DIY American Girl Halloween Outfits: Witch Costume & Candy Corn Dress

Ever since my daughter got her American Girl Doll she's been begging for all the accessories.  I made Miss Rebecca a DIY doll bed and even some matching bedding, but with Halloween around the corner, my daughter has been asking for a few outfits.

For one, she wants them to have matching Halloween costumes.  Fortunately, my daughter wants to wear the witch costume my mom made me when I was her age - so put a big ol' check next to that  because I don't have to do anything but show up with some green face paint. Since I figured my mom did all the work on that one, I agreed to make her American Doll a matching witch costume.

DIY M&M Halloween Costume with Matching Hair Bows

A few Halloweens back my then-two year old daughter wanted to be an orange M&M. (This was a definite nod to her potty training incentive.) I whipped up a little costume for her - complete with M&M hair bows and it was adorable and very easy to make.   I'll try to explain as best as I can without my usual step-by-step photos to go along with what I'm talking about.

Supply list: 

• 2 Yards of fabric in your choice of M&M colors
• A quarter yard of white felt or two felt pieces 
• Spray adhesive (If your felt is not self-adhesive.  I recommend not using the self-adhesive felt.)
• Sewing machine
• Coordinating thread
• Fiber Stuffing

Start by cutting out four circles.  They should all be the same size.  I made mine 20" in diameter...but feel free to adjust smaller or large depending on the age and size of your child (or yourself...hehe).

Once you have all four circles cut out, cut two strips about 9" long and 2.5" wide.  These will be the shoulder straps.  Fold each strip in half longways so it's now about 1.25" wide.  Sew together the two edges and flip the strap right side out so the seam is on the inside.   Repeat on the other strap.  Leave the straps to the side for now.

DIY Bathing Suit Cover Up for Girls (from a beach towel)

If you're looking to make a cute DIY bathing suit cover up for a little girl - you're in luck.  I have an easy tutorial on how to make a bathing suit cover up out of a full size beach towel.  The beauty of this cover up is that it doubles as a towel so no more towel taking over the beach or pool bag and no more towels falling off or dragging on the ground.

Here's what you're going to do:

Lay your beach towel out in front of you with one of the long edges in front of you. Working on one of the short sides, cut right next to the seam so the seam is included in what you cut.  Keep the piece you just cut off - you're going to use it later.

DIY leg warmers from a sweater for kids or adults

I may be a child of the 80's, but that doesn't mean I keep leg warmers around these days.  So when we were recently invited to an 80's party for a friend I knew I needed to make leg warmers to complete my 80's outfit.  I was short on time, so I looked around my closet (thankfully all I found was the leggings and the pink tank top) and the thrift store and pulled together this 80's outfit complete with DIY leg warmers.  


PS: All I have to say is thank GOD it's not the 80's any more! 

How to hem jeans with original hem without cutting

So you're wondering how to hem jeans without cutting them, but you still want to use the original hem?  Fear not - DIY jean hemming is actually much simpler than it sounds. 

Take it from me Miss Shorty Pants who needs to hem nearly ev-e-ry-thing!  In just 6 easy steps you'll have this done in no time and you'll be pounding your hand to head over why you ever spent money on having your jeans hemmed by a pro.

Okay, so here goes..

1. Decide how much you need to hem your jeans by trying them on and marking with a pin where you want the new hem to be.