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DIY Suffragette Picket Signs

August 26, 2020

*This Post Contains Affiliate Links*

Good morning, dear readers, and welcome to the 100th anniversary of the of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! That’s right: Women have officially been able to vote in the U.S.A. for one hundred years! While this is something to celebrate, we should not forget that our sisters of color still faced many unjust hurdles in claiming their equal rights.

Historical Photo Collage 3
Top Left: Nine Afro-American women posed, standing, full length, with Nannie Burroughs (Library of Congress), Bottom Left: Suffragists in San Francisco, 1915, Right: Josephine Bennett and daughters Frances and Katherine. Hartford, ca. 1916 (Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association, State Archives, Connecticut State Library)

 

One hundred years sounds like a long time ago. But is it, in the scheme of things? As I pored over these inspiring images of our brave fore-mothers, I wanted my girls and I to join them. In fact, our children are about to embark on a study of U.S. History. What better way to start the school year than by staging our own suffrage parade? However, we were going to need more than just costumes. I mean, just look at these amazing photographs of real suffragettes! Clearly, we needed some picket signs…

Historical Photo Collage 1
Top Left: (Library of Congress), Top Right, American Suffragette, circa 1920 (APA/Getty Images), Bottom Left: Margaret Vale Howe, a participant in the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., March 1913 (Library of Congress), Bottom Right: British Suffragettes.

…So, I made some! Here is a sneak peek of the finished results. I thought it would be interesting to do a side by side comparison with a black and white version; for old times’ sake. *Ba-dum-ching* Anyway, read on to see how you, too, can join the march with your very own suffragette picket signs!

Sign Collage 13

I wanted something lightweight and durable for the board part of the sign. So, I snapped up two of these seasonal, hardboard signs at the Dollar Tree. I planned to use their plain backs as the fronts of our signs. Next, I went to the hardware store and bought two, 3/4″ x 3/4″ x 36″ wooden stakes for the sign handles.

Sign Collage 1

Once I got everything home, I removed the price stickers which, of course, didn’t want to come off. They left a sticky residue on what I intended to make the front of the sign. This would never do! Fortunately, rubbing alcohol removed the gunk.

Sign Collage 2

Even though the colorful parts of the signs would be painted over and turned to the back, I decided to try to remove some of the glitter on the lettering. This handy sanding block was very comfortable to use. It did a good job of getting rid of most of the glitter.

Sign Collage 3

Now, it was time to paint! And, wouldn’t you know it, but it was pretty much the hottest day of the year. (It’s basically a rule that I only spray paint when it’s either below freezing or broiling.) So, it was obviously not an ideal temperature for spray painting, but what’s a girl to do? Soldier on like a suffragette, of course! I got Rust-Oleum Universal All Surface Paint in Satin White and the companion Clear Topcoat in Dead Flat.

Sign Collage 4

I spread out some newspapers, in the backyard, and weighted the corners with rocks. Then, I sprayed both signs, starting with the colorful sides that were to become the backs. Once those had thoroughly dried, I sprayed the plain sides, which I intended to make the new fronts of our signs. This took a lot more paint than I thought, so I ended up having to finish with some old, white spray paint I found in the basement. It ended up spraying in tiny globules, which gave the sign a grainy texture. This would be a disaster for some projects, but I decided that this just gave the signs some character.

Sign Collage 5

After everything dried, I moved on to the lettering. I am not one of those fancy, hand-lettering people! The idea of free-hand painting “Votes for Women” on these signs intimidated me. *SO* I decided to measure everything and use stickers and glue.

Sign Collage 6

This ended up being quite time-consuming!

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Using my trusty T-Square and some masking tape, I figured out the center-line and line spacing marks I would use for the letter placements.

Sign Collage 7

Then, I lay the T-Square across the sign as a straight-edge rule to guide my “lettering”. I placed the middle letter of each word, first. This was the “T” in “VOTES”, the “O” in “FOR”, and the “M” in “WOMEN”.

Sign Collage 8

Once I finished placing the stickers, I carefully removed the masking tape. In order to make the letters stay more permanently, I dabbed a little Fabri-Tac on a toothpick. Then, I gently lifted part of each letter sticker enough to spread a bit of glue to it, before pressing it firmly back to the sign.

Sign Collage 9

I let the glued letters dry overnight. In the morning, I centered the wooden handles on the backs of the signs and secured them with masking tape. Then, I used two, short, wire nails to attach the signs to the handles. I paused in hammering when the nail head got close to the freshly painted surface. To protect it, I put a bit of masking tape on the nail head before driving it home.

Sign Collage 14

A quick top-coat spray finished the job!

Sign Collage 11

And, there you have it! These suffragette signs are easy to make, and would be perfect additions to a Halloween costume or a school project. I look forward to sharing how I made our sashes and assembled our costumes in future posts. Until then, Friends!

Sign Collage 12

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DIY Manta Ray Hoodie Costume Photo Shoot

August 16, 2020

Hello, costume friends! In my last post, I shared how to make this DIY Manta Ray Hoodie Costume. Hours of photo editing later, I am sooo excited to share our Lake Chelan photo shoot of the finished costume!

Ray Costume Collage

So, take a stroll down the dock with us!

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 1

When taking photos of our kids, I’ve learned that it helps to let them “play” a bit. This allows them to relax and get accustomed to the feel of the costumes. Of course, sometimes we’re really in a time crunch and this is harder to do!

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 2

It was a treat to just follow Elliott around and spend time seeing the world through his eyes. Or, should I say, “Manta Man’s” eyes?

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This manta ray is catching some sun rays! I love how the light plays on the velvet “pile” of the hoodie material. Fabric selection is key when it comes to turning something ordinary into something extraordinary!

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To add to that, I don’t limit myself by age or gender categories when I’m thrifting for raw costuming materials. Was this hoodie in the boy’s section? Nope! I want to write more about this, in the future!

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Lake Chelan is a magical place. Especially at sunset!

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This picture reminds me of a ray leaping from the water! To see stunning footage of real rays leaping and even somersaulting through the air, click here.

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The “Queen Bee”. What a cute, little fishing boat!

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 3

Still water and a quiet moment with my oldest son.

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“Manta Man” is on lifeguard duty!

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Ready for take-off…

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Golden glow over golden hills, with my golden-haired boy.

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Duckies!

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We decided it was probably best not to actually swim in his costume…

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 11

With the sun continuing to set, it was time to head back.

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 12

It’s hard to say “Good-bye” to the lake after such a gorgeous day!…

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…

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Isn’t he angelic? Could there possibly be any bloopers from this photo shoot?

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Of course!…

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…

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Until next time, lovely lake!

Ray Photo Shoot Collage 5

“Jump!”

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To see how I made this costume, please click below for the detailed tutorial:

  • DIY Manta Ray Hoodie Costume

Until next time, friends!

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DIY Manta Ray Hoodie Costume

August 10, 2020

Wanna wow your kid? Take a humble hoodie (or a fancy velvet one) and convert it into a wearable, costume version of their favorite critter! This is especially fun if their “spirit animal” is a bit obscure.

Ray Costume Collage

For example, our second-born, Elliott, (superhero alias “Manta Man”) has loved sting rays of all sorts for several years. Here he was as a newly-minted seven-year-old at Lake Chelan. What a cutie! I mean, cool dude. (“Cool” is the new “cute” when you are a grown man of seven.)

Elliott Ray Collage

I really wanted to make Elliott a special costume to celebrate his seventh birthday and his deep, deep love for rays. So, I went to Goodwill in search of inspiration and raw materials. As usual, it did not disappoint!

Ray Hoodie Collage 1

I couldn’t believe my luck in finding this magical, teal blue hoodie in stretch velour. Its crushed, multi-directional “pile” gives the material incredible softness and sheen. (Which is also why it photographs so differently in nearly every shot!)

Ray Hoodie Collage 2

First of all, I had “Manta Man” try on the hoodie. I was glad to see that it was a bit big. I was pretty sure I could open the sleeves to convert them into the ray’s pectoral fins. It took some examining and brainstorming, but I figured it out! To widen the sleeve, I cut it straight up from the underarm seam to the top of the shoulder, careful to only snip through the top layer of the sleeve.

Ray Sleeve Collage 1

Then, I smoothed the sleeve perfectly flat and pinned it along its underarm seam. Stabilizing it in this way allowed me to easily slide the scissors down the top of the sleeve, snipping it open as I went.

Ray Sleeve 2

One sleeve open!

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Next, I repeated this process to open up the right sleeve. I checked the shoulder measurement to my first cut on the left sleeve, so that both sleeves would match. Then, I pinned the right sleeve and cut it open. (Please excuse my jankity eczema fingernails. It took getting a low-dose steroid shot in my derriere to finally help me get on top of my crazy hand problems. GAME CHANGER. 10/10 would recommend!)

Ray Sleeve Collage 3

At this point, I asked “Manta Man” to check my progress!

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Things were looking good, so I asked to borrow his stuffed manta ray to help me visualize how to fashion the sleeves into sweeping, curved fins.

Ray Toy Collage 1

Of course, I could have just done an internet search for manta rays, but nothing beats having a 3D object to study and manipulate!

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Before shaping the sleeves, I decided to remove the ribbed cuffs and use them to create “handles” inside the fins. This would allow Elliott to hold onto them from the inside and keep the fins stretched out.

Ray Sleeve Collage 4

Snip, snip! This knit material doesn’t ravel, so I didn’t worry about hemming the sleeve edges.

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Before plotting the sleeve cuts, I folded the hoodie precisely in half, lengthwise, so that I could cut both sides at once.

Ray Sleeve Collage 5

To achieve the desired shape, I trimmed a an angled bit off the top of the sleeve and a larger wedge from the bottom. Then, I flipped the larger wedge 180° to re-attach it to the base of the fin. This would widen it and augment the curved shape.

Ray Sleeve Collage 6

A quick seam in zig-zag stitch did the trick.

Ray Sleeve Collage 7

Okay! Back to those hand straps. As you can see, I jumped around a bit on this project. (That’s what happens when I’m making something up as I go along!)

Ray Sleeve Collage 8

I only needed one of the ribbed cuffs to make both hand straps. First, I cut it in half and zig-zag stitched each side to the wrong side of the sleeves. (The last, bottom-right image shows the stitching from the right side of the finished costume. It’s barely noticeable.)

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Time to make the ray’s white belly! I found the exact middle of the hoodie, lay it on top of some white polar fleece, and pinned it at the top and bottom of this center line. Then, I spread out my newly-created left fin and cut the fleece to match its shape.

Ray Sleeve Collage 8

 

I transferred the center line pins from the hoodie to just the fleece. Then, I folded it in half to cut around it and make the right fin.

Ray Sleeve Collage 9

To attach the belly to the hoodie, I pinned the right side of the fleece, down the top edge of the fins, to the back side of the hoodie. Then, I did the same along the bottom edge of the fins and stitched.

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To put the belly back to the front of the costume, I pulled the fleece panel over the top of the hoodie, which turned the seams neatly into the inside.

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Now, it was time to attach the bottom sides of fins to the sides of the hoodie and then to the belly.

Ray Sleeve Collage 11

Here are some images of the finished fins, to give more views of how they were pieced together. It’s a bit hard to explain! There’s a bit of puckering along the side seams, but I decided it wasn’t noticeable enough to re-do them.

Ray Sleeve Collage 9

Now that the fleece was flipped to the right side, I turned over and pinned its raw edges at top and bottom. Then, I asked “Manta Man” to model it to make sure that everything looked good.

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After verifying that the fabric layers were smooth, I zig-zag stitched across the top edge and bottom hem of the fleece belly panel.

Ray Front Pin Collage

But, of course, not before Eliza “helped” me with some of the pinning!

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With the main body of the ray complete, I could turn my attention to the distinctive add-on pieces. Check out this blue, stretch velour I happened to have in my stash! I still remember finding it at a yard sale, way back when Emma and Elliott still rode in our double stroller. Bonus surprise piece of purple velvet rolled inside? Yes, please! *Sets it aside for a future project.*

Ray Fabric Collage

This is the point where I would normally make a paper pattern/mock-up for the tail. However, I decided to just fold a bit of the material in half and eyeball it! (I’m trying not to second-guess myself, so much.) I re-folded the tail, lengthwise, with wrong sides together. Then, I zig-zag stitched down its length, leaving the top open.

Tail Collage 1

I turned the tail right side out and stitched it to the base of the hem, on the back of the hoodie.

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Now it was time to tackle the part of the project that intimidated me the most: Creating those alien-like cephalic lobes protruding from the ray’s head. (And, yes. I had to look up what they are called!) Fortunately, Elliott had more ray toys to guide my design process.

Ray Toy Collage 2

There was no way I was going to “wing it”, as I did for the tail. This was going to take a bit more experimentation. I lay the hood of the hoodie on a piece of printer paper and traced around its edges. Then, I sketched a series of lobe shapes to test and compare as potential pattern pieces.

Ray Head Collage 1

At this point, if you feel like this array of shapes is kind of awkward-looking and you want to giggle…You are not alone. *Ahem*.

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Moving right along…I settled on using the smallest shape. As ever, my faithful apprentice, Eliza, created her own “pattern pieces”, alongside me.

Ray Head Collage 2

Next, I traced my pattern piece of choice onto a folded piece of paper to generate two of them. I figured out how long I wanted the lobes to be, and generated another set of pattern pieces that would have curved bases. (These would be the interior, white part of the lobes.) These curved lobe bases were designed to be attached to an elongated oval shape that would lie across the top of the head.

Ray Head Collage 3

It always feels so good to be done with creating pattern pieces! I used them to cut two exterior lobe pieces out of the blue velour, one center piece, and two interior lobe pieces from scraps of the white polar fleece.

Ray Head Collage 5

I recently replaced the foam pad on my ironing board and saved the old one for such a time as this! (“This” being the need for some padding/stiffening in costume pieces.)

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So, I cut another set of all of my pattern pieces out of this thin foam. Then, I zig-zag stitched a foam piece to the wrong side of each of the corresponding fabric pieces.

Ray Head Collage 6

This anchored each of the fabric and foam pieces together, before stitching the cephalic lobe sections together.

Ray Head Collage 7

Placing right sides of the fabric together, I pinned and stitched the blue, outer lobes to the white, inner lobe pieces.

Ray Head Collage 8

Then, I turned the lobes right side out and stitched the white interior to the white center piece.

Ray Head Collage 9

Ray Head Collage 10

To help the lobes stand more upright on top of the head, I decided to enhance the curve at the base of the white, interior lobes, where the seams join them to the oval, center piece. Stitching this tuck in the material pulled the lobes upward.

Ray Head Collage 11

If you’re still reading, congratulations! You’ve made it to the final step! I hand stitched the assembled cephalic lobe piece to the hood of the hoodie by turning the raw edges under and catching it with small, “invisible hem” stitches.

Ray Head Collage 12

To do this, I pinned the front edge of the cephalic lobes piece to the front edge of the hood. As I went around the base of each lobe, I continually checked and adjusted the hood material so that the protruding pieces would look even on either side of Elliott’s head.

Ray Head Collage 13

Eliza helped me with this step by pulling the needle through after I inserted each stitch.

Ray Head Collage 14

Sooo close! I used a measuring tape to check the placement of each lobe piece for side-to-side symmetry. Additional stitches down the white, interior seam of the lobes helped them to stand even more upright.

Ray Head Collage 15

And that, my friends, is IT!!! Here’s a sneak preview of one of the pictures I took of Elliott…I mean…”Manta Man”, wearing his brand new manta ray costume! I will share more images from our Lake Chelan photo shoot in my next post. Bye for now!

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April Showers Bring May Flowers – Part 2

July 28, 2020

Alrighty, folks! For whatever reason (let’s blame covid19), this post has been months in the making. As you know, I love history, culture, and clothes. It’s a blast to put it all together and re-imagine our family in another time.

Oliver Collage 1

With our 1958 home, and our large family, it’s not too much of a stretch to put ourselves back into the 1960s. So, here we go!

Annika Collage 1

As ever, I dressed the kids first, and was scrambling to get myself ready when Nana Karen, our amazing photographer, and Papa arrived. In the interim, the kids put on a show on the patio, and Karen took some cute candids.

Castle Collage 1

What do you do while you wait for the rest of the family to get picture perfect?

Dance Collage 4

You tango, of course!

Dance Collage 3

Finally all in one place! Oh, Eliza. It really is too much to ask for five small children to all look at the camera at the same time. This is as good as it gets, as you will see from the bloopers I will share at the end of this post!

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I don’t even mind. Their cute, little expressions are so authentic to their personalities. It can be stressful, in the moment, wondering if any of the pictures will be usable. However, it always works out, and it’s sure entertaining to go through the images and have a laugh.

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Speaking of laughing…Eliza’s well of private amusement never runs dry.

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I wish I knew her “inner monologue”.

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My little koala bear.

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Three sisters.

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This was Annika’s best photo shoot, ever! She is usually NOT in the mood.

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Maybe it’s the clothes! There’s just something about those bright, optimistic, ’60s colors.

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Speaking of bright colors, can we just stop for a moment and acknowledge the beauty of the bright pink rhododendrons? *Makes a mental note to memorize the spelling of our state flower.*

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Emma with the “Plant Pet” she made in my last post.

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Two brothers. They look like little princes!

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Except, maybe a bit too mischievous.

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I should dress them like this, more often! Vintage children’s clothing is much shorter than contemporary fashions. Why have I been covering their cute little legs all this time?

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The mister and me. These glasses “age” us a bit, but they really solidify the look!

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Shout-out to my sister, Sarah, for Photo Shopping some of my, er, “wardrobe malfunctions”. Can’t take me anywhere!

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I can hardly believe that we’ve nearly been married for ten years. Then, I look at our kids and think, “How has it only been TEN YEARS?”.

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We squeezed in a couple more pictures in the front yard, since I love my May “purple garden”.

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This flower bed is a sea of purple, with lupines, iris, and chives blossoms.

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Well, here’s a final look at all of our outfits (except Jeff’s):

1960s Individual Collage

And, our last photo all together. I felt awkward standing there without a baby in my arms!

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What would a Heminger Family Photo Shoot be without the bloopers? I spend just as much time putting these together as I do the “good” photos…So, enjoy!

“Huh?’IMG_6810 Blooper Collage

Annika is starting to give Eliza a run for her money in the goofy faces department…

Annika Collage

…But Eliza is still the QUEEN.

Eliza Blooper Collage

Their powers combined are formidable.

IMG_6873 Blooper Collage

Smile ’til it hurts!

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Interpretive bench dance? “Here is your order, sir”? I don’t know what this is, but Annika is dishing up something, here!

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In this picture, we find out what she was serving, and it’s pure sass.

IMG_6880 Blooper Collage

This might be the bloopinest blooper of them all. (From this shoot, anyway!) We were only a few pictures in, and Eliza was all ready to “peace out”.

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What happens after a photo shoot? Well, everyone is on a sugar high from all the M&M bribes, I mean *rewards* … Anyways…We live right in the heart of town where lots of Jeff’s extended family also resides. So, it was fun, but no surprise that Auntie Lynn happened to drive by and stop with Sophie. PUPPY!!!

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I tried to get some cute candids of Annika, but they all look like this!

Annika Collage

I couldn’t even get a picture of the boys, if that gives you an idea of how hyper everyone was.

Running Collage

“Okay, Mom. We’re done!”

Piggyback Collage

For past posts on how I prepared for this shoot:

  • 1960s Family Outfits and Set Prep

  • 1960s Costume Prep

  • April Showers Bring May Flowers – Part 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1960s Family Outfits and Set Prep

June 23, 2020

Hello, costume friends! As promised, here are some collage images of all of our family costumes. (I will share the pictures from our 1960s Family Photo shoot very soon!)

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A preliminary line-up of potential outfits. Sometimes I stage things on the shower rod!

Jeff’s outfit consisted of items already in his closet, including a tie that used to his grandfather’s and borrowed vintage glasses.

Jeff Outfit Collage 1960s

My ensemble included a vintage dress and shoes from the thrift store, a fabulous floral coat I got for free when a local theatre group disbanded, borrowed glasses, and a hat Jeff’s grandmother loaned me from her collection.

1960s Mom Outfit Collage

Emma wore a hand-me-down dress and a thrifted blouse and shoes. (She wore these white Mary Janes in The Sound of Music, last summer, when she played the role of Marta von Trapp.) A home-made headband, ribbon bow, and white knee socks finished her look.

Emma Outfit Collage

All of Elliott’s costume pieces were thrifted, except for the socks and bow tie. He and Oliver wore their matching bow ties in my younger sister’s wedding, last year!

Elliott Outfit Collage

Eliza’s outfit pieces were sourced the same as Emma’s. We’ve gotten lots of use from these white knee socks! I originally purchased a set for Elliott to wear with his knee britches during the party scene in The Nutcracker. Since then, I’ve bought another set in a larger size, too. They work great and stay up!

Eliza Collage

All of Oliver’s articles of clothing were thrifted except for the shorts-overalls, the bow tie,  and the socks. The bright colors of the boys’ blazers convinced me to put the girls in similar colors. I was going to go a more pastel route, but changed my mind!

Oliver Outfit Collage 2

How cute is Annika’s vintage coat and dress set? I couldn’t believe my luck when I found it at Goodwill. (They tend to hoard all their vintage items until Halloween.)

Annika Outfit Collage

We already owned the rest of her costume pieces.

Annika Tag Collage

As you can see, Annika’s dress and coat were size three, and she was about to turn three when we took these pictures. However, vintage sizes are often smaller than contemporary ones, and Annika is tall for her age! The dress was much too short.

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Fortunately, the dress had a deep hem. I took a seam ripper to the stitches, exposing a raw edge. I serged it before giving the dress a new, very narrow hem with blind stitches.

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Now that we’ve covered the outfits, I’ll show you how I prepared a cute photo location in our own yard! Those of you who know me know how much I love gardening! This other passion of mine will creep into some of my blog posts. I hope you will bear with me, because many of my projects are inspired by what is in bloom!

Plant Pet Planters Collage

At the beginning of spring, I rounded up some thrifted animal planters and gave them to the kids. We planted bluebell bulbs from my mom into each planter.

Plant Pet Spring Collage

They became their plant pets! The kids get a kick out of seeing them by our front door and watering them. (We don’t own any other kind of pets, and I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible!)

Emma Plant Pet Collage

Once the bulb blooms faded, we decided to plant them in the garden and replace them with flowers that would last all summer.

Flower Planting Collage 1

The kids told me that they wanted marigolds, snapdragons, and violas. (They know their flowers!)

Flower Planting Collage 2

I took a lot of pictures of them planting. This is because this project was part of their gardening class that they were taking from me.

Flower Planting Collage 3

Elliott’s planter actually came from eBay, since an animal planter that he would like never surfaced during several months of thrifting excursions.

Flower Planting Collage 4

Eliza, of course, chose a red snapdragon, among her flowers!

Flower Planting Collage 5

Oliver was torn between wanting to be a part of this, while also objecting to how long it took. Life is hard when you are four years old and have ants in your pants.

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Here are the finished plant pets! Well, I’d better start preparing my post with the promised, 1960s family photos. Thanks for sticking with me as I outlined all that went into the outfits and the photo location!

 

 

 

 

 

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