I can do the Frug

Unlike my title for this post I can't do the frug, neither can i do the Freddy or the smurf...I do know the macarena (sp) because some fancy silver haired seniors taught me that when I was much younger... Which came up in conversation the other day and my husband so rudely pointed out how old I am... And that made me sad. However there are some things in life that make me delightfully happy and that is costumes! So i thought I would share some more sneak peaks of our upcoming family themed Halloween costumes.

I'm so excited... And I think the pictures are pretty straightforward in terms of which characters in Alice in Wonderland the costumes pertain to. However, that being said. I enjoy the guessing game, so, as per my last post though... I'm going to leave it up to the viewers to guess which costumes you see here.

I still have 4 more Alice and Wonderland costumes to go and two of an entirely different theme to make. I need more hours in my day!

Just for funsies, some pictures from our last Halloween Disney World trip. It was awesome. I didn't get to finish my costume. I was going as sully... As you might be able to tell... And Jack and Sally referred to me as "Scary Kerri". It was awesome.

Secret Meeting

I often have secret meetings in the basement of my mind... And typically those secret meetings are based around one theme... Costumes. I'm guilty of loving costumes and now that it's September what I want to know is who isn't thinking about their costumes for Halloween... Because I am... And if we're being perfectly honest. I have been... Ever since the realization that there is such a thing as Halloween (but I started asking my family what they wanted for costumes this year back in August... Because, seriously. Who can contain that excitement!)

So... They've decided on a theme and I'm so giddy... Because I am in the process of making costumes. I just finished my nephew Aydens costume and although this is just a sneak peak (I mean... You're going to have to wait for pictures come closer to the holiday season (I know... It's disappointing). But with this little sneak picture can anyone guess the theme (and no cheating... I know I've told almost everyone I see what the theme is... I love Halloween in a big way... And for that. I'm not going to apologize. Also... Just fair warning. Don't ever tell me you don't like Halloween... Because I will unfriend you!)

The Crystal Lake

I'm totally missing the lake this year. It's funny how nostalgia settles in when you least expect it. My nephew (by the way he's 8) posted a picture of himself and two of his siblings on the paddle board at the lake and I was so completely and utterly envious. I want to be at the lake!

I always want to be there... Playing kick the can, watching lightening bugs. Canoeing through the other side to the Bowen Mill. I miss it... But alas, apparently this is what is like to be an adult (rotten).

So anyway despite the fact that I'm incredibly sad that I can't be at the lake this year (cue listening to granddaddy's the crystal lake now)...I figured it's just as good a time as any to talk about an outfit that my mom recently got into altered couture. The theme was "Marilyn Monroe," and I got to help inspire this outfit (last summer... When I was visiting her at the lake... I think I've adequately conveyed how much I miss the lake... But just in case... I miss being at the lake). This is the magazine cover that we are featured in... Although please note that the cover is not our design.

At first my mom thought this would be a difficult challenge but I assured her it would be easy. We quickly went to salvation army and I found the perfect outfits to alter (don't you just get a vision of what could be with these... No!?

So anyway... I saw those dresses and was inspired... And conveyed said inspiration to my mom about how it should be a 50's beach theme that Marilyn Monroe would've worn... With my words alone... She didn't have any clue where I was going. So I had to draw a picture.

Anyhow... This is what we ended up with.

In the meantime... This was me at the lake last summer... I made myself a flower crown with the abundant Queens Anne lace that grows wild everywhere (love it!) Which reminds me I forgot to mention picking wildflowers, picking fruit, and lily pads and lotus flowers as other favorites from being at the lake. Sigh of sadness.

Hashtag by request

A friend and coworker recently came to me with a request. This particular friend has a side business of selling chocolate... She's a chocolatier... No scratch that... She's a dream maker!

Regardless... This past week she was in Chicago at a convention where she was presenting about how to use social media to help market and make sales (which is awesome by the way... And obviously I'm not the person to do that... I'm writing a blog instead of using snapchat... Clearly not hip in this area... But that's okay.)

So her request was simple. Could I make her a skirt with a hashtag on it... Also... I had less than a week... And she was presenting with a friend and could I make her one too... And me the person with a full time job that often works well over 40 hours a week said... Yeah of course. This is child's play, give me a real challenge! (And just to clarify... The conversation did not happen anything close to that...I said yes).

So this is what she got... And secretly (but less so now) I begged her to say something cheesy about how marketing via social media is even easier than clicking your Ruby red heels three times to get home. Hopefully that will make sense when you see the picture (and even more so if you know that I just might be one of the cheesiest people in the world... It works for me... Or at least it humors me!)

Love chocolate... Then check out her site. The peanut butter chocolate smoothie is a personal favorite... Although smoothie, the name itself, lends the idea that it's healthy. I'm going to stick with that assumption because it makes me feel better (even if I'm wrong!) www.mydcdsite.com/aschuler

Part of your World

As a kid I was a huge little mermaid fan. I even somehow managed to convince my cousin to give me his little mermaid toy from McDonald's (I don't remember how... But I did. My skills of persuasion were better then).

I loved singing all of the songs... Now I'd rather not be part of your world... Just mine, but alas as you grow up that's not how things work.  Regardless. A friend asked me if I would help her with her daughters birthday party... And I'm not sure whose idea it was (it was probably mine... Because I'm like that). But we decided that all of the little kiddos should have mermaid skirts to wear. I don't have any pictures of the kiddos wearing them... Because I'm the strange childless adult at the party (awkward). But I did make a special skirt for her daughter. She got the blue one with scales whereas all of the other girls got a plain green one.

It was fun to make dreams reality. The mermaid theme was her daughters request after all!

Should Have Known Better

Sufjan Stevens is the best and I've been enjoying his new song... And it's fitting because I should have known better than to buy more Melody Miller fabric... Because it's the best!

This is another dress for a friend. She grew up in Lamar and she reminds me of all things western... And I know that this dress doesn't exactly fit that bill... It's my take on modern hip western wear.

Say Yes

Elliott Smith is one of my favorites...I had the opportunity to see him once when I was with my brother at Glastonbury... He convinced me to see a terrible couple of other people (I'm so embarrassed by it that I'm not even going to mention who it was... So bad, seriously). Sadly I never had that opportunity again... But as I'm a big fan of his music I still listen... So say yes.

The next dress I made was for another friend for her birthday in February. She loves dogs (and I try to stick with themes... Because I'm a huge dork). So anyhow... I found this adorable pug fabric and picked the rest to make this adorable dress. I love it... And as of this point I still haven't given her this... Although it's been nicely wrapped up for her for months now! It's not just that I secretly adore this dress and want to keep it... After all it's a bit snug on me because I made it to fit her!

Bluebird Blues

It's been a while since I've written a blog post...I guess sometimes life gets in the way. Regardless. I've had a busy year making things. It's been my goal to make hand made gifts this year... And needless to say, I'm behind on my gift giving. But of the gifts I've completed. I'm super pleased with all of them! Hopefully the recipients feel the same way!

The first of my endeavors was based off of some earrings that I picked up from the Alzheimer's Association's Memories in the Making show in 2014. The bird nests were paintings that were in the show... And I loved them and knew that they would be the perfect present.

Then... As luck would have it I found this beautiful broach... And then a concept came together (because that's how I operate!)

So I had my basis and theme and I found fabric to coordinate and used a Collette pattern to come up with the following dress.

Pure Imagination

I have to geek out about this one because I love it so much! It makes me as happy as the song from Willy Wonka about pure imagination. Go ahead... Sing it... Remember how happy that made you! Well this skirt makes me feel the same way. This is another gift for a friend... And I absolutely adore Melody Miller fabrics and I splurged and came up with this lovely little combination!

I based this idea of happy go lucky childhood off of the necklace. The necklace is a copy of a painting that was in the Alzheimer's Association's Memories in the Making at show for 2014... It needed a fun and happy outfit to go along with it!

Flowers in the window

Such a lovely day... This was another project for a friend of mine. She had bought this dress... But it was so incredibly full that it wasn't very flattering. I told her that I could do something with it that she would love. The finished piece looks nothing like the original... In fact I probably have enough fabric left to make another dress like this if I wanted to!

Comic strip

My next project... Okay. By the way background music should be comic strip by the ghost of a saber tooth tiger... Because it's ridiculous and fun and ties in with my next project.

This is my second version of this dress. At my previous job we hosted an annual event called super hero slushie salute. I made it a requirement for staff to come in some sort of super hero attire and I let a friend of mine borrow my dress... And she fell in love. But I made mine quickly without much attention to detail and I wanted to be able to make her a nicer version.  See my version below:

Then this is the version I made for my friend, notice the careful planning to centralize the logo! And I couldn't help myself... I wanted to add the bright accents to make the comic book feel more present in the yoke but subtle.