{crafts} Toddler Super Hero Cape

I have found a cute craft to try out. My little one is ready for some dress-up fun and I thought this might be cute:

Here you have it, the most popular, free sewing pattern for superhero capes on the internet.

http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

{a thought for Thursday} Point of view

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.”  ― John le Carré

{read: vet fiction} The Call by Yannick Murphy

Somewhere I saw this book blurbed as "not your father's James Herriot," and I definitely agree. This is written in the first-person style of a vet's log book ("the call," "the action," "the results") and also has some other categories like "what I thought about on the way home" and "what the wife made for dinner." Although the style could be limiting, Murphy brings to life the New England landscape, farms, people, and animals. The story follows the vet as he tries to find out who shot his son in the shoulder while they were hunting, causing him to fall from his tree stand, land on his head, and end up in a coma. The police have no leads, so the vet starts to ask around. It's a small town, and he's convinced that someone knows who shot his son. He begins to suspect some of his clients and makes up reasons to visit them so that he can think of incriminating questions to ask them. In the meantime, part of his past is coming back to lay its hands on his present, and he'll have to make a difficult decision.

Murphy's characters are finely drawn and her language is crisp and clear. This is a quick and engaging read. It's the first book of hers that I've read, but I'd love to pick up another one.

If you like this one book, check out Murphy's blog from September that's posted at Powell's books. It's written in the same style.

The Call by Yannick Murphy (Harper Perennial, 2011)
My rating: 4 stars

{crafts} Owl Halloween Costume

Happy Halloween! Here is the full tutorial of the crafted Toddler Halloween Owl Costume.

My 22 month old son loves this adorable Twinkle Twinkle Little Star video on youtube.

He watches it over and over and sings along. It has a cute little owl singing to a star. The owl is his favorite character, so I decided he should dress up as him for Halloween.

To start the project I am crocheting an owl hat. I figured this would work best because he would never wear any kind of mask, but he may keep a hat on. This project will be posted in

steps, the base of the hat will be the first step.

I found this very clear tutorial and was able to make the base of the hat in just a few hours:

Art of Crochet by Teresa - Baby Crochet Cap with Earflap Option -

After creating the base, I then added the ear flaps, colored trim and the tassels. I am using this video by Brooke Till for the details, but I found the previous video to be a little bit easier to follow when it came to

the basic hat.

Here is my basic hat, ready for the facial details:

.

The next step in creating the owl hat is to create the eyes. I have used the brown and green to match the hat and added white for contrast. This was fairly easy to do because it follows the same pattern as beginning your hat. I now need to sew on the eyes and then move on to the beak and ears. Here is the video tutorial:

After creating the eyes, sew them on with a large needle. Following the video tutorial, sew on the beak. Then you will create the tassels for the ears using the same colors in the braided tassels hanging from the ear flaps. Here is the video tutorial:
Once you are done with the hat, we can move on to the body. I am going to use an old, long sleeved onsie. I found one that is the same color as the green in the hat. I put it on my son and marked where it will be tucked in, only on the front.

We are going to use the back flap of the onsie to create the tail. The next step will be to create the feathers. You will need dark brown fleece or felt, and tan fleece or felt. I got 1/2 yard of the dark brown

and 1/8 yard of the tan.

I created a template for the feathers. There are many different sizes on this template, so you can print and use what will suit your needs.

I started at the bottom of the onsie, using the larger sized feathers. I cut enough to fit around the front and back. I used a hot glue gun to attach them.

On the back, I filled the onsie flap with feathers to create the "tail" of the owl.

I worked my way up the front and back, gluing the feathers so that they overlapped each other. I made the feathers a bit smaller as they reached the top. This made the process longer, but the results were worth it. The change in size helped create a more realistic look. I used the lighter tan fabric for the belly. Here is a final image of my son in the costume, photos courtesy of Kit Abeldt.

I then took the photo and placed him into a screen shot of the Twinkle Twinkle video. I can't wait to see his reaction to this photo. My final step to the project was creating a star for him to carry around. He would not wear the hat at all leading up to this weekend. When the star was complete, he understood the costume and then would not take of the hat! Sometimes things just work out!

{a thought for Thursday} Anything can be!

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me ...  Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." -- Shel Silverstein

{wordless wednesday} Stand Back

{read: magical debut} The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book is imaginatively conceived, impeccably plotted, and elegantly written. The Night Circus is one of those books that makes you both happy and said when you're reading it. While you can't wait to find out what happens next, you're also dreading turning the last page.

The plot revolves around a "game" in which two illusionists train their students and pit them against each other. Yet the illusionists in question - in this case, Marco and Celia - don't know the rules of the game or its stakes. They start to find out what exactly they've become enmeshed in when they discover that one of the circus's performers was the winner of the game's last round.

Morgenstern explores the delicate interplay of love, trust, loyalty, responsibility, and consequences in this amazing first novel. While magic is part of the novel, it is the tool that the author uses to illuminate the characters and the relationships among them rather than the central showpiece of the story.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, 2011)
My rating: 5 stars