It Was A Happy Halloween!

I'm the third zombie from the left.

Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday, but unfortunately the past few years have been pretty lackluster because I didn't really have anyone to celebrate it with. This year was the best Halloween I've had in a long time! First, I got out of my creative slump and made a pumpkin plushie for my niece (see previous post) which she loved. While playing JMKit's Halloween game, which was released yesterday, I noticed that I make a cameo as a zombie at the end (see picture above). How awesome is that? To be featured in a game made by your favorite artist is really an honor, and as a zombie nonetheless! Finally, I spent the evening making cute little Halloween treat bags with my friend Jason. I hadn't seen Jason in several years and we had tons of laughs while catching up. He just bought a new home and this was his first year handing out treats to the neighborhood kids and I was glad to help out. I didn't wear a costume, but wore a $5 tee I bought at Walmart that had a rib cage and a stitched up heart on it. My monster hoodie came in handy as the night got colder. I did get a little freaked out at one point during the night. The street was free of trick or treaters and I looked up and saw Michael Myers lumbering down the street. He stopped in the middle of the street and turned around and stared at us for a few seconds. The costume was really good, so I was a bit uneasy for a few minutes. lol Even though I didn't get all dressed up and attend any parties, I still had a great time! Thanks to my great friends and Michael Myers for making this a very memorable Halloween!

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin plushie I made for my niece, Allie, for Halloween this year.

Here's wishing all of you a very happy and safe Halloween!

The Shark Hoodie

I'm super stoked about this creation! I received a request in my House of Plush Etsy shop the other day from a customer who wanted a shark hoodie as a Halloween costume similar to the monster hoodie I currently have listed. At first, I wasn't going to take the order because of my lack of confidence in my abilities, especially when it came to making the fin. While mulling it over, I googled "shark hoodie" to kind of get an idea of how this thing was supposed to look and I found a tutorial for a children's shark hoodie by Martha Stewart. Her instructions on how to attach the fin made of "industrial felt" (which I had never heard of) did not help me in the least, but I found her templates for the eyes and fin to be quite useful (I referenced it while making the eyes and fin for this hoodie).  

After discussing it with the customer, I finally committed to making it, but let her know that if I encountered any problems with the fin; I'd let her know immediately so she could make other arrangements for Halloween.  I went shopping for supplies the following day and was thrilled to find the illusive industrial felt that Ms. Stewart had mentioned in her tutorial.  It was a different color grey than the hoodie, so I sewed regular charcoal colored felt on each side of the industrial felt to make sure the fin had a more uniform look when attached to the hoodie.

I wanted to find a way for the customer to be able to attach and remove the fin easily.  Velcro seemed to be the easiest answer, but would be really noticeable if the customer wasn't wearing the fin.  I opted for sew on metal snaps instead and they worked really well!

I shipped the shark hoodie off yesterday and I can't wait to hear back from my customer!  I've already gotten a lot of positive feedback on this project from friends and family.  I hope my customer is as thrilled with the results as I am!

If you'd like me to make you a custom shark, monster, or creature hoodie, feel free to contact me and we'll work it out!