The Fox Says, "Nice Tie!"

Kent loves the fox! And he loves his new fox tie too! I wanted to make him a fun tie for moving up to Sunbeams at church. I made Clark a snake tie, but I wanted something different for Kent. The fox tie was born!

Would you like to make a fox tie of your own?

I started with this tie pattern at The Purl Bee. I made the tie according to the pattern all the way up to the SEW TIE section at the end. Then I added my embellishments. I kind of had to play with the lining a little to make sure I didn't sew it down, but it wasn't that difficult. I felt I had a better idea of the finished tie with the lining already sewn in. You could add your embellishments at the beginning if you wanted.

1. Start by adding two buttons for eyes.

2. Create your ears by making triangles. I used the main fabric for one side and a minky for the fur inside the ear. Clip the corner and trim the edges as shown below. **Check for the direction of your fur when you cut your triangle. Also, it may be easier to use the shape in step 3 to create your ears. Live and learn!!

3. I found this shape made more sense for how I was going to attach the ears. I didn't want to recut the ears, so I just tucked in the corners of the triangles and topstitched along the bottom so they wouldn't pop out...very technical. You probably wouldn't  need to sew the bottom together if you made this shape from the beginning.

4. To give the ears a little shape, I made a fold in the center and tacked it down. This made the ears curve a little bit.

5. Place the ears on the tie. Read through step 6 so you can get a better idea of how it will look when finished. Stitch the ears fur side down. Try to keep your stitches on the ear and not over the edges. Don't you love the beauty of handmade where one ear is larger than the other!!

6. Flip the ears up and topstitch again above where the raw edges end on your ear. This will hide the raw edges for a nice finished look. Keep your stitches on the ear and not over the edges.

7. Your ears should look like this. I roughed up the fur along the topstitching so that it was less noticeable.

8. Using some embroidery floss or Pearl cotton thread, add a nose. I used a satin stitch for the nose.

9. With the same thread, add some whiskers. I used only 2 pieces of thread on each side. You can kind of pull the whiskers through. I wanted to reduce bulk with knots and things on the inside of the tie.

10. Finish up the tie according to the original tutorial!!

He loved his tie! He walked around showing everyone his fox. I just can't get enough! Such a cute Sunbeam!

2013 Costume Parade and More

More Halloween posts! There might be a few more Halloween memories in my back pocket. Just so you know!

Clark wanted to be a devil this year just like he was last year. I was so sad that he didn't want to be something new, so we took a trip to Menard's. Isn't that where you go for all of your Halloween inspiration? We were there on other home reno business and love to check out the Halloween decor. I introduced Clark to the Grim Reaper and his Halloween costume was decided.

Kent was a harder sell. He didn't want to be anything for a long while. Then he decided on a football player werewolf. We had a few rough patches with his costume (including a night time parade of 6 different JoAnn stores) but in the end, we love the way it came out!

Kara didn't have to hide behind a costume and could be Supergirl without anyone being the wiser! We also love how her costume turned out! She's SUPER!

We had an awesome time at Trunk or Treat this year. Clark went around twice and then came back to help hand out the candy. He told me he wasn't interested in getting more candy. Then I saw him pick through the bag of candy that we were giving out and sneaking it into his bag...nicely played.

Then we went over to my brother's Halloween party. It was a Villain's theme which was awesome. Dave went as Syndrome from The Incredibles. My dad went as Gru and my mom went as his minion. Love that!

There are more Halloween posts to come! Stay tuned!

Our Conference in General

Conference time! And another reminder that I want to reupholster my sofa...

Our main conference activity this year was just eating candy and working our Conference Board. Clark loved that he got Clark Bites. Kent just kept asking where his Kent bites were. Other unplanned activities were driving mom crazy with random noises and Cutlass throwing up every 20 minutes or so. Ugh.

But we can't wait to do it all again in April! ...minus the throw up hopefully!

Kara's First White Dress

Little Kara was blessed at church today. It is such a beautiful day when a baby is blessed. I always feel the weight of my responsibility as a mother to love and nurture one of Heavenly Father's children. I think how lucky I am to get to call these little ones mine for all eternity. I think of all of the amazing things I want for my each of them and all of the great experiences we will have together. And I love to think about the little grandchildren they will give me one day!!!

This little girl just melts our hearts.

I was really excited to be able to make her blessing dress. I found a dress at Nordstrom that I really loved and wanted to copy for the blessing dress with a few tweaks. Then came the pattern hunt. I ended up buying a vintage pattern from Canada. Then my mom and I went out to Vogue fabrics in Evanston to buy some fabric. They have such an amazing selection there. And in addition to the selection, they have amazing help there too! The ladies in the bridal section were so knowledgeable and helped in so many ways.

But even after all of that, it still took making a muslin and making some alterations before the dress was complete. I do love how it turned out though even if it did make Kara a slippery little eel!

The full fam - the Wilde five!

Dad and his little girl

I always love when things look so out of place like this...a beautiful dress and a screaming baby in a car seat. She was pretty grumpy all day. That is up until about an hour ago when she finally went. You know what I mean.

Kara, it's such a blessing to have you in our family. We love you so much - grumpy or not!

Father Son Campout

From last Friday, this is the only picture I'm allowed to get of the event. Unless of course I happen to be home when they come home all stinky and dirty and dropping their clothes and gear everywhere. I chose not to be home this year!

Can't wait for next year...

Conference Weekend

We love Conference Weekend over here! It's a wonderful opportunity to listen to the Prophet, Apostles and leaders of the church teach, inspire, uplift and correct us. I'm glad that my boys are really learning to love Conference too. 

This year I found this idea from Jen Lund's blog and figured that I had a few more years where it would be a great addition to our Conference activities, so I decided to put in the time and whip one up. Whipping one up takes a lot of time, but it was worth it. I found some wonderful FREE printables from another blog by Tiffany Keetch. I spent a lot of time laminating, cutting, gluing and sticking on velcro dots.

Here is the board in action...excuse Jason's hair. He enjoys Conference as the Great Horned Owl. And excuse Kent's undies. He enjoys conference sans pants. Clark decided that he wanted to be in his church clothes for Sunday conference. I'm not sure where he got that from, but I won't tell him he can't!

The boys would pick out the speaker from the little pockets on the left and then pick out the topics the speaker was talking about from the board on the right. When the speaker was done, they would put the speaker in the chairs and everything where it belongs. I think I'd still like to add a family part in the empty spot on the left, but that will have to wait for a little bit. I have to redo the YW Presidency too...sheesh!

The boys had a few crafts to work on and these crowns were a crowd pleaser.

Jason, Clark and I worked on building a Lego temple while Kent napped during Sunday afternoon session. It's a new design. Maybe they will use it for one of the new temples that were announced. 

Another thing we like to do is what I call "TIE"M for Conference. We decorate the ties of the 1st Presidency and the 12. Kent loved hanging anything up on the wall for me. You can see that the boys missed Saturday afternoon session! I was sick and my mom took the boys for a while.

This year they added making ties for themselves too. Nothing beats a beautiful paper tie taped to a Kung Fu Panda shirt. And there are those Pepto Bismol dresses on the tv in the background. Blech.

Clark had a good time coming up with his own Conference games and activities too. He kept wanting to search for coloring pages for conference. Kent was content to do whatever his older brother did! We also played Bingo this year for the first time. I think that will be a family favorite in the future.

What a great weekend full of wonderful messages! 

Happy Easter!

What a wonderful day! Easter really ranks up there with one of the best holidays ever. I've loved teaching and learning about the Easter story with the boys this year. We are so grateful that our Savior suffered and died for us. We are also grateful that He was resurrected and that He lives. We know that we can live again too and be a family forever because of Christ's sacrifice. I'm glad I'll be spending eternity with these guys.

On a more secular note...this year I made matching bow ties (at their request) and suspenders for the boys. They looked so cute! Jason wouldn't wear a bow tie, so I made him a regular tie to match the boys. Then I had to make myself a nice little flower out of the same material so we could all coordinate. What dorks, I know! Something about Easter screams coordinating spring outfits.

Tutorials I used...just in case you're interested...

Bow Tie: http://prudentbaby.com/2010/04/baby-kid/how-to-make-a-bow-tie-2/

Suspenders: http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2010/05/little-boy-suspenders.html (next time I'll try to make them a little more adjustable)

Regular Tie: http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2009/5/21/mollys-sketchbook-fathers-day-tie.html (modified so that it was thick enough at the bottom)

Flower: http://createanddelegate.blogspot.com/2010/04/tutorial-shabby-fabric-roses.html

Happy Easter from two Wilde and crazy kids (and their parents!)

Clark Plans FHE

Clark seriously is going to be an event planner when he gets older. He'd be perfect for it. He decided to plan our family home evening one week. The boys each made crowns that said "I Am a Child of God." Then we sang the song and played a game together. I should have him plan FHE more often. It was such a great night!

Eek! A Heart Attack!

My dad got a heart attack in Primary last week! This is the only kind of heart attack I want to hear about with my parents though! The kids thought it was hilarious, and I'm pretty sure my dad got a kick out of it too.

Christmas Was Coming

A little Christkindlmarket fun! This year it was COLD and crowded. I guess that's kind of like every other year that we've gone. :)

I saw these half eaten gingerbread ornaments by elsie marley early in the year and knew that I wanted to make them for friends and teachers. I love how they turned out. All those little nervous, frightened faces. Nothing says Christmas like fear, right?

I also attempted to make three quilts just like this one for Christmas. One for Kelli, one for my mom and one for me. The gifts are finished, but mine still needs binding. Maybe I can get to it before Christmas 2013. I just made up the pattern on some graph paper. It's a nice lap size quilt. 60ish x 80ish.

I just love the matryoshka nativity print. It was such a perfect find. And the red and white striped binding just finishes it off perfectly. It's quilted with a loopy pattern.

On the last day of school this year, Clark brought home this cute little reindeer ornament. It's now my favorite ornament on the tree.

We made these CTR ornaments for the Primary kids for Christmas this year. I cut the vinyl on my silhouette and then we put them on shatterproof ornaments. No glass here! It's just so cute.

You can use this .png file with your Silhouette if you'd like! Simply click and save. Just a note: it is rather small. We put it on little ornaments. Enjoy!

It's amazing, I feel as rushed writing about these as I did when I was working on them. Good thing I can cross them off my list now!