Look at this wreathe (wreath?) I made BY HAND!
Also please investigate this pizza!
Ok so I know pizza is not, strictly speaking, a “craft” but come on, I MADE the dough! With yeast and everything! And it’s pesto-roni guys. This is serious.
When I decided to make a USC wreath (I googled it, wreathe is a verb) I went to Joann Fabrics and geeked out in there for like an hour. I ended up buying 3 yards each of Cardinal and Gold fabric, a styrofoam wreath (which Bender thought belonged to him), a ton of (read: WAY too many) pins, 3 wooden cut outs of the letters U-S-C and some paint. Thirty-seven dollars (and three days) later the trip yielded that beautiful fall colored football masterpiece. I could have bought the same thing for $35 on Etsy….craft fail…
But never fear dear reader I prevailed and moved on to my next craft: A Pumpkin Costume for Bender!!
So naturally on October 1st I woke up with one thought running through my head (sorry Dad, it wasn’t rabbit rabbit rabbit) it was what will Bender be for halloween?!
I thought about dressing up as a cat dressed as a shark riding roomba and making Bender be a duck.
Is this not the greatest thing there ever was?
But I realized I wasn’t going to take Bender dancing at the Walrus on October 31st (a school night!!) and my costume — cat dressed as shark riding a roomba — would just look ridiculous with out my duckling, so I went easier. I’ll make him be a pumpkin.
Doesn’t everyone’s first child dress up as a pumpkin for halloween?
Not like this, Kid. It’s supposed to be felt…
Anyway I started “researching” (I checked Target and Amazon) dog pumpkin costumes.
I found a lot of stuff that looked like this.
Which is adorable! But guys, Bender weighs 57 pounds!!! Even the large size is going to be a squeeze. And the large size costs like twenty bucks! So I had a genius idea.
My idea stemmed from a few things. One, I don’t really care how great my dog’s costume looks. I’m not especially worried about my own costume (though I do LOVE to dress up I’m not spending $100 on a cat-dressed-as-a-shark-riding-a-roomba costume — that’s for sure) so I’m not really loosing sleep over how great Bender’s costume looks. He just needs to be wearing one. My second inspirational thought came from the fact that 3 yards of yellow (ahem, excuse me, GOLD) fabric was a little too much for my wreath so I had leftovers. Viola! I decided to make my own doggy pumpkin costume. Like a champ. DIY style.
Here’s the progression:
Cut the fabric into a 2 ply square-ish/rectangle
Folded in the jagged edges and glued them together.
Look at that lovely edge! I know I could have sewed it but this most likely a one time use thing so I didn’t want to waste the energy. (I also drew the cutest jack-o-lantern face ever IMHO)
Halfway there! Notice I did not glue the last 2 inches of the edge together so I can slip Bender’s collar through it.
Now he just needs a little green tuft.
My first try was not acceptable so I went simpler and liked #2 a lot more.
Glued on the tuft (let the whole thing rest under the Joy of Cooking for 20 minutes to flatten and dry) and put the collar through the loop!
Just see for yourself how good he looks!