DIY Halloween: Simply Tinkerbell

tinker bell apron dress © creativebleed

My favorite holiday, Halloween is just a few days away! This year my little requested Tinker Bell. She has been talking about Halloween and being Tinker Bell for the last 2 months. So Saturday morning she finally got to wear her costume to the Downtown Halloween Carnival. Although it was tempting to just pick-up a Tinker Bell costume for $20 at the store and be done with it. I of course decided to bust out the sewing machine and make one myself. This isn't to save money or because I necessarily love to sew but because I love Halloween and I adore homemade costumes. Even if it something popular like Tinker Bell.

tinker bell apron dress © creativebleed

Sewing is not my strong suit and patterns are expensive, so I decided to construct my own. Of course I don't have a tutorial for you (I am just bragging). But I will share my thought process, because this is a rather simple costume construction.

Using my daughter's existing cooking apron as a template for the top I used a chartreuse shimmer flannel from JoAnns (I choose this fabric solely because of it's color and glitter). For the bottom I was inspired by this tinker bell apron skirt by the diy mommy, which makes up the bottom portion of the apron. I shortened the apron an inch or two at the bottom, then added a layer of tulle to the bottom seam. Then I sewed the leaf skirt on top of the lower half of the apron. I used shimmer tulle at the bottom of the apron and also for the apron string. The apron is adjustable and ties in a nice big bow at her waist which acts as her "wings" (since she won't wear wings).

tinker bell ballet slippers © creativebleed

My favorite is the shoes. I just used ballet slippers from Target ($7) and spray painted them with some leftover green glitter paint I had in the studio. I topped them with the biggest white pom poms I could find. (I probably should of went a size down, but I like to exaggerate).

It is a simple costume to make that only took a few hours in two evenings and that included an hour of  troubleshooting my machine. Although I purchased WAY more fabric then I needed, with the shoes it still cost me around $20. It was definitely cost effective but mostly fun to do! K

I love Halloween costumes, please share yours with me via instagram or twitter @creativebleed

For more Halloween Costumes:

Checkout these fun homemade halloween costumes!

See last year's Halloween post here.

Busy Bees

bee house © creativebleed

Back in April we got a bee house from the scouts at the Sunol Wildflower Festival. At the booth they showed us how to make a bee house with a few simple materials. The bee houses are for native bees, not honey bees. These bees are solitary and rarely sting (if they even have the capability to sting at all). The bees don’t actually reside inside the box they nest in them. They lay their eggs in the small holes and then seal the hole up with leaves.  Bee houses are nice to have in a garden because native bees are great little pollinators.

making a bee box © creativebleed

Skeptical, we took our bee house home from the festival thinking it would be more decoration then anything, like a bird house. I painted the house pink before finding a spot for it on the fence between some star jasmine and boysenberries. The house has been up for about two months now and several of the holes have actually been filled. Surprise, surprise what busy little bees.

filled in bee box © creativebleedFor more information on native bees check out this article.
To make a similar bee hotel check out this tutorial.

Pipe Table

Rusted pipe table at Alameda Point

Back in February we spotted this table at the Point. It was exactly what we were looking for our outdoor dining area. Of course at Point prices this was out of our reach but we felt we could tackle this one on our own. So earlier this summer we got to work making one. We started by scouting out materials and coming up with a plan based on the height of the chairs we had and the space the table would live in.

 © creativebleed

The result became a 10 ft in length custom table and a new windshield. We started by gathering used galvanized pipe from Urban Ore in Berkeley. Then headed over to Lowes to have the pipe cut to the dimensions we needed and purchased new fittings. Next we assembled the frame, by basically attaching the fittings to the pipes.

Frame made from salvaged galvanized pipe and new fittings © creativebleed

Once the frame was assembled we used salvaged redwood from Oakland's ReUse Store and assembled the top. This is were my windshield broke. Turns out the boards were just a bit too long for the car.

Table completed frame close-up © creativebleed

Using two supporting panels that go over the pipe, the redwood was then nailed to the tops to complete the table. And wha la we have a table customized to the length of the space and height of the chairs.

Table top close-up © creativebleed

This is not a cheap DIY project, it can be an investment depending on the source of materials and size of the table. We saved big bucks using salvaged pipe and redwood. The biggest expense was the new windshield, but that included, it was still a fraction of what a table this size would retail for. And yes we have been enjoying it all summer long! k