ERMAHGERD HALERWEEN

I laugh out loud any time I see an ER MAH GERD meme.... Actually I laughing now just thinking about them 
Anyway! Seriously - it's coming up really fast - we have a our annual party next weekend and I haven't really done much to prepare yet..unless pinning counts. I also have not started the kids costumes, so I guess that's what this weekend will be about. Are you dressing up? Or dressing your kids up?

This years we are having a story book/fairy tale theme. It's always exciting to see the costumes people come up with! Here is some of our inspiration.

source/source/source/source

> Jessi 

Abel's Pirate Party: Portholes

I whipped these up before Abe's Party using blue bristol board and dollar store paint! I think painting the little gold rivets really made them look cool. Scott likes them so much he said "Maybe we can just leave them up all the time?"

>Cassie

Gone Fishing

Here is a fun quick project I cooked up for a couple of youngn's birthdays.

DIY Fishing Game:

-knit fish using this pattern

- seam together and stuff bodies ( I didn't bother stuffing the tails)

- with yarn sew on a nut to the mouth area of each fish (this was a happy mistake, I had planned to put them on the inside, but the magnet couldn't pick it up -  so it worked out well since it kind of looks like a fish mouth!) 

- Tie a length of twine to a wooden dowl

-Glue two magnets together on either side of the twine

and voila! 
This is a great way to use of some of those yarn scraps

Happy Fishing :)

>  Jessi

Spring Sewing

On Tuesday I packed up my sewing machine and headed to Mandi's for an afternoon of kid free sewing. Here are my two finished projects - Unlike most things I make I will wear these! (I  am sporting the stripped on today!) Here's the link to the free pattern

 > Jessi

Fun With Glitter > A Hunger Games DIY

I am finally getting got up here - this weekend was crazy nice weather! Last week's craft material on Craftyminx was glitter - so I enlisted some little helpers to help me make Kaitlyn a Hunger Games inspired hair clip to wear to the movie- we'll call it our Girl on Fire Hair Comb.

Simple to make - with kinda ridiculous results...I probably should have shrunk it in size - but she plans on sporting it to the movie when she goes!

 Step 1: cut 2 layers of flames out of foam

Step 2: Add glitter, starting with blue at the base and shades of gold and red for the rest

Step 3: Let Dry, and then hot glue to a hair comb

Step 5: Give it to an 11 year old who thinks its more fab then ridiculous!

 > Jessi

Fun with Modge Podge!

A Craft Challenge with Modge Podge? Sign me up! This month on Craftyminx there is a fun craft challenge. Each week she is posting a craft supply and you do with it whatever your little heart desires!

I had a ba-gillion (ba-gillion is not a number - Happy Ending's anyone? no..) ideas and then ran out of time, so this is my submission - a  little fox collage from scrapbook paper and modge podge on my kobo case (kobo's are the Canadian equivalent to Kindle)

I kinda love it :) You can see some past Modge Podge crafts here and here

> Jessi

Abe's 1st Birthday> Pirate Dolls

I'm making these pirate dolls for the take home at Abe's party for the kiddies :) Although, I kind of like having a whole pirate crew around the house, so I may make more! They are based on the Black Apple Doll pattern and  inspired by the pirate dolls on dee*contruction.

>Cassie

Re-Style > Kitchen Benches

We have a great little table with bench seats that my father in law found and fixed up for us, what wasn't working was the fabric on the seats - probably worked fine for a house with no kids, but many spills later and some matted down play doh, we were left with some pretty gross looking seats. 

This was a super simple project and I can't believe how long I stalled on it. First we took the seats off the benches, stapled down some fabric, then stapled down a layer of plastic, and voila new spill retardant seats! We will probably stick to them in the summer, but we will deal with that when the time comes:)

BEFORE

AFTER

> Jessi

Scene In: Parks and Rec

I am totally in love with Parks and Rec and have been pining forever for Ann's afghan!

It's based on a simple circle center granny square with a great retro palette. The colours are olive green, red, yellow, pink, lavender, purple and a light orange. It looks like the yarn weight is probably DK, which would mean that you could probably use a 3.5mm hook. I did a test square in random worsted colours and it's a pretty close match! The only changes I made to the pattern was to use half double crochets on the second row, and add in two extra rows.

  If I ever get the time I'll make the rest :P 

>Cassie

DIY Watch Giveaway!

In honour of our one year anniversary Shmemadoo has customized a paper watch for us, Which you can win by leaving a comment below :) You will also recieve a blank watch ready for your own customization, but you have to promise to send us a pic once you finish it!



To Enter:
Make sure your a follower through google or bloglovin and leave us a comment. Giveaway ends Feb. 28th!

>Cassie & Jessi

Valentine Craft

It's February!! That means Valentine's day! Do you do anything special? We don't usually, but I... I mean the kids sure like any excuse to make decorations. 

I bought a bag of small foam hearts, and a bag of big foam hearts from the dollar store, some were pre-glittered and some weren't (because it's fun to play with glue and sparkles!) and we strung them to branch from the backyard (which we also glittered).  The kids had fun with this for about 15 minutes and then left me to finish it alone. oh and I think It looks cuter then it does in the picture :)

On another note - Thursday and Friday we will be doing our shoot for the magazine!! We are excited for that - not so excited about the part where I have to clean the house.

Also be sure to go to the Thrifty Gypsies giveaway!

 > Jessi

Family Finger Puppets

A little hot glue and some felt and Abe has cute new toys! I didn't have any gray, or a would have made the mutt too.

 The one of Scott is my fave...his glasses are so cute!

Abe likes them too!

>Cassie

Almost Here!

2 more sleeps! I am done all my gifts - and good timing too, because I lost a day to food poisoning. Today 2 out of 3 kids are in school, a perfect day to finish up wrapping. I hope to get pictures of all the handmade gift today, and can post once the surprises won't be spoiled.  

What are your Christmas eve traditions? Those with kids - how do you help the day go by quickly? I feel like tomorrow is going to be the longest day of the year!

Happy Friday and Holiday weekend and safe travels to those who are hitting the road/skies to see family!

> sheep ornament

> bottle brush trees

> pinecone ornament

> Jessi

Paint & Glitter

This Christmas we decided that it was high time the kids joined in the stress of making holiday gifts.. so we sweat shop style set them up with ornaments to paint. They found it more fun then work though..maybe they are to something...Christmas crafting should be fun?!

We used a salt dough recipe found here. I added another 1/2 cup of water, and we probably should have baked them longer... I may throw my painted ones back in to harden them up ( can you do that post paint?)

> Jessi

Re-Style > Advent Calendar

Clifford has always wanted an advent calendar he could fill with trinkets and chocolate, but never had the time to make one. While garage sailing we found a not so pretty one, but figured for $3 we could paint it and make it pretty :)

BEFORE

 AFTER

> Jessi

Getting Ready for Tonight!

We prepped some of the decorations last night, but there is still lots to be done today, hopefully I can get it done with little stress! Happy Weekend before Halloween!

Paper lanterns- waiting to hang

Escaping Cornish Pixies - great job Emily and Karen!

Umbridge's Rules

Have a great Weekend!
> Jessi

Harry Potter Craft Tutorial

Getting ready for this Saturday's Harry Potter Halloween party!  

Making some Golden Snitch decorations and they are super easy. 

Supplies: small styrofoam balls, glitter, glue, toothpics, paper, scissors

1. use glue to cover the styrofoam balls in glitter.

2. cut out 4 matching wings from the paper (2 per wing) 

and glue them together sandwiching the toothpick in between

3. make small cuts all along both sides of your wing

4. poke the toothpicks into the styrofoam ball

Voila! I think I'm going to take some fishing line and string them up but they could also be table top decorations. I'm super excited for Saturday!!!!

>Cassie

Guest Post > Doily Ghosts

Hey!

I’m Robbie of Knitxcore. I’ve been a crafter/blogger for the better part of decade. I’m dedicated to bring my readers unique craft ideas mixed with vintage materials and inspirations. I really love all things quirky and kitsch and it’s almost always reflected in my work.

I am so honored to be a guest blogger on Sparrows and Arrows. So much so, that I’ve written a super special tutorial for all of you readers!

Enjoy!

<3

Robbie

Things You'll Need:

-Fabric Stiffener

-Vintage Doilies

-Large Googly Eyes

-Bias tape or Ribbon

-Felt

-Glue

-A Large Shallow dish

Step 1: Place a doily in your dish. I used vintage Pyrex. Don't do that.

Step 2: Pour the fabric stiffener onto the doily. Be sure to get every side and in between folds.

Step 3: Rub the stiffener into the fabric. This is really really messy (but also the most fun part!). Have a bowl of water and a towel to wipe off hands. I didn't. There is goop on every door knob in my house. Oops!

Step 4: Find something "ghost-shaped" and appropriate to the size of doily you are using. I put polyfill on top of the fabric stiffener bottle until it looked right. You could just as easily blow up a balloon and put it in a dixie cup. Be sure to cover your form in a plastic bag so it doesn't get sticky.

Step 5: Place the gooey doily on top of the form. Arrange it so it looks "ghosty". Let it dry. This part could take a day (or at least over night).

Step 6: After the ghost dries, peel away the plastic bag. You should have a stiff ghost that stands up on it's own.

Step 7: Glue on eyes and felt accessories! You're finished!

Make your lil' lady a gentlemen caller. Ghosts get lonely, too!

____________________________________________________________

Thanks so much Robbie! I literally squealed when he sent me the pic of the lady ghost as a sneak peek! I love them -and his blog knitxcore, it has such great photos, I wish I had the patience to edit and set up photos like him!