Earlier this year we went on a Disney cruise. It was a blast and I highly recommend it, but this post is about how to sew your own Jake and the Never Land Pirates costume. I will have to tell you all about the cruise later, but they had a pirate night and we all dressed as pirates. My older son didn’t fit into any of the store bought Jake costume sizes, which seemed to only go up to size 3T, so I decided to make him a costume. Same for my daughter who wanted to be Izzy. No costumes for girls her age. Keep reading for instructions on making your own Jake and the Never Land Pirates costume! (My son on the left is wearing a store bought Jake costume…)

Supplies:

• Blue T-shirt
• White T-Shirt
• Red Fabric Bandana (I bought mine from Michaels for $2)
• Black Fabric
• Black Ribbon
• 7/8″ Golden Yellow Bias Tape
• 4 Golden or Brass Buttons
• Scissors
• Velcro
• Sewing Machine
• Thread

How To: – click on pics to see them larger

1. 

   Lay your blue t-shirt out flat.

2. 

   Make a cut up the center front of the shirt. Cut the sleeves off by cutting along the bottom seam and up around the arm seam.

3. 

   Trim each cut sleeve piece so it is an even rectangle.

4. 

   Using the two rectangle sleeve pieces, place them right sides together and sew them together to create one long piece. This piece will be used to create the collar.

5. 

   Open up your t-shirt. Pin the sleeve pieces you sewed together along the top edge of the t-shirt. Pin the right side of the sleeve strip to the inside (wrong side) of the t-shirt. Pin along the top edge.

6. 

   Another view of the collar pinned to the t-shirt edge.

7. 

   Sew along the top edge where you pinned. Lay the collar open flat. Trim off any extra length by cutting it at an angle.

8. 

   Insert the t-shirt edge into the center of the bias tape. Pin it as you go. The bias tape will go around all the unfinished edges, except the arm holes. Sew on the bias tape. Use the picture above as a reference for the way the collar lays. Sew a couple stitches to hold the collar folded in the correct spot.

9. 

   Sew on four buttons. The vest is finished.

    

10. Using the white t-shirt, cut a short v-shaped cut in the center front of the t-shirt. Cut 4 holes and lace the black ribbon through in a criss-cross pattern. Knot both ends of the ribbon on the inside of the shirt. Cut v-shaped pieces out of the edges of the sleeve to create a ragged pirate look.

11. 

    Create Jake’s belt using a black strip of fabric. Measure your child’s waist for how long it needs to be to wrap around. Make sure to leave enough length for the Velcro to overlap. Fold over and sew the entire outside edge of the belt fabric. Cut Velcro strips and sew onto the ends of belt.

12. 

    Using a red square bandana from Michaels, cut the fabric square in half. With right sides together sew the shortest sides together to form a long strip. Fold over and sew all the outside edges of the fabric. Next, create shallow folds along the entire vertical length and sew them down so the bandana has a pleated look.

13. Wear your Jake costume for your own Pirate dress up day or for Halloween!

The post How To | Jake and the Never Land Pirates Costume appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Halloween is approaching quickly! Do you remember the Five Little Pumpkins Song? Each of my kids has learned it in Preschool. I thought it would be fun to make our own miniature fences for 5 little pumpkins to sit on. Each of us made our fences completely different and we had so much fun. Read on to see how to make your own fence.

Five Little Pumpkins Song:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
First one said “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
Second one said “There are witches in the air,”
Third one said “but we don’t care!”
Fourth one said “Let’s run and run and run.”
Fifth one said “I’m ready for some fun!”
Ooo ooo went the wind, and out went the lights,
And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

You can use a lot of different craft supplies to decorate your fence. My kids came up with all sorts of things to make and add to their fences to make it uniquely their own. Have the glue ready, LOL!

Supplies:

• Craft Sticks
• 1″ Orange Pom-Pom Balls
• Green Pipe Cleaners
• Leaf Punch
• Green Paper
• Moss
• Plastic Spiders and/or Ants
• Fake Spider Webs (I couldn’t find ours, but we wanted to stretch some on our fences!)
• Craft Glue
• 2 – Wooden Rectangle Spacer (can be made of balsa wood)
• Wire Cutter

How To: – click on the pics below for a closer view

1. 

   Lay out your craft sticks vertically to create your fence. Use two craft sticks and glue them horizontally to hold the vertical sticks in place. Let dry.

2. Create your second fence side the same way. Make sure you lay the two fences side by side. You need to have the horizontal sticks the same distance from the top and bottom as you did on the first fence. This will be important later when you add the wooden rectangles to the center to make your fence stand up and create a shelf for the pumpkins to sit on.
3. 

   Create your 5 pumpkins by cutting a stem from a green pipe cleaner. Glue stem to top of pom-pom ball. Use leaf shaped punch to punch out leaf from green paper. Glue leaf to pom-pom ball next to stem.

    

4. 

   Finish creating all your fence sides and your pumpkins and set them aside to dry.

    

5. 

   Cut the wood you will use for your spacer to be same length as a craft stick. They can be about 1″ – 1.5″ wide. Glue the a wooden rectangle to the each horizontal craft stick on one fence side. Next glue on the 2nd fence side. Let dry.

6. Now your fence should be complete. Add your own spooky and fun decorations to your fence. Sit your pumpkins on the top shelf of your fence.
7. Sing the Five Little Pumpkins song while you play with your fence.

The post How To | Little Pumpkins Fence appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Does your little guy or gal need a cape for Halloween? My little dude has had a sudden idea for a new costume. It involves a super hero cape, in green. I didn’t want to spend much time or money creating a super hero cape for him, so I came up with an easy way to make my own super hero cape. Fleece works great for this project because you don’t have to sew the edges and it will keep your little super hero warm on Halloween night.

Supplies:

• Fleece (21 x 20 or bigger)
• Scissors
• Velcro (optional)
• Coordinating Fleece for Initial

How To:

1. My son is just starting to wear a 4T size. So the measurements I list are for a child in that size range. If your child is bigger or smaller just hold the fabric up to him/her to estimate the length and width.

2. 

   Cut a rectangle that measures 21″ high x 20″ wide. Fold the fabric rectangle in half. Cut out cape shape by looking at picture above.

3. 

   Hold the cape up to your child and decide how long of a fleece strip you need to hold the cape around their neck.

4. If you are going with the no sew method, then leave the strip longer and tie each end to the fleece piece on each side that comes over the shoulder.

5. 

   Use a sewing machine to attach one end of the fleece strip to one side of the cape. On the other side sew Velcro to the fleece strip and to the cape as shown above.

6. 

   To create a super hero initial on the back, trace a circle onto another piece of fleece. I traced around the edge of a bowl. Then cut out the circle and then the initial inside the circle. Use fabric glue or a sewing machine to attach the initial to the cape.

The post How To | Fleece Super Hero Cape appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

This week we used yarn again to make another Halloween critter, a bat. I believe you should try to use the supplies you have on hand and since we already had black yarn I came up with a way to create this little bat. Kinda cute isn’t he? You can even change him up a bit by adding some vampire teeth or making him a her by adding a cute tissue paper bow. Give it a try and see what you can turn your little bat friend in to!

Supplies:

• Black Yarn
• Cupcake Liner
• Googly Eyes
• Scissors
• Glue

How To:

1. Head over to my previous post and scroll down to see how to create your own pom-pom ball for the bat’s body. Pom-pom ball how to. Instead of tying it with white yarn as shown, use black for the bat.
2. You should now have a completed black pom-pom ball to use for the bat’s body. (Click on photos below to see the larger and see the whole image.)

3. 

   Cut out the bottom of the cupcake liner.

4. 

   Cut two 2.5″ pieces from the liner edge and trim along the bottom to form the shape of a bat wing.

5. 

   Open a spot in the yarn and glue a wing on each side of the bat’s body.

6. 

   Glue on googly eyes.

7. Hang up and enjoy!

The post How To | Yarn Pom-pom Bat appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Over the weekend we were busy making some new Halloween decorations. I try not to get my kids too excited about Halloween until it is at least October. That usually means we don’t do any Halloween related projects until October either. My two older kids (ages 6 and 7) loved making their own spider and web out of yarn. When they were finished we hung them off of the mantle of the fireplace. We are hoping to make some more to hang nearby for a really scary spider effect. I think they would also be fun hanging in the corners of a doorway.

Supplies:

• Black Yarn
• White Yarn
• Black Pipe Cleaners
• Wire Cutter
• Googly Eyes
• Scissors

How To:

SPIDER WEB using finger knitting.

1. To create the web we used a finger knitting technique that is great for kids. I tried to take detailed photos. You can follow along below.
2. To start cut one 6 yard piece of white yarn. (Pictures below will enlarge when clicked on.)

3. 

   Tie a loop in the end of the yarn.

4. 

   Put loop over pointer finger.

5. 

   Hold knot/loop in place. Wrap yarn around finger.

6. 

   Wrap yarn all the way around finger.

7. 

   Pull the back loop over the front string. The front string is now the loop that stays on your finger. Repeat above steps.

8. 

   Your knitting will start to chain off your finger as you go and will look like this.

9. When you are done knitting, tie end in a knot to keep it from unraveling.
10. Now you have your spider web. Set it aside.

SPIDER from pom-pom ball.

1. To create your spider you first need to make your own pom-pom ball from yarn.
2. Cut one 6 yard piece of black yarn. Also, cut one 8 inch piece of white yarn.

3. 

   Start wrapping yarn around 3 fingers.

4. 

   Finish wrapping yarn around fingers. Tuck in loose string end between fingers.

5. 

   Slip the ends of the white yarn through your fingers so you can wrap it all the way around the black yarn.

6. 

   Tie the white yarn all the way around the black yarn. Tie it in a knot as tightly as you can.

7. 

   Carefully slip the black yarn off your fingers. Use a sharp scissors and cut open the loops on both sides. Fluff the yarn to make it form a ball shape.

8. 

   Use a wire cutter and cut two black pipe cleaners in half to make four leg pieces.

9. 

   On the bottom of your spider, (knotted side and loose strings are on top), push each leg under the white yarn.

10. 

    Bend pipe cleaner legs to resemble spider legs.

11. Use glue to add googly eyes and let dry.
12. Use loose white strings to tie spider to knitted web.
13. Hang in doorway!

The post How To | Yarn Spider and Web appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Can you tell she is posing and saying “cheese” for all of you. It is tricky to get a picture of her because she pauses for about a half second before she runs up to the camera and tries to see herself in the display on the back. So, she wanted to be a mermaid for Halloween. How did I know that this 21 month old spitfire wanted to be a mermaid? Because she can talk loudly, forcefully and in long sentences already. She loves all things mermaid and of course wants to have a mermaid costume. Who wouldn’t, look how it sparkles, and as she says, “it is prip-pee” (that’s pretty in adult speak).

I figured a toddler isn’t going to be able to walk around in a mermaid style skirt and decided a pair of pants would work out better. I thought an added tutu would make it even prip-pee-er and then I found this cute pink swimsuit on clearance for $3 dollars. (If you think you might want to make a mermaid costume and use a swimsuit as a top head online right now, a lot of stores (Target) have swimsuits on clearance.)

Supplies:

• Mermaid Style Fabric
• 2 Sheets of Craft Felt
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Thread
• Pants Pattern

How To:

I want to first tell you about the fabric I used. I found this glittery, sequin like fabric in the clearance bin at Jo-Anns. What I didn’t realize is those shiny dots are actually stuck onto the fabric. While I was sewing, if my needle went through those dots it got sticky goo on the needle and then after awhile the needle would get so sticky the thread would get stuck on the needle and break. So I would actually recommend finding another fabric you like. I have since been back and found a fabric in their Halloween seasonal that looks like a mermaid fin and has a metallic sheen to it. You might want to consider it as an option, unless you have a ton of patience.

Lets start with the fin. Use a piece of 9×11 craft felt and draw an outline on it of your fin shape. Cut out two identical fin shapes to use on each leg of your mermaid pants.

Next the pants. I can’t actually share the pattern with you I used for the pants. But here is one that is really close (Pants Pattern Tutorial). Follow the instructions and sew the pants according to the directions. If your pattern does not have a seam on the outside of the leg, mine did not and either does the link above, then lay your pants out flat and cut a slit the height of your fin up the outer side of each pant leg. With your pants inside out, pin the fin in place so it is inside the pant leg, between the two right sides. Sew along the edge of the pants to secure the fin in place.

How about the tutu? I actually found this tutu with an outfit on clearance for $3 and decided to go with it instead of sewing one myself. If you want to create your own no sew tutu, check out this link: No Sew Tutu. It is really simple.

Now you made a really easy mermaid costume for your toddler and now she can be oh so prip-pee too!

The post How To | Toddler Mermaid Costume appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

This cute ghost couple is actually a set of recycled orange juice containers. We will be using these to collect our candy on Halloween night. These trick-or-treat buckets were really easy to make and can also be used as decorations on your mantel or table until Halloween night. The handle on the orange juice container makes these treat buckets easy for little hands to hold.

How To | Recycled Trick-or-Treat Bucket

Supplies:

• Recycled orange juice container
• White sheet of fabric (I used a piece from an old sheet)
• Duct tape
• Scissors
• Craft glue
• 20mm googly eyes
• Pink ribbon or bow
• Black felt for mustache

How To:

1. Clean out your orange juice container and cut a big hole in the top of the recycled container. (Pic. 1)
2. (I covered the printing on the sides of my containers with white paper, but after covering the container with the sheet I think it was unnecessary.)
3. Cut your white piece of fabric about 3 inches longer than the height of your container. Determine the appropriate width of your fabric by wrapping the piece of fabric around your container. I made the fabric for the man ghost a lot wider (fuller) than for my woman ghost.
4. Cut strips of duct tape and stick them, evenly spaced, along the top edge of the white fabric. Go back and roll the duct tape down. (Pic. 2)
5. Stick the end of the sheet under the lip of the jug by the handle. Continue to work your way around the top inside lip of the jug as you tape the sheet to the inside. You should not be able to see the tape. (Pic. 3)
6. Use craft glue to add googly eyes and a bow or mustache cut from black felt.
7. Set out finished ghosts as decorations until Halloween. Use to collect candy on Halloween night!

Click the thumbnails below to see them larger.

The post How To | Recycled Ghost Trick-or-Treat Bucket appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

I had an idea to use cheap craft felt to create this Halloween monster mash-up felt face activity for the kids. The activity is played on a 9×12 piece of felt, which is actually one side of the felt pocket where all the pieces are stored. This activity has inspired lots of giggles at our house in the past week as they made Dracula have hair bows, Frankenstein have a pumpkin mouth and the Witch girl have a mustache. (Below you can download the template for all the felt shapes.)

How To | Monster Mash-up Felt Face Activity

Supplies:

• 9×12 sheet of green felt
• 9×12 sheet of bright green felt
• 9×12 sheet of orange felt
• 9×12 sheet of black felt
• 9×12 sheet of yellow felt
• 9×12 sheet of purple felt
• 9×12 sheet of white felt
• 9×12 sheet of red felt
• Googly eyes
• Scissors
• Sewing machine or needle and thread

How To:

1. Place whole sheet of green felt back-to-back with orange felt, wrong sides together. Use a sewing machine and sew around three sides to create a large pocket. (If you don’t have a sewing machine use embroidery floss and sew a blanket stitch (how to here) around three sides.)
2. Download monster face templates and cut out felt pieces in matching colors.
3. Add a couple googly eyes into the mix of felt pieces.
4. Play activity and store pieces inside pocket when finished.

FREE MONSTER FELT FACE TEMPLATES: Click Here – Monster Face Templates

 

The post How To | Monster Mash-up Felt Face Activity appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

We recently got the new issue of Pottery Barn Kids and my 2 year old son spied the Very Hungry Caterpillar costume and insisted that is what he wanted to be because it is his favorite book. (Previously he was sure he had to be Lightening McQueen.) Making a Hungry Caterpillar costume is way easier than a Lightening McQueen Costume. I lucked out and had a large piece of green fleece that was leftover from making a Peter Pan costume a couple of years ago. My total expense for this costume was $2 (I admit I have an unusually large stash of ribbon)! If you are making this for a little child you will be amazed by how easy it is to make your own costume and not buy one for $89 from PBK!

Below is a picture of the caterpillar toy we have and what I modeled the costume after.

How To | The Very Hungry Caterpillar Costume

Supplies:

• Ribbon (varying thicknesses of red, yellow and green)
• Green fleece for body (38″ wide x 26″ high)
• Red fleece for hat
• 9×12 sheet of yellow felt
• 2 purple pipe cleaners
• Thread
• Elastic
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Pins
• Fabric chalk or pencil
• Safety Pin

How To:

My son is 2.5 yrs old and he is about 38 inches tall. The measurements I listed for the green fleece are based on him and are for your reference. You will want to measure your child to figure out how much fleece you need.

1. Basically this costume is a big tube. I folded my fabric in half so that my piece of fleece that originally measured 38″ x 26″ would become 19″ wide x 26″ tall. When you have the fabric folded right sides together (before you sew), add cut strips of ribbon. Pin the ribbons in place so they don’t fall out as you sew. (Pic. 1 and 2)
2. Sew along the long edge with a straight stitch.
3. To create a gathered neck you will create a casing to thread a ribbon through. Fold over the top edge about 1 inch and pin. (Pic. 3)
4. Sew along edge of fabric to form casing. Next cut two small slits in the casing so you can thread your ribbon through. (Pic. 4)
5. Cut a 36″ piece of ribbon. Add a safety pin to one end and thread the ribbon through one of the slits. The safety pin will give you something to push on inside the casing. When you get the ribbon around to the other side pull the ribbon through the slit and take off the safety pin. (Pic. 5)
6. Next you will cut arm holes. Lay your costume out so that the ribbon spine is in the center (Pic. 6). On each of the folded sides measure about 2 inches down from the top edge. Using a fabric pencil draw a semi-circle on each side of the costume. Keep the costume folded and cut out each semi-circle to form circular arm holes. (Put the costume on your child and make sure the holes are in the right spot.) If everything is correct sew a straight stitch around the arm holes. Keep the cut out circle shapes to make the caterpillar eyes on your hat.
7. Now you will create a casing for each gathered section on the body. I did not have any extra fabric so I used a ribbon to create the casing, but you can use a long strip of fabric if you have extra from your fleece. You will want the strip to be about 1″ wide.
8. With the costume inside out, pin each casing strip all the way around the inside. (Pic. 7) Space the casings equal distance apart. Sew along the top and bottom of each casing and leave a small unsewn opening on one side so you can thread the elastic through. Add a safety pin to one end of the elastic and thread it inside the casing. Push the elastic and safety pin all the way around to the other side until it comes out of the opening where you started. (Pic. 8) You will need to decide how tight you want the elastic to be, then sew the ends of the elastic together and trim off the extra.
9. Repeat Step 8 for each casing.
10. The body of your costume is now finished. If your ribbons are fraying, you can use a lighter to carefully melt the ends of each ribbon.
11. I made my hat from a pattern. (I actually wasn’t very impressed with how it fit, should have made my own pattern!) It is made from three triangular pieces of red fleece.
12. To create each antennae I folded a purple pipe cleaner in half, then twisted it together and folded over the end. (Pic. 9) When I sewed the hat together I placed the antennae inside and stuck the folded end of the pipe cleaner out a little sew they would catch in the stitches. (Pic. 10)
13. I used the green circles from the arm holes and then cut a slightly larger yellow felt piece to lay behind each circle. I pinned each set on the hat to create the eyes and then sewed around the inside of the green layer and then around the inside of the yellow layer. (Pic. 11)
14. Add a green shirt and pants underneath and you have your very own Hungry Caterpillar!

You can click on the images below and see them larger than thumbnail size.

The post How To | Very Hungry Caterpillar Costume appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My kids and I actually made these ghost tree branch mobiles last year before Halloween. I pulled them out to hang them up the other night and they were really excited to see them again. I think these mobiles look cool hanging from our light over the dinner table. Adds the perfect spooky atmosphere to dinner!

How To | Ghost Tree Branch Mobile

Supplies:

• Tree Branch
• Old White Sheet or Tissues
• Black Sharpie Marker
• String or Twine
• Fishing Line
• Poly-fil Stuffing
• Scissors
• Sewing Needle
• Sewing Thread

How To:

1. Use your sheet and cut out 3 – 7″ x 7″ squares. (Or use 3 tissues.)
2. Cut three pieces of string or ribbon about 4″ long. These will be tied around the neck of each ghost.
3. Use a small ball of poly-fil stuffing (you could also use tissues) and place it in the center of the cut square. Fold the cut square up around the stuffing to form the head of the ghost. Tie the string around the neck of the ghost.
4. Use a black Sharpie to draw a face on each ghost.
5. Use the needle and thread to sew a loop on the top of each ghost’s head. (You could also use a jump ring.)
6. Cut varying lengths of string. Thread them through the loop on the top of each ghost’s head. Tie them to form a big loop.
7. Create a hanger on the mobile by tying fishing line to each end of the tree branch.
8. Hang each ghost from the tree branch. You will need to play with their arrangement to make the mobile balanced.
9. Hang up your mobile and enjoy!

The post How To | Tree Branch Ghost Mobile appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.