No Sew Unicorn Costume DIY

Scarlett wanted a unicorn birthday party so I thought she needed a unicorn costume to go with it!  It was so easy and turned out really cute!

This DIY costume was so easy anyone could do it!  It didn't take long at all and I didn't even need to sew anything.

All I did was buy a white sweatshirt and leggings.  Then I glued a big pink felt oval on the chest.  The horn was the hardest part.  I stuffed a white triangle felt piece and rolled it up into the horn shape.  I then put a felt on the bottom, wrapped it with gold string and hot glued it on.  The ears are more glued on felt.  The main and tail are probably the coolest part and to make those I just wrapped the string around a very small pillow twenty times. Cut the ends, tied it together in the middle to form a clump and hot glued that on.  I repeated that about 15 times for the main.  The tail is just a larger version on the same thing but safety pinned on.  There is another tutorial online that goes into more detail, so search on pinterest for that if you need more explanation.

I gave Scarlett the costume as one of her birthday presents before her friends party.  

On the day of her birthday I told her she could wear whatever she wanted.  She chose to wear an Elsa dress.  She wore it to the library story time and all around the house.  

This next picture was really funny to me.  Right when she opened the card she was so excited there was a check in it.  She has very little understanding of money and we always just stick the money into her savings account.  But sometime she has switched from just ignoring checks and money to knowing that it is something that she really wants.

This snow globe was probably one of her favorite presents.  I got it for 25 cents at a garage sale.

I let her choose the meals all day on her birthday and we had pancakes for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and chicken nuggets for dinner.  Scarlett thought it was great!

Mailbox and Antenna

Over the holiday weekend we had time to get a few extra projects done around the house.  Actually Bob did most of it, but I'm glad he had time to get it done.

This first one is our new mailbox.  Our mail has been getting stolen quit a bit and so we knew we needed a locking mailbox.  I really wanted to move our mailbox.  Right now it is in a group down the street and around the corner so we can't even see it.  Several others in our neighborhood have their own individual box at the end of their driveway and I wanted to do the same.  But after talking to the post office several times they told me that I can't do it.  I think they were just being grumpy.  I know the mail lady drives right by my house and she is on the right side of the street so it wouldn't really be a problem.  Plus it is my mailbox so I was about to just move it anyway and see what they did.  Aside from birthdays and Christmas we usually just get junk mail so I don't think I'd be too upset if they withheld the mail.  Anyway, we decided to be nice and keep it where it was in the group spot.

There it is, the big black shiny one.  I saw this combo one that locked but didn't require a key, but it kept being out of stock and once it came back it the price rose by double and it wasn't worth it to us.  Bob got the house numbers to put on the outside, but I couldn't do it.  They just didn't look nice.  Instead I put them right on the inside of the mailbox where the lady puts the mail.  I'm sure they can figure it out.

Our next project was an antenna on our roof.  We've been paying way too much for Comcast.  We get internet from them and just basic tv channels.  Instead we cut the bill in half and got century link, it isn't quit as fast but is has been able to stream Netflix.  It also doesn't come with any tv channels at all.  After researching it a bit I found out that we can still get the basic network channels for free with an antenna.  So instead of paying monthly we bought this $50 one and set it up.  It doesn't get as many as I thought it should for our area (we are pretty close to Seattle where they broadcast from) but it does get the ones I care about, PBS, FOX, ABC. and CW so I'm happy.  And it isn't that noticable from the street.

It isn't the dish on the corner, that we have never used and I think it looks bad and want to take it down.  Bob thinks we should keep it up for the next people who live in our house.  Looking at this picture you can see all the trees.  No wonder we can't keep the moss off our roof and it doesn't pick up all the channels.

The next step was to hook up the cable wires.  Bob and Tucker had to wire it under the house in the crawl space.

These two projects took most of the day so we didn't really go out and do anything fun.  But it does feel good to get things done.

DIY Cardboard Box Castle

For Penelope's princess party I really wanted her to have a castle.  So Bob and I made this cardboard box castle for her and it was basically free.  All we had to buy was the packing tape.  This tutorial wil explain how to build your own cardboard box castle.

Materials Needed:

3 or 4 Gigantic cardboard boxes (We used oven size, but refrigerator size is best.  I got some boxes from friends and others from stores.  We got our biggest ones from behind Lowes.  Most stores are willing to give you their used boxes for free, just make sure to turn them inside out so they look nice and uniform.)

2-4 Large boxes for the tunnels and archway

Packing Tape

Sharp knife

1) The first step is to plan your castle.  We decided to do three towers and one tunnel.  If I had more space I would do 4 tours and three tunnels connecting the towers.  In this next picture you can see the tunnel.  Don't forget to plan the door openings and windows. I used one opened up box for the front arch of the castle.

2) Next just get out your knife and start cutting.  I hate cutting cardboard this is the hardest and most time consuming step.  After the first top I used it as a pattern so they all matched.  Make sure you do the doors on the correct sides.

3) Lastly just tape it together and you are done!  You just bought yourself hours of child entertainment for practically nothing.