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Nov 2 2016

cardboard creatures: autobots & elephants

Posted by hayley
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Surely by now you know I have a *thing* for cardboard. I kinda love that it’s free (hello, Amazon Prime), easy to work with, and has almost limitless potential when paired with a little hot glue and paint.

Around Sept I started saving boxes. By early October the kids placed their Halloween costume orders and I got to work.

Elephant Costume : Cardboard Creatures | greyhouseharbor.com

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume : Cardboard | greyhouseharbor.com

Bug crushed the trick-or-treat scene as Optimus Prime from the Transformers series.

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume : Cardboard | greyhouseharbor.com

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume : Cardboard | greyhouseharbor.com

Arm guns included. Duh.

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume : Cardboard | greyhouseharbor.com

cardboad-creatures-2016-2

When he laid down flat, the whole costume transformed into Optimus’s signature semi-truck mode. Be sure to scroll to the end of this post for a video of him in action as well as some behind-the-scenes clips…

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume : Cardboard | greyhouseharbor.com

And then my animal lover: Songbird, the elephant. The entire headpiece was fashioned on the fly: cut, fit, re-cut, glue. Old-fashioned trial and error.

Elephant Costume : Cardboard Creatures | greyhouseharbor.com

Little plastic snaps and straps of elastic kept all 4 “feet” secure, while still allowing full range of motion. A small loop of cardboard glued to the back of the tail easily attached it to the hoodie with a kilt pin.

Elephant Costume : Cardboard Creatures | greyhouseharbor.com

Elephant Costume : Cardboard Creatures | greyhouseharbor.com

The night prior to Halloween, I stayed up past my bedtime to make myself a cardboard hat. I feel a kinship with the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland; we both frequently feel as though we’re losing our minds, have large heads that look great in hats, and think that wanting to sit and sip (sweet) tea in peace is really not asking for much.

Mad Hatter Costume - Cardboard Hat | greyhouseharbor.com

Some people might wonder why I would spend so much time and effort on something that’s worn for just one night. It’s the same reason people spend thousands of dollars on a wedding dress that’s worn once: love.

Cardboard Creature Costumes : Transformer & Elephant | greyhouseharbor.com

The love of a making my kids’ dreams a reality and shaping their childhood memories. The love of succeeding at a challenging project. My love for changing up the daily routine and a great excuse to dust off my paintbrushes.

Cardboard Creature Costumes : Transformer & Elephant | greyhouseharbor.com

As an artist turned homemaker, I’m not going to see my work hung in a fancy gallery any time soon. For now I’ll just enjoy it hanging on my kids.

Cardboard Creature Costumes : Transformer, Mad Hatter, & Elephant | greyhouseharbor.com

Be sure to watch the video for Bug’s awesome transformation!

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Tags: art studio, cardboard, costumes, halloween, our life
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41 comments
Nov 1 2015

trick or treat, smell my feet

Posted by hayley
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In years past I’ve found such joy in handcrafting every detail of the kids’ Halloween costumes. However this year, Bug spied this Thor costume at the store and couldn’t pass up those muscles! And when I offered to sew Songbird a whole panther get-up, she was like “no thanks, I’ll just wear my sweatshirt and leggings.”

Hard to believe my kids are old enough to have non-swayable costume opinions!

Thor and Panther costumes greyhouseharbor.com

Both kids were kind enough to give their momma a little DIY fix by allowing me to fashion their accessories. Bug’s outfit didn’t include a helmet, so I spent a whole night designing and cutting one out of cardboard. He LOVED it and I was surprised he kept it on the entire night — I think it helped him really feel the power of Thor.

Cardboard DIY Thor Helmet greyhouseharbor.com

Cardboard DIY Thor Helmet greyhouseharbor.com

For Songbird, I made the tail and ears. Initially she didn’t want me to paint her face, but in the end we were both glad I convinced her otherwise.

Panther costume and facepaint greyhouseharbor.com

Panther costume and facepaint greyhouseharbor.com

Thor and Panther costumes greyhouseharbor.com

After cleaning out the cookie platter at the neighborhood chili cook-off, we met up with friends for the door to door madness.

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Avengers assemble! (Bug and his neighborhood buddy, Captain America.)

Avengers costumes greyhouseharbor.com

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Man with candy: “Are you Thor?”
Bug: “No, I’m 3.”

Woman with candy: “You can take 2 pieces.”
Bug: “No I can’t. Mom said only 1 and she’ll get weally mad if I take 2.”

Bug: “This candy bucket’s so heavy, it’s breaking my ankles!”

If Songbird said anything funny I didn’t hear it… she and the big girls were a solid 3 houses ahead of the littles all night.

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Let the week-long sugar comas commence!

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Halloween 2015 greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: bug, halloween, holidays, songbird
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Oct 30 2015

monster apple bites

Posted by hayley
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monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

When I saw these hilarious apple monsters, I knew they would be perfect for Songbird’s Halloween class party. Creative credit is due to Cara who blogs over at Fork and Beans, but her instructions lacked step by step photos. Being a gotta-see-it person, I thought I’d post my sequential pics here in case you’re a visual learner too.

My ingredients differ slightly from her originals as well: granny smith apples, cookie butter, strawberries, candy eyes, and sunflower seeds

1. Cut one green apple into quarters and remove the core bits.

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

2. Carefully cut into the center of the apple slice to remove a mouth-shaped section. This is the hardest part. Just go slow and carve carefully.

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

3. Fill the mouth area with cookie butter. You could use peanut or other nut butter, but the cookie butter is sweet deliciousness and allergen-friendly (look for it in the peanut butter aisle).

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

4. I bought commercial candy eyes cause they were cheap and easy. Attach them with a smidge of the cookie butter.

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

5. Slice a strawberry vertically and stick one piece into the mouth for the tongue.

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

6. Final touch is some sunflower seed teeth!

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

The trick to getting them to stand up straight is to use the wedge you removed from the mouth to prop it up from behind.

monster apple bites greyhouseharbor.com

I just love playing with my food, don’t you?

monster apple bites  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: halloween, kid stuff, recipes
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Oct 29 2015

spider hat craft

Posted by hayley
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This year I am moonlighting as Songbird’s 1st grade class “room parent.” Which basically translates into Holiday-Class-Party-Planner-Extraordinaire. Any excuse to get crafty is a good one in my book.

So today I worked on a sample of the spider hat craft that the kids will be constructing during their Halloween party tomorrow. It was so easy and cute I had to share!

Start by tracing a circle approximately 6.5″ wide onto black paper. Cut out.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Cut 8 legs about 5″ long by 1″ wide.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Have your child glue 4 legs to each side of the circle.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Then flip the spider over for them the decorate the face to suit their fancy. Colorful cut paper is best, since markers or crayons wont’ show up well on the black paper. Google eyes aren’t required, but they’re fun!

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Fold a paper plate in half. Cut just below the ribbed edge about 4/5 of the way around, stopping about where my thumb is.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Cut away about a 1/4″ more from the inside of the plate until it looks like this.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

When you open the plate you should have a circular center similar to this.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Glue the completed spider to the center of the plate-hat.

spider hat craft for kids greyhouseharbor.com

Rock on, spider heads!

spider hat craft for kids  greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: crafts with kids, halloween, kid stuff
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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