The 10th Doctor costume

My son settled on the 10th doctor and I have to say, it is a fitting costume.  He wanted me to dress as the TARDIS or a Dalek to go with him but I declined.  It was the easier of the two to create so I am grateful to him for being so thoughtful...he he.

I managed to get the shoes at the Converse outlet for $20 and other than the sonic screwdriver, they were the most expensive part of the costume.

The suit, shirt, and tie were thrift store purchases - $19 in total - and big enough that he can wear them for some upcoming conventions we are looking to attend.

I made the trench coat with some excess fabric I had in my collection.  It was a bit tricky since the only pattern I had was Simplicity 5386 (Adult Male, The Matrix knock off costume pattern) and I needed to seriously size it down.  On top of that, I had to literally create the collar and alter the neckline.  It doesn't lay as well as I would like but he loves it and the overall effect works.

The sonic screwdriver can be found at Barnes and Noble, on Amazon, and honestly, if you Google 10th doctor sonic screwdriver there are several results.

Thorin costume - part two

The armor was going to pose a challenge any way I sliced it so I started with it.  My sister gave me several of her old dresses a while ago - including her bridesmaid dress from my wedding which happens to be a navy blue iridescent two piece.  The top is a corset that zips up the back and fits my daughter just so when she wears her costume shirts beneath it.  It is plenty loose and thanks to a fantastic silver fabric pen it now looks like Thorin's armor.  Fortunately, she has two more layers so I didn't have to go all the way around the corset with the design!

Thorin costume part one

ea this costume could get so complicated -or expensive! Consequently, I had to make some adjustments.  I pulled from some old costumes and some scrap fabrics - as pictured below:

AdI wore this coat when I dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange. A few alterations and it will become the outer cloak.

Fur purchased at Joann Fabrics, faux leather from the coat and scrap black fleece.

The bridesmaid dress my sister wore in my wedding.  It will become the armor and under coat.

You can see I have my work cut out for me...more pics coming soon!!

Things we've learned...

It's been a while, I know and I feel guilty about it.  We moved, school started, I started working full time again, my daughter was playing football and crafting took a back burner...but we've still been busy.  So, some things we've learned in the last few months:

1. Not all laminate furniture can be repainted as we are two for three on the furniture repaints.  The desk and file cabinet came out fantastically but the bookshelf turned out so-so.  (Pictures will be posted soon)

2. While it is often said that women/girls change their minds frequently I would argue that boys can be just as (if not more) infuriating when arriving at a decision on Halloween costumes.  (Final decision: the 10th Doctor)

3.  No matter how awesome a costume idea is, the completion of the costumes can become pricey so be prepared to make some concessions.  (Just wait until you see the finished Thorin Oakenshield for my daughter).

4. There is this amazing site that I have just been introduced to that is my new guilty pleasure... Craftsy.  Say hello to patterns, online classes, and project ideas galore - some of the patterns are even FREE!

5. There are so many amazing ways to inexpensively decorate a home and bring a cohesive design out of next to nothing.  I will be do a breakdown of our new living room space though in many ways it is still a work in progress.

6.  You actually can have too many paper towel and toilet paper rolls for projects.  (I promise, we have two plastic drawers overflowing with blank ones and I have a dozen new figures on my craft table....from Dr. Who to a Dalek to some random "people" my kids created).

7.  The new show, Sleepy Hollow, is fantastic and I cannot wait until the kids are old enough to watch it because I LOVE the mythology involved!

8.  If there were a way to add more hours to a day, I would because there is never enough time to craft or write or just snuggle with my kids.  I do work very had to fit in that last one wherever and whenever I can.  Life is too short and they grow up too fast.

Stay tuned, we will have pictures soon...but I will be at a convention for work the next three days!

Our last sidewalk sale of the season = SALE

We will be in Grove City for our last Sidewalk Sale of the season and that means SALE for Kharmic Chaos!  If there is anything you are really interested in, now is the time to grab it up because there will be a lot of markdowns to make way for new inventory for the holiday season.  I am hoping to debut a few new pieces that I've been working on - at least the samples of some so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I want to unveil one of our remakes for the awesome Boho theme the kids and I have adopted for our new living room.

This is our desk, or well, it was our desk after we sanded and primed it.  It had been a dark espresso color but we were so excited to get started that we forgot before pictures!

Then we painted it and it turned out even more beautiful than we'd hoped!

We opted to line the drawer with a cool paper that the kids modge-podged in place and we sealed the top of the desk to protect it.  Our last little upgrade has not happened yet because we haven't found the right piece but we all agreed that the handle on the drawer needs to be replaced with something, well, more bohemian! It was not difficult at all and my daughter found the whole process especially enjoyable.  Since we were having so much fun and so much of our furniture is already old and or mismatched we opted to refinish a file cabinet too - again, we forgot the "before" picture so this will have to do for now:

The kids and I intend to replace the handles and we're going to use fabric or some cool paper for the drawers to make it look even cooler!  The room is really coming together and the kids and I are very comfortable in our new digs.

We will keep adding new updates because we are doing a lot of pieces and working on ways to make the most of our limited space.  Our situation continues to improve, it always will because I will keep working at it, keep moving forward - onward and upward!

busy, busy, busy

I have two kids bearing down on me about their Halloween costumes.  Kid you not.  They are mad about Halloween (I simply cannot imagine where they get that from!) and they are particularly excited for this year as they have picked outstanding costumes.  Outstanding for SO many reasons to be certain.  My daughter has selected Thorin Oakenshield and my son has selected Legolas.  Now, once I get beyond my pride over their love for all things Tolkien, I began to break down what these costume selections would mean.  Work, work, and MORE work.  While I am excited to begin these feats I wonder how I am going to make them happen.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce my new coffee clutch - this is a team clutch for the local team but I have so many different options and am excited to show them off!

M.I.A.

Yes, we've been absent.  It's been a busy several weeks.  The kids and I moved to a new place and it is a lot more difficult doing it by yourself.  Thankfully, my brother was able to help or it would have been impossible to move with the two kids.  Just another thing I need to learn to navigate as a single parent.  Thankfully, this has allowed me to be extra creative as we set up the new place.  I have to say, we are just about finished and we have some amazing things to show off!  While there is still more to do - there is always more to do! - we have settled a lot of things out and we have stacks of wonderful new things!

So, it is sad that we've been gone for so long but we have been ever so busy and really quite productive.  Some things we'll be posting soon:

Re-purposed shelving
Our new "couch"
Costumes!!
Art wall
Window dressings

Stay tuned!