Ack! There's a Monster Eating my Head! {A Carnivorous Hat}

My oldest son, Weston had been eyeing all the funky winter hats. He especially liked the ones with ear flaps and the strings or braids hanging down with pom-poms.

Well, I aim to please! Coming up with a handmade gift to make him for Christmas was easy peasy.

I flew by the seat of my pants with this child-eating hat though. No one was more surprised than me when it actually turned out so good!

First I found a printable pattern for a hat with ear flaps (sorry! I can't remember where I found it....I was in the haze of holiday midnight crafting...) I cut the hat from a fifty cent sweater....yep, that's right. 50 cents!! I know. So cool. And, boy it was a pretty ugly one. I think the sweater is much happier being reincarnated into a hungry monster hat.

So, after I had the lining and outer hat pieces cut out, I added a row of fleece teeth and stuffed striped knit horns.

I braided three strips of fabric....two strips of the striped knit and one strip of green fleece and sewed those in before I put in the lining. Once it was all put together I added the eyes and the fleece pom pom to the top.  For the pom poms on the braids I unraveled the sweater. 

Weston....you look a bit too happy for one who is getting their head eaten though, dontcha think?

Ok. There's a little more terror. Thank you. (This shot was taken right after he opened it on Christmas morning...er....more like afternoon by the time we got home from church and back to the opening of presents! :)

Hmmmmm....we took a lot of pictures, didn't we? Well. We were having fun....

Oh my. This boy is so much fun. He didn't want me getting his jammies in the pictures at first. But then he decided he didn't care.

While making this hat, I had to plop it on my head every so often and race to a mirror. Then I'd giggle in happy anticipation of Weston opening it. And, boy....that was an awesome moment. He was THRILLED! That monster, Floyd (as Weston named him) perched on his head for probably three days straight. 

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Projects we are (or need to be!) working on....

(By the way....all of these photos are kifed from pinterest or other's sites and blogs. I wish I already had all these stuff made.)

I'm planning on making some funky winter hats for the kids. You can check out my idea board Here. 

Bandana backpacks. Weston is making these for his brothers and filling one with a prank kit and the other with a magic trick kit that he's putting together himself.



Sam is so excited to make Zoe this puppet theater. He started working on a different version MONTHS ago but it's kind of large, so I think we'll switch to this smaller version? I don't know. But he's also made her some popsicle and pipe cleaner puppets....lol. He's so cute.



Weston is making this bandanna apron for Zoe (except in pink. of course.)




Weston again....bath tub paints for his wee sister, Molly who adores bath time.




Sam is whipping up some of these bean bags for Weston to help him learn to juggle. Apparently it's better to start with bean bags (that whole rolling away thing can be a bit of a nuisance with balls)




Giant pick-up sticks....Sam is planning on making these for Emmett



Zoe is hoping I will make her a mermaid doll.....but I'm not so sure I'll be able to squeeze this one in.




I wish I had time to make her wee little pixies, too. So cute, right?




I think someone should put this together for Sam. He loves building forts.



Zoe is going to make this for Molly....simple and fun! Molly loves pom poms and she loves stuffing things into things (well...mostly taking things OUT of things....but still....)




I was hoping to get some of these whipped up for Zoe while we traveled this last weekend, but I didn't. I read Ella Enchanted to the munchkins and slept instead (or tried to....) and attempted to keep the wee baby happy. But I'd love to make Zoe some felt food. They're just so darn stinkin' cute.

I'm going to help Zoe make these fun Lego tie tacks for her brothers. Isn't that the coolest idea?




So, my nickname for Molly is Monkey. How perfect is this Molly Monkey pattern? And it's so cute! I want to make it for her. So bad. Maybe? If I stay up all night?



Dress Up suitcase only in girly colors for Zoe.  Although I don't know. Maybe I'll cover the suitcase sides with cute fabric instead. Like this...




Ok. That is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg people.

AND I need to get massive quantities of writing done. And I need to make gingerbread houses, buy some presents, get things shipped off, wrapped up, plan a party for some little girls in my church AND keep the true meaning of Christmas in my heart. Oh and find a tree and decorate it and and and....

I thought I was going to simplify Christmas this year. *sigh*