LIVE: Halloween!

We here at esM don't believe in the meaning of halloween... we DO, however, believe in fun, in costumes, and of course, in CANDY!  Plus, halloween decorations are just irresistible!

We shared a bunch of halloween projects 2 weeks ago, so today we're just showing you what my kids are wearing trick or treating!  (when I say my kids, I really mean my pets).

Atari the Bee-st

Sparta aka Franken-kitty-chick

Skilo - The Duke of Death!

Needless to say, all of my animals are now in hiding because I subjected them to such torture, but I don't care.  How often do you really get to see a cat in a tuxedo or a chicken hat??

We hope that you get more tricks than treats and that this crazy Sandy isn't ruining it for everyone!

Rosewood Holiday Preview Party + eat.sleep.MAKE.

We have a super exciting announcement to make today!

Kathryn over at Rosewood clothing boutique in Mt. Lebanon has asked us to join her Holiday Preview Party on November 16th from 5pm-9pm for shopping and crafting!  (Seriously, can you think of a better combination than that??)

Check out the event page HERE

Address: 670 Washington Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15216

We will be doing a Pinterest inspired project and we'd like you all to join us! (if you're in the Pittsburgh area, of course!)

Rosewood has quickly become one of my favorite shops for affordable and trendy clothing.  Kathryn also has an amazingly curated collection of jewelry, scarves and handbags that will make any outfit look fabulous. 

Rosewood has 2 locations, Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley, so no matter where in the Pittsburgh area you are, you have no excuse not to stop in!  Each shop has different merchandise carefully selected for those customers.  And the best part... nothing is over $100!

We would love for you to come join us for some fabulous shopping, wine and hor d'oeuvres, and some pinteresting crafting!

CRAFT: Two-Sided Leggings

We shared this tutorial for Two-Sided Leggings at Ucreate a few weeks ago. Here it is again in case you missed it!

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Today I wanted to share a project success that was almost a project fail - a pair of two-sided leggings for my daughter.


Have you ever had a project that you started with great intentions in mind, only to find out near the end of the project that the outcome wasn't at ALL what you planned? That's what happened with these two-sided leggings. I was originally trying to make colorblocked leggings with each leg a different color. Everything began well enough, but while putting everything together, I found that I made the front one color and the back another color. And you know what? I love it.

So, do you want to make your own two-sided leggings and look as cool as Haley? Don't be intimidated, they're easier to make than you think!

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SUPPLIES: a pair of leggings that fit your child well to use as a pattern, some paper and a pencil to make your pattern, 2 kinds of knit fabric, 1/2 inch elastic, chalk or a disappearing ink marker, and a sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.

Making Your Pattern

ONE: First, take your pattern pants and fold them in half. Make sure the little curve of the bum is sticking out in the back. Use a pencil and paper to trace along your pants making sure to add an extra 1/4 inch for seam allowance on the sides. Make sure to stretch the elastic waistband out while you trace the waist and and add an extra 2 inches at the top for the casing of the waistband. For the bottom, add an inch or more for the hem.
TWO: Cut out your paper pattern.
THREE: Fold your knit fabric with the wrong sides together. Lay your pattern on the top of your fabric and trace with your chalk or disappearing ink marker. Cut out. Repeat with your other knit fabric.
FOUR: You should now have a total of 4 pieces of fabric, two of each color.

Making Your Leggings

ONE: Next, you'll want to match up one of each color of knit fabric (in my case one blue and one black) with the right sides together. Pin the long side together and sew the long side only. Repeat with the other 2 pieces.
TWO: You should now have 2 fabric pieces that look like this when they are open.
THREE: Next place your two pieces on top of each other, right sides facing each other. Pin the curved portion together and sew the curves only.
FOUR: Now open your pants and match up your sides so they actually look like pants. Pin along the inner crotch area and sew from the bottom of the leg to the other. Hem the bottom of your pants.

Making the Waistband

ONE: With your pants still inside out, fold the top of your pants down 1/4 inch and iron. Fold another 3/4 inch and sew to create a casing for your elastic. Make sure to leave a hole to insert the elastic.
TWO: Measure your child's waist and add 1/2 inch. Cut this length of elastic and use a safety pin to thread your elastic through your casing. Sew the edges of elastic together with a zig-zag stitch and sew the casing closed. Flip your pants right side out.

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Now you have some fun new leggings that are a different fabric on each side! You can reverse them for whatever mood you're in. Business in the front, party in the back. 

 Either way you wear them, you look cool.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

LIVE: Weekly Photo Wrap-Up

Seriously, it has been a CRAZY two weeks!
Last weekend the husband and I decided to play tourists in our own city.  We like to do this once a year or so just to force ourselves to do and see things we wouldn't normally do or see.  We stayed down at the Renaissance Hotel downtown (which was AMAZING) and frolicked all over!  We ended up doing things we do all the time, but we had so much fun... shopping in Shadyside, Bakery Scare festival at Bakery Square (including wiener dog races!), a visit to Construction Junction, it was a blast to say the least!

(That last photo is Jen and I shopping... we're rarely very serious when together.)

We went to the grand opening of Dick's Sporting Goods at South Hills Village mall.  Let me tell you, that place is HUGE!  My niece, Lena, seemed to love huge balloons, too. 

My black kitty, Sparta, got a bath, too.  If you have ever tried to bathe a cat, you know it's not the easiest thing to do.  This little guy was such a trooper.. he didn't try to escape once!  Skilo was a different story.  His paws just barely touched the water and I almost lost an eye.  He then ran to the corner of the bathroom staring at me and let out a blood curdling meow that lasted about 30 seconds.  Talk about kitty rage!

I am looking forward to an exceptionally relaxing weekend while Jen goes off on a weekend getaway without the kiddos. 

Hope your weekend is awesome, too!

CRAFT: DIY Gem Earrings

Yet another oh-so-easy project!  I've had bags and bags of rocks and gems from gem mining in North Carolina this past June lying around my house... and NO idea what to do with them!  But when I found these 2 rocks that looked like icicles, I thought, "How cool would these look hanging from my ears??"

And I think they turned out pretty awesome!  I have so many more gems to do stuff with, so this is just the beginning.

You will need:

Rocks or gems

Jewelry glue (most normal glue doesn't bond well enough to rock and metal)

Earrings studs

Metallic Paint

I used my needle felting brush to hold the stones upright while the paint dried

If you use acrylic paint, you will need to scratch away some of the paint where you will be gluing, otherwise it will not adhere properly.

I'm so thrilled with how this insanely easy project turned out!  If only I could dip them in actual silver..

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

CRAFT: DIY Wood Matting

Today I'm sharing a super easy tutorial on how to make wood matting... no power tools necessary!  (as much as I love using power tools..)  Anyway... I break it down by steps, but in case something doesn't make sense, just shoot us an email and we'll try to help you out!  eatsleepmake@gmail.com

What you will need:

A frame or an old piece of matting to use as a template

Ruler

Protractor (to make sure your angles are perfect)

Tape of any kind

Craft Knife

Pencil

4 pieces of Basswood that are longer than each side of your frame (1 piece for each side)

1 - Measure the length of your frame or matting, and mark that length on your basswood

2 - From the edge of the wood at the point you marked, use your protractor to make a mark at 45 degrees (as shown above)

3 - Use a ruler and pencil to connect the mark at the edge of the wood to your 45 degree mark... follow all the way to the other edge.

4 - Use your craft knife to cut the wood.  Press firmly, but not too much.  It will take a few swipes to break through.

5 - Once you do this with all 4 pieces, making sure the longest side matches the length of the perimeter of your frame/matting, fit your angles together.

5 - Use tape to hold your angles together (I used white duct tape)

6 - Now put your artwork in and frame it!

I can't even tell you how many compliments I get on the originality of this project when people visit my house.  It's so easy and looks so great!

**Disclaimer:  As a result of some not-so-nice comments, I feel inclined to share with you that if you are wanting to display artwork that is of any value, due to the acidity of the wood, this project is not recommended.  My intention in creating this was not to display a Picasso, but a doodle of my own. Perhaps in the future I'll work on a way to remedy this issue.

For those of you that have been nice and encouraging, we love you! 

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

LIVE: Weekly Photo Wrap-Up

1. Pumpkins 2. Tasty pumpkin cookies

3. Falling leaves. 4. Playing in the leaves

5. Homemade Amish donuts 6. Connor and the gourd

7. Chicken at the farm 8. Arr, matey!

It has been a very eventful past 2 weeks! I've been enjoying the many fall festivals in the area (which is where most of the pictures above are from) and preparing for Halloween soon. As Shannon mentioned last week, the best part of the past 2 weeks is when we welcomed a new little nephew, Flynn, into the world (you might remember the Welcome Little Deer Baby Shower we threw him recently.)

My week got even better though when, the very next day, I welcomed my second nephew, Trystan (my brother's first,) into the world! What lucky aunt I am to have 2 new nephews in 2 days! Sadly, my brother lives in Virginia so I haven't gotten to meet Trystan yet, but I'm on my way this weekend to do just that! I'm sure I'll be sharing lots more snuggly baby pictures very soon :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

CRAFT: Skeleton Bones Treat Bags (free printable)

After making the Monster Teeth Treat Bags, I kind of got on a treat bag obsession. The problem was, I kept eating most all of the contents. Haley helped me...some, but these "skeleton bones" were just so addictive! There's just something about pretzels and chocolate. Maybe it's the salty/sweet thing? All I know is that I'm not much of a fan of white chocolate, but I ate a whole bag of these in one sitting. And don't the chocolate covered pretzel rods look like skeleton bones?

This was a really crazy easy project and the tags were a lot of fun to make too! All you need to make your own "skeleton bones" treat bags is white chocolate chips (or almond bark), pretzels, vegetable oil, cellophane bags and some staples. And you know I had to give you the tags as a free download :)

I got these cellophane bags from Walmart I think. They're roughly 5 inches wide by 14 inches. They're the perfect size for packaging pretzel rods!

For the "skeleton bones," just melt some white chocolate (thin it out a bit by adding vegetable oil so the pretzels are easier to coat) and cover the pretzel rods in chocolate. Lay on wax paper until dry, then package in cellophane bags and staple the tag on top! So easy and so perfect for handing out to friends as gifts.

You can download my free printable Skeleton Bones Tags by clicking HERE. I made them in 3 different colors for your Halloween enjoyment :) 
Print them on card stock for best results.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!

CRAFT: DIY Trick or Treat Bags with Fashion Art Projects

Recently, the lovely folks at Fashion Art Projects sent Shannon and I a box of goodies to try out. What I love about Fashion Art Projects supplies is that they're so affordable and you can find them at your local Walmart (because, if you're like me, you can never leave Walmart without checking out the craft aisle!)

Among all the goodies they sent were a few totes and some fabric paint, so with Halloween coming up, I went to work making a couple trick or treat bags for my kids!

SUPPLIES: Fashion Art Simply Spray Soft Fabric Paint, Fashion Art tote bags, stencils, and newspaper.

The soft fabric tie dye paint states that it works best with 100% cotton fabric, but I decided to take a risk and try it on the tote bags. Surprisingly, it worked really well! A word of caution though: the tie dye paint is meant for tie dying, so it really soaks into the fabric. If you're looking for more even coverage rather than a splatter effect, the stencil paint will probably work a lot better. What I liked about this paint though, was that it didn't become "crunchy" and stiff when it dried, like what tends to happen with other fabric paint.

ONE: apply your stencil to your tote. I used my Silhouette Cameo to make a stencil from vinyl, but you could always but a stencil at a craft store.
TWO: place some newspaper inside of your tote to prevent the paint from bleeding. Take your tote to a well ventilated area (I took mine outside and placed it on some newspaper) and then spray your tote with the fabric paint. Allow to dry according to the instructions on the bottle.
THREE: peel your stencil off.
FOUR: let dry according to bottle, then go trick or treating!

I made a second one for my son by applying the same concept, but instead I used the negative of the stencil that I cut out. I also gave my skeleton a little candy corn heart for fun :)

We received the supplies mentioned above by Fashion Art Projects free of charge, however all opinions stated within are my own. You can buy these items online by visiting FashionArtProjects.com or at your local Walmart.

Check out our link party page to see where we link up each week!