Toddler Alligator Costume

 To go with the Princess Tiana theme for Halloween, I made an alligator costume for my 2-year old son. It is perfect for his personality. He is so sneaky and gets into everything. I definitely have my hands full with this little guy.

I used simplicity pattern 2506 for the body. It is actually a dinosaur costume, but alligators are reptiles so I think it works. I followed the pattern exactly except for adding the contrast stitching across the tummy to make it look more like an alligator belly. I used a warm cozy fleece so that it would be comfortable and warm while trick-or-treating.

The tail is stuffed with fiber-fil and is so fun. My son kept trying to grab it and it was fun to watch, kind of like watching a dog go in circle trying to catch its tail. 

The back closure is make of velcro which makes it easy to take on and off. Perfect for my squirmy on the go little guy.

I came up with the head after seeing this Wolf costume from Make-it Love-it. I used a baseball hat for the base, added some plastic canvas for the snout and then covered the whole thing with the fleece hood. Some of it is sewed together and then glued to the hat with hot glue. It took a few tries to get the nose sewed together just right. It was tricky to the get the curves right and then I stuffed it with a little fiber-fil to give it more dimension. The eyes, teeth and nostrils are made of felt from my stash.

I added a velcro chin strap to help keep it on his head so he is free to run without it falling off.

I absolutely love how this one turned out. It is so perfect!

Homemade Princess Tiana Costume

 
This year my daughter wanted to be Princess Tiana for Halloween. I was very happy. She has been a little obsessed with My Little Pony lately and I was scared she would want to be a pony for Halloween. A princess is much easier and fun for me to make. I love making Halloween costumes, especially when the results turn out so great!

 

I started with a pattern (McCall's 6619) and then tweaked it to make it look like Tiana's dress. I used costume satin for the bodice, skirt and peplum, and tulle for the overlay. I think the lace and sequins give it more of a princess look although they aren't really authentic to Tiana's real dress.

 

The thing that I liked about this pattern is that it is more like an apron then a dress. The back is open and has a tie closure. It makes it so much easier to get on and off and will make dress-up play easier when it gets added to the dress-up bin after Halloween.

I came up with the design for the flower on my own. I cut some petal shapes out of leftover ivory satin and heat sealed the edges so it wouldn't fray. I sewed the ends together tight to make the flower shape and then soaked the whole thing in spray starch a few times as I shaped in to the flower shape that I liked. After it was all dry I added the ribbon and jewel center. I pinned it to the dress instead of sewing in on permanently so that it can be removed when the dress is washed.

For the bottom, I used a woodburning/hobby tool to carefully cut off the bottom and give it the zig zag shape edge. The tool  is nice because it melts the edge to keep it from fraying while cutting it at the same time. 

It ties in the back in this big beautiful bow and then I added the button and elastic loop by the straps because the bodice was a little too loose on the top for my skinny daughter. 

We are so excited to wear it trick-or-treating!

Crochet Frog Hat Pattern

When my oldest daughter decided that she wanted to be Princess Tiana for Halloween, I figured it would be perfect for her baby sister to be a frog. I decided that it would be fun to crochet her a frog hat for her costume. I searched for a pattern to use, but didn't like most of what I found, so I just made my own.

I love how it turned out and the fact that she can wear it all the time, and not just for Halloween. I finished it just in time too. It has started to get cold here, especially in the mornings and now she has something to keep her head warm.

This pattern has not been tested and I wrote it as I went. If you find any mistakes or have any corrections, please let me know. Thanks!

Crochet Frog Hat

fits infants about 3-6 months

Materials needed:

Size G crochet hook

Yarn- medium weight in 4 colors:  a large amount of green, and small amounts of a contrasting color, black, and white. (I used Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Yarn" in Limelight for the green, Red Heart super saver in shocking pink for the contrast color, and Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Cotton" in black and white for the eyes and mouth. It is probably better to use all of one kind of yarn for the project, but I just used what I already had.)

Tapestry Needle to weave in ends, attach eyes and cheeks, and embroider mouth.

I give the approximate number of stitches in each row, but if you are off by one or two stitches it should still still work.

Hat with earflaps:

Ch 3, sl st to form a circle

Row 1: Ch 2, 13 dc in circle, sl st to top of ch 2 to join (14 dc).

Row 2: Ch 2, 1 dc in same stitch as ch 2 and then 2 dc in ea remaining stitch, sl st in top of ch 2 (28 dc).

Row 3: Ch 2, 1 dc in same stitch as ch2, *(1 dc in next  2 stitches, and the 2 dc in next stitch) repeat around, sl st into top of ch 2 (about 39 dc).

Row 4: Ch 2, 1 dc in same stitch as ch 2, *(1 dc in next 3 stitches, and 2 dc in the next stitch) repeat around, sl st into top of ch 2 (about 50 dc).

Row 5: Ch 2, 1 dc in same stitch as ch 2, *(1 dc in next 4 stitches, and 2 dc in the next stitch) repeat around, sl st into top of ch 2 (about 61 dc).

Rows 6-13: Ch 2, 1 dc in ea stitch around, sl st to top of ch 2 to join.

Row 14: Ch 2, 1 dc in ea of next 8 stitches,  then make ear flap #1:

1. sc in each of next 11 st, ch 1 turn
2. sc2tog, 1 sc in each of next 7 stitches, sc2tog, ch 1 turn
3. sc across (9 sc)
4. sc2tog, 1 sc in each of next 5 stitches, sc2tog, ch 1 turn
5. sc across (7 sc)
6. sc2tog, 1 sc in each of next 3 stitches, sc2tog, ch 1 turn
7. sc across (5 sc)
8. sc2tog, 1 sc, sc2tog, ch 1 turn
9. sc2tog, 1 sc, ch 1 turn
10. sc2tog, ch1 and then sc down side of flap toward opposite side of where you started the earflap, when you get to bottom, continue row 14:

1 dc in ea of next 18 stitches, then repeat steps 1 through 10 to make second earflap. When complete, finish row around with 1 dc in each stitch and sl st to top of ch 2, fasten off and weave in ends.

Contrast:

In contrasting color, (I used Shocking Pink) sc around bottom edge of hat and earflaps. I would start in back and then join with a sl st at end. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Eyes (Make 2):

In green:

Row 1: Ch 3, 11 dc into 3 ch from hook, sl st to top of ch 2 to join (12 dc).

Row 2: Ch 1, 1 sc in same stitch as ch 1 and 2 sc into each stitch around, sl st to top of ch 1 to join. (24 sc)

Row 3: Ch 2, 1 hdc into ea stitch around, sl st to top of ch 2 to join, fasten off leaving long tail (at least 12 inches).

In white:

Row 1: Ch 3, 11 dc into 3 ch from hook, sl st to top of ch 2 to join (12 dc)

Row 2: Ch 1, 1 sc in same st as ch 1 and 2 sc into each stitch around, sl st to top of ch 1 to join, fasten off leaving long tail (24 sc)

In black:

Row 1: Ch 3, 9 dc into 3 ch from hook, sl st to top of ch 2 to join, fasten off leaving long tail (10 dc).

Assembly:

Attach black circle to white circle using the black tail. (I like it to be off center, but you can make it look whatever direction you want)

Attach white circle to green circle using long white tail, if you stitch it carefully, you can make it so the white stitches do not show on the back of the green circle.

Attach green circles to hat, I like them to be evenly spaced apart from the center, but more towards the front at about row 4 of the hat.

Rosy cheeks and mouth:

In pink (make 2):

Row 1: Ch 3, 11 dc into 3 ch from hook, sl st to top of ch 2 to join, fasten off leaving long tail (12 dc)

weave in center tail, then attach to hat using long end tail.

In black, using back stitch and a tapestry needle, embroider mouth between the two cheeks.

Finishing:

Take 3 lengths of green, 2 of hot pink and 1 each of black and white yarn that are approximately 25-30 inches long (I just eyeballed the length) and loop center through bottom of earflap. Braid for 10-12 inches and then overhand knot. Trim yarn ends. Repeat for second earflap.

For PERSONAL USE ONLY, please do not sell the final product or claim the pattern as your own. I would love for you to share your work, but please link back to this pattern. Please do not republish this pattern in any form. Thanks!

UPDATE: Due to the popularity of this hat, I have had several instances where people have stolen pictures from this post to use to sell this hat which is not only dishonest, but illegal. I have had to watermark all of these images to prevent this from happening more. If you come across any of my photos that someone is using illegally to sell this hat, please let me know by emailing at RisCHandmade@gmail.com

Tips for Staying Healthy and Disinfecting your Home

For a few months now, I have been acting as a Emergency Preparedness and Self Reliance Specialist for my church. It is very different from what I was doing before (I was a secretary for the Primary, which is the children aged 18months-12 years old) and it has been a bit of a challenge for me. Most of this is because I like to be more of a behind the scenes type of person. For this new assignment, every other month, I get to do a quick presentation to the women in our ward (church) on some topic relating to self reliance or emergency preparedness. This is so hard for me, I get so nervous and despite how much I prepare, I feel like when I get up in front of everyone, it just comes out in a jumble and makes no sense. I also think I talk too fast out of nerves so that probably makes it worse too.

This last Sunday, I did a presentation on something that is near and dear to me, preventing infectious diseases. In college, I studied Microbiology and worked for several years in a lab studying infectious diseases after I graduated. One of my responsibilities in that lab was to perform disinfectant tests where we studied the efficacy of different disinfectants at killing various microorganisms (like staph and salmonella). I felt like I needed to share some of the knowledge that I have because of what I studied.


I am not sure if I said everything that I wanted to in that presentation and I think this is good information to share with everyone so I am sharing it on this blog.

The best way to prevent sickness is to keep our bodies healthy. Our bodies can do amazing things when we take care of them. Eat healthy, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, get enough sleep, reduce/minimize stress and think positive. People who think they are going to get sick, often do. The healthier you are, the easier it is for your body to fight infections and although you may still get sick, your body will be able to handle it better and be able to get rid of it faster.

Secondly, most infections are spread, through contact with our hands and then into mouth or respiratory tract. Wash your hands, A LOT. Not just after you go to the bathroom, but before you eat or prepare food, after changing diapers, after going shopping (grocery carts are full of germs), when kids come home from school, after playing sports/going to gym, after sneezing or blowing your nose, after handling dirty laundry.  Also, use soap and make sure you wash them for long enough: sing the ABC song or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star while you lather to know that you are doing it for long enough. Also the most common way of contracting a cold or other infection is from germs getting on our hands and then into our mouth, nose or eyes so avoid touching your face, especially your mouth, nose and eyes so that any germs on your hands cannot get into your body.

Thirdly, you want to keep things clean, but you don't want to be a "germaphobe", it is better to just be what I call "Germ aware". You don't want a sterile house, you need to be exposed to some germs for a healthy immune system. Your immune system needs to be stressed a little to stay active and strong. It is like exercising, you can't not exercise and then one day just expect to be able to run a marathon. There are also good, healthy germs that help keep the bad ones away and you don't want to kill them by disinfecting too much. Focus on disinfecting more when family members are sick to prevent the spread of known disease to other household members, but don't try to keep your home germ-free all the time.

When using disinfectants, You don't need to spend a lot of money. Regular household Bleach is highly effective and strong, but it is also harsh and corrosive so you don't want to use it all the time. The most effective bleach concentration is 10% at room temperature so you need to dilute it with water and DO NOT mix it with anything other than water. Dilute it even more for use in the kitchen and rinse afterwards because it will leave a residue and you don't want to ingest it. I like to use 10% bleach on bathrooms when a family member is sick with a stomach bug. Stomach bugs can spread like crazy and you want to be sure to disinfectant well to prevent them from spreading to everyone in your family. It is also good to add it to your laundry when washing underwear etc (whites only as it will ruin colors) as many stomach bugs can survive your washing machine.

Use vinegar on commonly touched surfaces like door knobs, computer keyboards, etc. It won't kill everything, but it will kills things like cold and flu viruses and it is mild so you can use it everyday, and it won't hurt you if you drink/eat it. Just be careful though as it will not kill microorganisms that are slightly acid resistant like E. coli so I recommend using something else after preparing raw meat (I like to use those disinfectant wipes).

Also remember that time is important when disinfecting. The surface must stay wet for proper length of time for the disinfectant to be effective. Be sure to look at product labels to see what manufacturers recommend for this.

For things that can't get wet or that you can't launder, put them outside in the bright sun for the afternoon: UV rays from the sun will help disinfect them for you. We like to take the pillowcases off our pillows every once in a while and stick them outside to freshen them up.

If you do get sick, STAY HOME. Quarantine yourselves so that you don't spread your sickness to others. 

You also don't want to have to drag your sick kids along to the store or have to go yourself when you are under the weather, so I made this list of things that I recommend having on hand for when you or your family gets sick:

Helpful items to have in case of sickness:  

Food Items: Gatorade/Pedialyte, Saltine Crackers, Canned Soup, Rice, Applesauce, Juice, Popsicles, Ginger Ale or Sprite.  

When sick, one of the most important things your body needs is to stay hydrated. Giving kids juice, popsicles, and clear soda will help get your kids to drink more.      

 Medications: ibuprofen, acetaminophen (Tylenol), Tums, Pepto Bismol, decongestant, allergy medication, Benadryl, other prescription medicines, also a thermometer.  

Make sure they aren't expired and be smart about using them. Follow the instructions on the package and your doctor's recommendations.  

Hygeine/Clean-up:  masks, gloves, household bleach, vinegar(or other type of disinfectant), disinfectant wipes, toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, plastic bags. 

This information is only meant as suggestions and should in no way be used to substitute for a medical care from a doctor.