kokoleo-style Spy vs. Spy

UPDATE: My tutorial for these costumes won second place in the Instructables Halloween Costume Contest this year!

The last 3 years my kids have wanted to do brother/sister team costumes for Halloween. In 2011 they were Finn and Jake from Adventure Time. In 2012 they were Mordecai and Rigby from Regular Show. This year, they wanted to be these guys:

They don't read MAD magazine but they watch the animated sketch show on Cartoon Network and love the stop motion Spy Vs. Spy vignettes. This may be the last year they want to do a team costume so I had to oblige. I took a few pictures throughout my process to help anyone else who

 may want to sew some Spy vs. Spy masks too. Here's the gist of how I made them: 

I started with some stiff fusible interfacing - one layer in the shape of the mask and one smaller layer for stablity. Between the two layers I inserted a piece of sheer black satin and straight-stitched around the eyes, then trimmed the excess satin. 

Next on top of mask-shaped interfacing, I lightly ironed (be careful - if your iron is too hot the fleece will melt) some white fleece about an inch larger than interfacing, traced and cut out eye holes, and embroider-stitched around the eyes (then went over it with a Sharpie to make it even darker). 

Then I traced with a pencil some eyebrows and a mouth and sewed an embroider stitch over top (and again went over those stitches with a Sharpie to make it darker. 

Next, I sewed the nose part into the shape of a cone and folded the fleece over the interfacing and sewed all the way around the edge of the mask. Then I hot-glued it to the inside of a hat. 

Lastly, I made them these bags to hold their candy.

And here they are, ready for mischief:

I built this.

Whoa. It's dusty in here. I need to brush away the cobwebs. I just remembered I have a blog that I should update. I can't give up now. I've invested 7 years into this cyber-diary, I might as well update it from time to time.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. The whole summer, in fact.  We went camping at Ocean Shores

 

and Deception Pass

and flew back home to West Virginia...

and Washington D.C.

 and Shepherdstown...

 And Peterkin...

And then we came home and had birthdays..

And then I started a new job.

It's a job I fought for. (I blogged about it here.)  I've never fought for a job as hard as I fought for this one. But when there's an empty rec building in the park that's right next your kids' school that doesn't have an after school program, you have to convince them to let you have it. I did!

I spent all of August moving in. Erik was happy to see the craft supplies I've been hoarding in the pantry and garage finally leave the house. Ikea donated some of their Renton River Days booth leftovers to the City and my boss made sure it got to our then-empty building. Couches and bookshelves make all the difference. And so do kids. I adopted the "If you build it, they will come" mentality and they did! Suddenly we're 3 weeks into the program that for the past 3 years was just a pipe dream for me. And it's just as I imagined it. Suffice it to say, I love my new job, and I don't want to say much more to jinx it.

So that's where my focus has been this past year. It's not a kokoleo production, just me, KB, working for the City. Kokoleo though, is always a part of me.  I'm still hoarding fabric and notions so there's no way around it. I'll continue to sew random things and sometimes attempt to sell them in places like stores and craft shows and I'll still do personalized pillow and banner commissions, especially for my return customers who have become friends to me. I'm simply moving in a new direction that for now,  seems like the best place to be. Finally!

Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work day @ The Renton Spring Festival

I did the Renton Spring Festival on Saturday. Last year, after I found my handmade one-of-a-kind items  amidst the likes of Mary Kay and Cookie Lee, I swore I'd never do it again. But this year I heard it would be different - handmade and fair trade only - so I decided to give it one more chance. I'm glad I did.

In the past, I would spend weeks frantically  making things before craft shows. This time, I didn't make anything. Not because I'm lazy, but because I'm busy doing other things that are suddenly more important to me. McKenna was on a bracelet-making kick though, so I set her up with a pile of pipe cleaners and my container of beads and let her have at it. She made 24 bracelets.  I told her she could set up a table in my booth and sell them.

"For money?" she asked.

"Yep." I said.

"And what can I do with the money?"

"Whatever you want."

She thought this was a fine idea and promised to be well-behaved and helpful and no whining or interrupting me when I'm talking to customers. She's always been too young to have with me at craft shows all day before. But we thought we'd try it. She decide to name her jewelry line McKennaMade and charge $2 per bracelet.

Friday night came and rather than meticulously prepare, I opted to have dinner with my ladyfriends, then came home and packed the car with everything I could think of that was kokoleo or a way to display a kokoleo. This was all done around 2 in the morning.

7:42 a.m. I woke up and went back to sleep.

8:54 a.m. woke up again. Showered, hair, make-up, dressed myself and McKenna.

Ack!  My phone was only half charged. I needed a fully charged phone for this. So I plugged it in and make a cup of coffee and ran around the house getting last minute items, twiddled my thumbs and then...

9:59 a.m. We were out the door.

Ack! I had no money.

10:11 a.m. I'm at the BECU machine. I withdrew $40.  Ack! I needed ones!

10:24 a.m. I'm at McDonald's. I'm not hungry, so all I order is an iced tea, unsweetened. I pay with a $20 and ask for all ones back. McDonald's makes a great McBank. Except the line is looooong.

McKenna told me I got a call while I was at the ATM. I checked the message. It's Erik. Our across-the-street neighbor found a tray and a bunch of pipe cleaner bracelets scattered in our street and thought it might be ours.

Ack! I totally drove away from the house with a tray of McKennaMade bracelets on the roof. (In my defense, it was hard squeezing her in to her seat in my stuffed-full car and I was distracted.)

10:38 I turned around and went back to get them.

10:48 We headed back to the show. For real this time. Luckily,  I got all green lights and found a parking spot by the entrance.

10:58 I arrive, find my spot, and with the fancy farmer's market carts (I love those) I fill my spot with the contents of my car. A festival volunteer offered to watch my stuff and daughter while I parked in the garage and I returned within minutes.

McKenna set up her table and bracelets and sold one before I'd even begun unpacking.

I stopped caring about the time and started setting up. It's always at this time that I wish I was one of those crafters that made small things, not giant pillows and massive quantities of kids' clothes with crazy elaborate contraptions on which to display them.

The hectic rush of the morning dissolved as my display took shape. No one was beside so I spread out a bit, okay, a lot.

 I even found some time here and there to slip away and visit other vendors. The Rely on Renton Family Fair inside the Piazza station was so well organized and chock-full of information on local resources for kids and families. I stopped by the Renton Community Center booth and saw the flyers for my summer craft camps on display. I caught glimpses of the performances throughout the day and loved hearing Casper Babypants on the loudspeakers outside.

McKenna sold 9 bracelets and spent all her $18 at other people's booths. I saw glimpses of teenager in her as she took her little purse to tables and picked out things to buy. She got (in order) a pink sugar cookie, a one tiny vial of Jasmine oil from a perfume soap stand, and hand-painted Hello Kitty barrette from from the accessory lady, and a big crayon in the shape of a car from the crayon people, and a purse and bracelet from a lady two booths down.

I did a little shopping and trading too. After McKenna got her tiny vial of perfume, I went back to the booth and bought a lavender one for me.

 From the metalsmith man, I got two decorative metal stars for the planter by my front door where I have the iron dragonfly I bought from him last year. He always gives me great deals. He said Mayor Law bought a big piece from him that morning and it made his day. I got a heart-linked silver bracelet from the vintage jewelry lady. The owner of Candle with Care lady fell in love with my last Sesame Street sundress and I sold it to her for half price plus a candle.

I also bought a $3 bag of Kettle corn and when I went to pay with a $20 the kettle corn couple looked troubled. They asked if I had any ones and I said Yes! I got a bunch this morning. The woman came back to my booth and I gave her $3 and then traded 10 more ones for a ten. The McBank came in handy! She was as grateful for the ones as I was for customers like these:

Before I knew it it was 5:00 and time to pack up. I ended up making the most profit I've ever made at a Renton festival and got a few new Facebook likes for kokoleo. The best part though was that my first-ever Take-Your-Daughter-To-Work day was a great experience for both of us. We both saw our creations go out into the world and with the money we received, we went around and bought other people's handmade and fair trade creations. I have a feeling this won't be the last kokoleo/McKennaMade business collaboration you'll see.

New kokoleo personalized pieces...

I haven't done a personalized kokoleo update in a while. Here are the new names now decorating little kid rooms across the country....

 

Recapping the past 3 months

No post since January? Sheesh. Where has the time gone? There used to be a time where I documented nearly everything I made. Lately though, a lot of what I do soon disappears into the world like it never even happened. It's time I record a few creations for posterity's sake, lest I forget them forever.

One of my recent creations that I'm most proud of is this:

 

Well, not necessarily the banner (which was bright and sparkly and probably my biggest kokoleo banner yet) but the show itself. Several of my PTO mom friends and I organized a talent show at our kids' school. No one could remember the last time there had been one at the school so we were starting from scratch. It was a success! We had 32 acts and over 300 people showed up. I was in charge of the stage crew and got to see the look of pride (and relief) on the kids' faces as they walked off stage. Sage and McKenna did a comedy routine called "the BIG-un-ATOR 2000" where McKenna hid inside the "machine" and Sage put small items in one side, it shook and made machine noises, and larger versions came out the other. In the end he put a doll in and McKenna popped out.

It's funny how some of the most significant and rewarding projects I do are the ones I do for free. Still, I gotta make a buck somehow, so I've been teaching craft classes at local schools for a non-profit company called Eastside Enrichment.

Puppet-making, cartooning, egg-art, jewelry making, puffball creatures, mobiles, etc. - these are the activities we've explored over the weeks. I'm even busting out crafts I learned at summer camp 25 years ago. Anyone remember these?

I'm also teaching a "Learning with Mother Goose Class" at the community center and it's a hit! Every month it's filled to capacity and sometimes even has a waiting list. I've spent a lot of time this year creating a curriculum - researching Mother Goose rhymes, organizing them into themes, and coming up with a craft for each class. I hope to continue this class next year with a new gaggle of preschoolers. I rarely remember to take pictures in these classes, but here are a couple. I'll try to share a few of our projects on my blog in the future.

I haven't forsaken kokoleo though (however neglected my Etsy shop may seem). I'm still taking commissions and doing occasional seamstress work. I'll share my latest personalized pieces tomorrow, but here are some recent special-order outfits I made:

A baby gift for a "surfer family that likes funky stuff", and this outfit for a birthday gift for one of McKenna's friends:

The party was a "Monster High" theme so I made a skull applique of the logo and made a fringy skirt to match. The patch is the invitation that I printed onto fabric and sewed onto the skirt. A kokoleo-meets-Monster-High original.

One of my most important projects though, is top secret. I've seen a need in my neighborhood and am making an effort to enact change for the good of my community. It's a project I've been dreaming about for years but just recently joined forces with the right people to possibly make it happen. I don't want to say too much for fear of jinxing it, but hopefully I'll have good news to share someday soon. Fingers crossed!

McKenna's House of Liquor

   At the risk of looking like a big old lush, I'm going to admit that one of my favorite Christmas presents to receive is a fancy gift set containing a bottle of liquor and glassware. This year, Erik got me a bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch Whiskey, aged 12 years, that came in a box with 2 funky-shaped rocks glasses. Even the box was deluxe - it had 3 windows and a swing door with a magnetic latch. We couldn't just throw it out.

 McKenna said she wanted to keep it so it could be a house for her dolls but I didn't think it would look right for her to have an empty liquor box laying around her room, so we decided to paint it. First, I covered the windows in sticker paper and spray painted it yellow.

 

Then, she painted it.

She added trees and flowers on the sides and windows and a door on the back and her signature smiley sunshine on the front.

And the Polly Pockets quickly moved in.

It makes a nice hamster house too. (You can follow the adventures of our hamster Mr.Goomba Roo on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourDailyGoomba.)

I'm teaching a new series of craft classes for kids this semester. Liquor box dollhouses probably won't be one of them. Some crafts are best kept within the family.