Halloween Run

This year T.J. and I are running a 5k on Halloween. So naturally, I needed a costume I could run in! A quick Google search showed me that I was not the first person to need a running costume. Apparently they are a big thing! I may never run without a costume on again! :-)

My need for a DIY costume just happened to fall during the Pinterest challenge put on by Young House Love and Bower Power. As if I needed another reason to make something this week. Here are the pins I picked to inspire my creation: wings & shirt.

Back to the costume: A tutu was basically a requirement. I had my options down to Minnie Mouse and a bumble bee and decided to go for the bee. My plan was a black and yellow tutu, yellow shirt with black stripes, and wings. I frankensteined some different ideas together from across the internet to come up with my costume. I was reminded by this post of the technique I used on my sewing room curtains last summer (see the details of that post here). I learned how to make the wings here.
 

Here are the supplies:

Shirt

Yellow t-shirt - $6

Black fabric - clearance $1.60

Wings

2 wire hangers - already owned

1 pair of white tights - already owned

Tutu

Black Elastic - $2

Black and Yellow Tulle -  $6

Antennae

Headband Antennae - $4

Total Spent: $19.60

Bonus Bee Keeper Costume for my Husband - 
$5 white painter's jumpsuit at Menards

A great tutorial on wings can be found here, but basically I took some old coat hangers, re-bent the wire (with a little help from T.J.) and stretched old stockings over them. Attaching them was a little tricky but with some extra tulle I made it happen by just wrapping them tightly together. Then I sewed extra loops of elastic for my arms.

I love how iridescent the wing color looks in this picture - almost real!

The tutu was super easy to make. I just slip knotted the tulle on to a piece of black elastic. I sewed the ends of the elastic together before I started. I used about 6 yards of tulle. 4 black and 2 yellow.

 

Here the tutu was still in process - so it is a little sparse. 

Now onto the shirt. Like I said earlier, I used the same technique as I did in this post about my sewing room curtains. I cut the black fabric into strips using pinking shearers, gathered the strips and sewed them onto the shirt.

Here is the costume in action... along with my bee keeper!
We won best costume at the 5-K.

This post is linked up with these other hosts of the Pinterest challenge: The Ugly Duckling House and Our Fifth House.

Hutch Updates and Fall Decor

I found this hutch way back at the beginning of garage sale season. It was a score at only $35 and I hauled it home in 2 trips in my Mustang. It was a sight to see.

Nearly 6 months later I have finally made some progress. My sister is coming to visit next weekend and sometimes that is what it takes to finally get me moving on my projects. I finished the bottom half for the wine and cheese party about a month ago and now the top is half done. I still have to finish the doors and attach them, but for now I am happy with what I've got. Check it out below.

Starting with the big change, before on the left, after on the right:

More in progress shots:

 
When I took the back off the hutch to start painting I was pretty shocked to find out that the mirror on the back was actually 3 mirrors! It gave me piece of mind about the possibility of accidentally cracking/shattering one.

This was the fall deco look before I finished the top:

And the (almost) final product: