Today I will be sharing my DIY Angry Bird Costume Tutorial. My children are obsessed with the Angry Birds. So it came as no surprise when one of them requested to be the Ice angry bird for Halloween.  One of my first options for the Ice Bird, which is shaped like an ice-cube, was to use a cardboard box as the base.  However, I find that cardboard boxes can be uncomfortable and restrict movement.  I scratched the cardboard box idea and decided to use fabric instead.

Luckily for me, I had an old light blue fleece blanket the kids were no longer using. This provided the perfect material for my DIY Angry Bird costume.  By upcycling the blanket I was able to keep  cost down (always a plus) while being environmentally friendly (another big plus). I also had felt in various colours and left over foam 3 inches thick.  Take a look at the final result:

How-To

The only thing that is not mentioned in the tutorial file is that I carved a hole in the foam so that it would sit comfortably on my son’s head. Take a look:

The foam allowed the costume to maintain its boxy shape while remaining flexible and light.

A couple more photos of the finished costume:

The last photo shows Ice Bird with younger brother Yellow Bird. In the next couple of days I will be posting a quick tutorial on how to transform a plain tuque into an angry bird tuque, just like the one little brother is wearing.

Thanks for stopping by.

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After decorating my Halloween Mantel, I decided to make a Vintage Magic Kit for Halloween to display on my coffee table.  Unfortunately, inspiration struck really late at night and I did not stop to take any photos of the steps.  In any case, since the whole process is really easy, I will describe in detail what I did, and will provide my sources for my potion labels and other resources and tutorials I used to put this kit together.

I actually did not need to buy anything at all for this magic kit.  I already had everything I needed at home.  My total cost for this kit was $0.

DIY Vintage Magic Kit How-to

Magic Kit Box

My vintage magic kit is contained within a wooden box. This wooden box was the packaging for a set of knives given to us a couple of years ago. I kept the box with no specific purpose in mind.

To make the box look the part, I created this label:

To make my label I used the old photo of a woman I found over at The Graphics Fairy LLC. The Graphics Fairy has a lot of vintage images and clip art that are great for Halloween projects, so make sure to check them out.

You are welcome to use my label for your project.  Just click on the image to access the gallery.  Then click on the upper right hand corner to enlarge the image, and then right-click to “save as”.

After printing and cutting the label, I crushed up the graphic, then smoothed it out and  pasted it onto my box with modge podge. Once the modge podge had dried, I lightly sanded the image to give it a worn look.  I also sanded the edges and corners of the wooden box.  That’s it for the box.

Potions

For the potion bottles I gathered empty jars (jam, maple syrup, etc).  After washing them in warm soapy water to remove labels, I spray painted them with a metallic paint.  There is no reason for my choice of metallic paint other than the fact that it was the only color I had left.  Once the paint had dried I tried to tone down the metallic shine by rubbing a rag with black paint over my containers.  It worked only a bit.

I found these printable labels over at Seeing Things:

And this set over at the Graphics Fairy:

After cutting the labels, crushing them, and smoothing out, I simply glued them to my jars. All done.

The Magic Wand

I used  this magic wand tutorial as a guide to make mine.  Instead of chopsticks I used a tree stick we found during one of our walks.  But the technique is pretty much the same.  I used a glue gun and beads to get the shape I wanted.  Once the hot glue cooled off and hardened I painted my magic wand.  Take a closer look:

Old Magic Book

For the old magic book I took a hardcover book that was destined for the donation bin. The book looked pretty new, so I used my electrical drill to sand it and rough it up. I used a coarse grit for the edges and that seemed to work really well.

I created a quick book cover using the Gimp, but unfortunately I didn’t save the file. I pasted the cover on top of my book, and then just sanded gently and lightly with a fine grit. All done.

The final step was to arrange all my potions, magic wand and old magic book inside my magic kit box. I added some spider webs as well for the “abandoned look”. Here’s one more photo of the finished project:

This vintage magic kit was easy to put together, inexpensive as it uses things you already have in your home, and it is a great way to add some Halloween decor to your home. I hope this inspires you.

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Easy Halloween Mantel

As far as Halloween decorations go, we usually just carve a couple of pumpkins and call it a day. However, this year, my kids requested more. I graciously indulged.

I decided to decorate the mantel (not really a mantel as much as a shelf with a mirror), which is the focal point in our open concept living/dining room. I used mostly items I already had at home (glass jars, vases, etc), with things from nature (tree branches) and a few inexpensive items I bought specifically for the occasion (ravens, spiders and bones).

Ravens and Tree Branches

I love decorating with tree branches. They are so versatile and create a lot of impact for very little money. Sometimes you may have to paint them to give them a more polished look, but in this case it wasn’t necessary at all. They were just perfect the way they were.

After putting my perfect Halloween branches in a clear vase (which I already owned), I attached three ravens to the branches and then just strung some spider web around. Very quick and easy.  Take a look:

Bone Collection

Next, I got to work on my bone collection.  I just put up a bunch of plastic bones for display inside a clear glass vase.  Added a few spider webs and a spider crawling up the vase.  Done!  I paired up by bone collection with a black wooden letter H (for Halloween) to balance out the glass.  Take a look:

Spider Specimen Jars

By the time I finished with the bone collection, I figured the owner of this mantle was probably into spiders as well. I created an easy spider specimen jar collection using things I already had around the house.  For instance, the base is just an old wooden votive candle holder that was destined for the donation bin. The kids broke the votive candle glass holders that went along with it a while ago.  I never had the heart to get rid of the wooden base because I always knew I would use it someday.

I spray painted the wooden base, then sanded it a little.  I then raided my recycling bin for some empty glass jars (jam, pickles, etc).  Once they were all nice, clean and label free (wash them in warm soapy water to get labels off), I just inserted some spiders inside.  Carefully arranged them on top of the wooden base and…all done!  Take a look:

Well, I guess I wasn’t really done. I think the person who took the time to collect spider specimens would most likely label them. So I quickly created a label that reads “Arachnids”, because in the olden times they liked to use Latin more often…and because that’s their actual scientific classification.  I had to take the “after” photo at night with poor lighting conditions, but here’s the end result:

Witch’s Cauldron

The final component of my easy Halloween mantel is a witch’s cauldron sitting on top of a couple of old books. The books I already had. Actually, they are wooden storage boxes that look like big old books. Nothing to be done there.

The witch’s cauldron is just one of those black plastic pails for candy. Originally it looked like this:

I didn’t like the original look. I quickly fixed this by spray painting it with a metallic paint. I then sanded it to make it look used and previously loved. I propped a raven on the cauldron, some spider webs and crawly spiders and all done. Here:

And here:

One last look at my easy Halloween mantel:

By using things I already had, the total cost to decorate this Halloween mantel was only $10. The most expensive items were the ravens.  The most time-consuming was waiting 10 minutes for the spray paint to dry off so that I could sand both the cauldron and the spider specimen collection base.  The most difficult part probably was standing on a chair trying to arrange the spider webs.

When I started to decorate the mantel I told myself I was only going to do this one thing and then Halloween decorating was over. However, by the time I finished the mantel, I thought that a vintage witch’s kit for the coffee table would add to the decor.  So I made one. Take a look:

I loved the final result. This was such a fun project. I will be posting a tutorial and more photos for this DIY Halloween Magic Kit tomorrow.

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Pinecone Birds

During one of our nature walks, my 3 year old son collected a little bag full of “treasures”. Among his finds there were sticks in various sizes (a thoughtful gift for his stick-loving older brother), leaves, various pinecones and rocks.

At home, it became evident that he had gathered the perfect materials for a quick and easy  fall nature craft.  We quickly decided to make pinecone birds.

Pinecone Birds Tutorial

I put together a quick visual guide to help you make your own.  But the fun part is in letting your kids, and their imaginations, take over.

1. take your kids for a walk  and let them gather the materials (pinecones in various shapes and sizes, leaves).  You will also need googly eyes, and glue.
2. pick at least 3 leaves in various sizes. Arrange them is ascending order and secure them in place with small dabs of glue.  This will be a “feathery tail”.
3. pick one of the big pinecones for the body of the bird.  Take the “feathery tail” and glue it to the back of the big pinecone.
4. pick one of the small pinecones. Preferably one that resembles a beak.  Glue it to the front of your big pinecone.
5. glue the googly eyes above the beak of the bird.  All done!!

We made two versions of the pinecone birds.  One for each kid.  Here they are, side by side:

 If you are looking for more nature crafts for kids click here to check out my Nature Crafts for Kids board for more ideas.

Your Turn

Have you made a similar kid friendly craft using pinecones, leaves and other materials found in nature? What other creatures did you come with? Did your children enjoy this craft?

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DIY Superhero Costume Tutorial: Round-up

We are in Halloween mode around here. Nothing has been decorated, nor made.  But there are lots of Halloween talk going on. And talking about Halloween makes me want to get ready for it. The boys are excited to start making their costumes, and so am I.  So, this means we need inspiration.

I spent a portion of my evening browsing Pinterest. I  was able to collect some nice DIY Halloween costume ideas for the kids.  Here’s a DIY Superhero Costume Round-up I put together.  The nice thing about all these DIY superhero costumes is that they can easily be made at home. And they all come with tutorials on how to go about it.

Remember to just click on the image or the tittle to go to the tutorial sources.

• Superhero Costume
  Great DIY superhero costume tutorial using leggings and cotton shirts.  There are templates and instructions to make the cuffs, masks, and headbands

• Superhero Winged Shoes
  Great tutorial to make adorable winged shoes for your little superhero.

• Superhero Felt Masks
  Great tutorial to make a variety of superhero masks out felt.  Great idea to compliment a Halloween superhero costume or for everyday dress up.

• Superhero Cuffs
  A step-by-step tutorial to make a set of felt cuffs.  No superhero would be complete without them.

• Superhero Capes
  Instructions to make superhero capes.  Easy to follow and easily customizable.

• Batman Dress-up Set
  A nice DIY Batman costume set complete with instructions.

• Rocket Power Jet Pack
  Not all superheroes are gifted with the ability to fly…some dislike capes. Enter the Jet Pack. A great must have for superheroes. Great tutorial using empty soda bottles.

That concludes my DIY Superhero Costume Round-Up.  I hope it inspires you to start, or to finish up the outfits for your little superhero.

Your turn:

Do you know of any superhero costume tutorials? Do your children enjoy dressing up as superheroes?  Will anyone you know be a superhero this Halloween?

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