yes, I am one of the crazy ones that choose to make homemade Halloween costumes and there is no talking me out of it. I guess I choose to make the costumes because my mom made our costumes when I was a kid and I feel the need to continue the tradition....you know, for the love of the child....this seems to be my motto. I do these crazy things hoping to please my kids, to create memories for them so that when they look back on their childhood they know how much they were loved, creating a nostalgia, if you will. At least, this is my hope.
The four year old had decided a while back that he wanted to be Iron Man this year. I was thinking about how to make an Iron Man costume and came up with NADA. I was starting to think that I may have to sit this year out sewing a homemade costume...I figured that I may just have to buy Iron Man. However, he had a change of heart when we had one of our 'dates' (yes, I date my child....as a working mom, I have always tried to make time for us to go out together, just the two of us, once a week). While we were out, I asked if we could stop at the fabric store and he could help me pick out a pattern for his baby brothers costume. So, we did and as he was perusing the costume section of the pattern book he stumbled across the Wizard of Oz patterns. He looks at me and says, "oh mommy....look!! Liam could be the scarecrow. Wouldn't that be cute? And, I could the the Tin Man. Chloe (our shih-tzu) could be Toto. Daddy could be the Wizard. And....you could be the wicked witch!!" Oh....well, thanks kiddo....couldn't I at least be the pretty witch?...I see where I rank. Well, anyway, yes, I also thought that this could be a really cute idea. So, I now have at least two costumes (the little ones are the most important, right?) to make before Halloween. With that said, Gabriel's bedroom project has once again been put on hold. I actually had to put the quilt away...out of sight, because I know I will be tempted to work on it before I get these costumes sewn.
I've made Gabriel's costume the last couple of years and actually, considering that I really am not a seamstress by any means, have been really proud of the way they turned out. As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I don't always have the same ideas about things, but, when we are actually able to communicate, we collaborate really well. I always have the ideas and then he seems to have the vision that takes it to the next level. We have collaborated on several projects in the past, and they always turn out well. Last year we did a Ghostbuster costume that was pretty great, at least I think so. I was responsible for the jumpsuit and my husband, Craig, made the "proton pack" and ghost trap. Two years before was Elmo!! Elmo turned out cute, too. They have all been Simplicity patterns that I used. Elmo was a panda costume pattern that I did in all red shag sans the ears and the ghostbuster jumpsuit was just a racing jumpsuit pattern that I did in a brown flannel. I just tweaked the patterns to make them what I was looking for. I found the ghostbuster patches on Amazon. Neither of them are perfect, but, for that one day that they were worn, they were actually perfect!!
Well, I'm off to start the next era of costumes...hopefully, 2013 will not be a bust....I'll post again next week and we'll see what kind of progress I have made!! Wish me luck...