DIY Halloween Hoot Owl Costume

Okay, right off the bat, I have to say I am totally into Halloween. I was also raised in a household that would be appalled by people who bought costumes instead of making them, so that's what I always have done, and can't imagine ever doing differently. It's the whole fun of the holiday (besides the candy!) Now, keep in mind that I'm pretty much a "no sew" kind of mama, so hot glue and sew glue are my besties on projects like this.

Last year, Miss E had her first "real" Halloween, and I made her an owl costume from simple pieces, listed below. By all means, adapt it to fit your needs, and whatever you might have. I should mention that the feathers took a little while, so it's probably not a 1 hour costume, but doable in a day or two, depending on how many naps you are still getting from your baby or toddler! It's also a pretty comfy costume for a little one to wear.

Supplies:
1. an almost grown out of thrift store hoodie
2. Scraps of multicolored (or only one color is fine) felt
3. a tutu from tulle made for her 1st birthday (totally just for a more "feathery" look, not a necessity)
4. colored leggings
5. lots of hot glue or tacky glue
6. a really cute toddler!

cute toddler? check!

Materials I used.

I did the eyes and beak mostly freehand, I think I may 

have used buttons and salt and pepper shaker to trace the eyes

The feathers were also totally freehand, I just don't have that much time to make it precise-besides, I think that's how feathers really look anyway. Just do the feathers in long strips and then glue from the bottom up to layer the feathers upwards on the coat so things will lay correctly. 

Don't make the mistake of 1: cutting a bunch of individual feathers, it will take ages, and 2: starting a the top, always go bottom up.

Now that I just got done saying no individual feathers, I should mention around the zipper pull, I had to do some individual ones.

The "face" I just patterned from the hood and pinned, then glued.
You can see I chose not to do the backside, b/c of time, but also, felt can be a bit stiff when glued, and I wanted her to be able to put her hood up and down pretty easily. Did I mention that laziness factored heavily in this project? I wanted to look with minimal work! (I think it worked.)

You can see the back starting to take shape here. 

 The finished product on a hanger to retain shape overnight.

The feather detailing.

 

The finished Trick or Treaters! (Did I mention I was a mermaid??)

But that's a story for another time....

FREE Card and Book from Shutterfly.com

Picture More Noir 5x7 folded card

Modern shower invitations and holiday cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Have I mentioned I love Shutterfly? Disclaimer: I DO get a $10 off coupon for my next order for sharing this with you guys, but I would post it anyway. I really like the quality of their products, but best of all, they do great promos, like this free card, and I also just got a FREE 8x8 hardcover photo book, which was worth $29.99 (code is SUMMERBOOK.) I only paid $10 for shipping for both items. I am really excited to have the photo book to display for Miss E's First Birthday party, coming up the end of this month.
Look, check them out, I think you'll like them!
The code for the free card is CARD4U-check the website for more details.

Garden Fresh Crustless Quiche

I love a yummy quiche, and it is so easy to do, even without a pre-made crust, which I rarely have on hand.
I have so much basil, and delicious garden veggies from mine and my friends' gardens, I want to use them all up before they turn. A garden delicious quiche is a great way to do it, and you can use any leftovers you may have, too, especially for the meat, or just make it vegetarian.
This is how I did it, but you should follow the general directions, and make it your own. 
Happy Quiche-ing!!

Ingredients:
6 Eggs-8 would've been better, but I ran out!
Whatever else is fresh in your garden-I used 2 handfuls basil, baby spinach, 3 small tomatoes, 1 zucchini, garlic, leftover corned beef brisket, onion, 2 handfuls shredded cheese
Instant biscuits in the tube


I used a lot of ingredients so I could make two, and freeze one of them.
Pop the tube of biscuits. Mush them all together, roll them out as flat as you can-I had gaps, no worries. Spray your pans with a no-stick spray, or dash w olive oil and spread. 
Lay down flat biscuits on the bottom of your dish.


Chop all ingredients finely, or as desired-except the zucchini, slice the zucchini nice and thinly, and place flat on the bottom of the dish, on top of the biscuit crust. This should help reinforce the "crust".
Mix eggs, and all ingredients together, pour into dishes on top of zucchini "crust."


Bake at 350 degrees until firm in the middle, or as desired.

It must smell good! There's a lurker about....

DIY Date nights!

Keep it fun and spicy in your marriage by doing some great, fun, and budget-friendly dates with your hubby. Especially after we had Miss E, we have been needing to do some more fun things that are more focused on us, and less on just the baby. 

Last night, we had a nice date. We enjoyed trying a new recipe for grilled basil shrimp and relaxed outdoors while we cooked together, which was really nice. We listened to a little Pandora radio (our Frank Sinatra station), slow danced in between turning the corn and shrimp skewers, sipped cold margaritas and had an all around nice time. Miss E seemed to enjoy watching us dance, and was well-behaved, too.

Sometimes I struggle with entertaining ideas of things to do, and definitely struggle with keeping it low budget.But I can't wait to try some of these other creative date ideas from a really fun website that el hubbo discovered. You have to check out the Dating Divas, who have tons of great ideas, like this "Clue" date, the "Iron chef" date, and lots more. I can't wait to try out some of these! They even have special ones for those on a super tight budget or for those short on time.

What creative ideas have you used for dates? I'd love to hear about your ideas!

Da-Bomb Bomb Pops

Delightful, Dalish,  Da-Bomb Popsicles

These were so good, and really easy (mostly.)

I used all fresh ingredients for these fruity bomb pops-they came out really tasty and oh-so delicious!

My mom gave us a popsicle form that comes with the handles and goes directly into the freezer. I think she got it at one of the dollar stores-Dollar General probably? But you can find them lots of places.

I sliced and pureed a large cantaloupe.

Squeezed in some fresh orange juice, minus the seeds, and topped of with some of my beets/mint puree that I had premade. I added the handles, and popped into the freezer overnight.

Today, we gave them the ultimate taste test. Did Miss E like them? See for yourself!

I'd say they were a hit, she fussed after the first one, so I gave her a second one.

WARNING: Popsicles are messy, and beets potentially stain, so nekkid popsicle eating baby is probably the best way to go. Then you just wipe them down.

The hardest part about this project was extracting the frozen pops from the mold without the handles breaking off. I ran cool water over the outside of the mold to help release the pops, and did a lot of bending, banging and twisting until they relented. 

I'd love to hear what you do to keep your teething tot happy, or how you and your family stay cool!

Easy Photo Greeting Cards

There are a few companies that do really easy online photo greeting cards. I have used TinyPrints and Shutterfly, both affordable, fast and very easy to upload and create pictures. 

Shutterfly is running a special right now where you get a FREE Father's Day card, minus shipping and handling. Just create your card, and use the coupon code at checkout-CARD4U

TinyPrints also is offering FREE SHIPPING code-FREESHIP12 or 25% off any order code-may25

Check the websites to see when these deals expire.

 

Here's an easy example of how to do this from Shutterfly. Hope you check it out!

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Why Unexpected?

Maybe this blog should be called the Unsuspecting, not Unexpected DIY Mama-both are true. While I knew I was going to be a Mama, that part was not unexpected, I have been totally surprised at how I have enjoyed, relished and morphed into a happy homemaking, DIY (Do it Yourself) mother. While feminists the world over might gasp (my teenage feminist self included) I have taken on a role in which I didn't know I had in me. The motherhood part, yes. However, the crafty, couponer/home made babyfood chef/ photographer of overwhelming number of "cute" baby pics/thrifty shopper/playdater' part of this role that I chose to take has been delightfully unexpected. 

I claim no special talents for DIY, only the desire to try things myself, especially if it's a bargain, and to keep my mind creatively challenged, instead of turning to baby mush. 

Baby mush: (definition) an affliction that occurs in a person's brain when they have a child, that causes all their thoughts, actions, and speech to be related to their baby. Most commonly seen in women, particularly those who stay at home with their children. Can be totally pervasive, causing isolation from others, silly faces, spontaneous song and dance, and the inability to carry on a conversation with another adult. Experts believe the condition is curable through a spa visit, creative outlets, and/or childless romantic nights out with significant other. The first step is recognizing the problem. 

This is simply a record of my projects, successes and failures, in the event someone may want a few good ideas, and a lot of good laughs. I am currently a working, stay at home mom. (FYI-I reference moms who work outside of the home as "employed" since every mom works-whether at home or also at another job.) My daughter, who I will call the amazing Miss E, because I like for her to retain some mystery online, is just 8 months today (5/22/12) and she is my first and only for now. So, my husband and I are truly figuring it out as we go.

It's way more fun than I thought. It's way more work than I thought, too.