Felt Pumpkin Tutorial- kids can change the face of the pumpkin anytime!

This is a really easy, and really fun little craft for you to make for your kids leading up to Halloween. The idea came from last year's Halloween pumpkin fiasco. We let our son paint one pumpkin, and help choose the template for carving the rest. Well after all the pumpkins had been carved, he wanted them changed. Yea, that wasn't going to happen. So I've come up with a solution. A felt pumpkin with lots of different eyes, noses and mouths that he can play with to make different faces. It was so easy and cheap to make, and I got it done super fast! Here is how I did it...

What you'll need:

-Felt squares in orange, green and black (or whatever color pumpkins you want to make!)
-A roll of velcro (you can find this for cheap at your local craft store)
-Scissors (because no craft is complete without cutting something you didn't mean to!)
-Hot glue gun





Next, using the orange cut out the shapes of some pumpkins. Then cut out some different shapes for eyes, noses and mouths using the black (or again, whatever colors you want to use for your pumpkins!).

Then using the green cut a little stem for the top of the pumpkin. While you're at all this cutting, go ahead and cut some of the velcro into small strips.

Using the hot glue, attach the stem to the top of the pumpkin and let it dry while you get on with the next task.

Now glue all of those velcro pieces onto the cut outs of the eyes noses and mouths. 

And VIOLA! Once all the glue is dry it's all done and ready for it's face!

or this...

And your kids will love putting all the different shapes on the pumpkin to make different faces!

And there you have it, a really incredibly easy, super frugal craft your kids are going to have so much fun with for Halloween!

Have fun! ~ Miranda

DIY Spotted Puppy Halloween Costume

Part one on '2 Moms and a Blog' special Halloween series! 
*NO SEWING MACHINE REQUIRED*

Post courtesy of Little Man and Me (www.littlemanandme2.blogspot.com)

Halloween of 2010 my son was only 1 and it was difficult finding a cute little Halloween costume for him that wouldn't break the bank. I also didn't want something that would just be worn once and tossed away. So I came up with the Spotted Puppy Costume! In all it cost around $10 bucks. $8 for the hoodie and $2 for the felt. We had the other supplies on hand. It was really super simple. Considering that I have ZERO sewing skills and if possible much less patience. It was quick, inexpensive and super cute. And 2 years later my son still has the costume and wears it around the house! Here is how me and my husband together made this costume...

You will need an over-sized hoodie, felt squares in coordinating colors, needle, thread, scissors and fabric glue.

Step 1) Cut off the arms of the hoodie at shoulder seams (save them, you'll need them!).

 

Step 2) Cut different sized circles out of the felt squares (save the scrap felt, you'll need it!).

Step 3) Using the left over pieces from one of the arms of the hoodie, trace and cut out 4 puppy dog ears.

Step 4) Take two of the pieces of ears you just cut out and sew them together leaving the bottom open. Then stuff them using some of the left over felt scraps and sew to the hood of the jacket.

Step 5) Glue the felt circles onto the jacket to make spots. 

Step 6) Roll up the other arm sleeve and attach to the jacket as the tail of the puppy.

The results:

Absolutely adorable! When I took him to a Halloween festival that weekend we got so many compliments on the costume. It was simple, not over the top for a child his age and he was comfortable. The possibilities are endless with the over-sized hoodie idea. So keep an eye on the blog for more ideas to come soon! And be sure to check back for more in our special series of posts leading up to Halloween! 

~ Miranda