Parrot Costume

It's Homecoming week, which means theme days!
This year they're pretty easy, pull from closet or drawer most days. There was tie dye, twin day (where you plan ahead to match someone else), PJ, and school colors day. But, right in the middle of the week, there is jungle safari; JUNGLE SAFARI!?!?! What? Who's prepared for a safari on an any-given-day basis?

When it comes to a jungle I think parrot, when I asked the kids they came up with the hat/vest combo you oft see on safari but we weren't sure if hats were okay. So we decided parrot it was. We have a stuffed parrot and KK decided that was her outfit- we quickly added an elastic band to it so she wouldn't have to hold it all day and she was done.

As for KL, she wanted to *BE* a parrot... ok. I did a quick Google search for inspiration and found this tutorial from Make It-Love It, for a parrot Halloween costume. I really just took a quick glance at it and then did my own thing, but it gave me a good general idea of what I was doing. I opted to hot glue everything so that I didn't have to pull out my sewing machine.

A few hours later (most spent cutting out almost 200 feathers), here's what I had:

It's all felt, I used a grosgrain ribbon so she could tie it around her waist. This was taking before she was home, so after I got her home from school, we measured around her wrists, around her shoulders, and across her back, and then I added elastic straps, and a felt connector between the two wings (as done in the tutorial).

Here it is on:

She was so excited! (Which makes it all worth it.) Before school even started she got a few compliments, which made it even better. She's beyond happy with how it turned out!

That's all for now,
Jo!

Let's Get Real

Alright guys, so I'm just going to be honest here for a moment. I'm in a bit of a rough spot- more specifically, the three youngest aren't sleeping well.
I've tried everything I can think of and it's just not working!
The twin Ks have been day time potty trained for over a year, but are still wetting at night. I recently got rid of pull ups over night because it's taking so long I figured they're using them just because they are there (and judging by how they've been doing I was mostly right). So they're enjoying the fact that they've been given a little freedom to get up through the night, although meant solely for potty breaks, it usually comes with a little play and a lot of loud noise.
And then, the baby is getting her molars, and they seem to be terrible! She never really had a lot of issues with teething before, but these molars, which are coming in one at time, one right after the other, leaving no breaks for a good night's rest. Aaahhhh!! It's horrible, she's waking up and spending a good 2-3 hour chunk of the night awake.

So, now that you know that I'm a zombie- I will tell you, I'm only surviving on coffee and snark! That's it- I got nothing else keeping me going. Remember that when I show you the newest cross stitch I've completed (I put the packaging in so you can see how it's supposed to look).

To be fair, it's the same sentiment, kind of. I mean you make a wish on a dandelion by blowing it- right?

Side note, this is part of what I like about cross stitch. Even from a kit you can personalize it, mix it up a bit if you want; or, if you're not feeling creative, just crafty, you can stick to the plan given to you. I know that I don't often show when I've changed things (because they're usually because I've made a mistake) but today I felt it necessary.

That's all for now,
Jo!

What's New

Here's just a quick update on what I've finished lately- it's not much.

Here's a few cross stitch kits I've finished (left is Bucilla bought from Walmart, right is some Russian company I can never remember the name of bought from Hobby Lobby).

I love the beaded dandelion!!

I finally finished the quilt I was working on (in July). Here's the final product:

I used bandanas for the binding, because my uncle always wore bandanas while riding his motorcycle. My brother loves it (and I've even seen a few picture with his little girl playing on it).

That's all for now,
Jo!