The Roar of Bowser

A couple of months ago, I posted this goal on Go Mighty (and here on this blog):

Make a Bowser Costume for My Foster Son Before He Leaves Us in March

To be honest, I had hoped that J, our foster son, would forget the promise to create a Bowser costume. I had no idea how to even start and with limited time in trying to take care of two little ones plus befriend/mentor their very young mother, building a costume seemed impossible. Plus, I was struggling on how to translate the literal image of Bowser into fabric and felt.

As often happens, the deadlock was broken with a simple reminder. One of my quilting friends saw my blog post and dropped a quick email of ideas and advice. “Remember,” she wrote, “imagination can fill in a lot.”

All you parents out there may be shaking your heads by now, but for me, it was a revelation. Duh. I’d seen J use a vacuum attachment as a sword. And in our home, where we did not allow toy guns or even the word “gun”, J had quickly figured out how to build fancy “machines” out of Legos which shot out ice bombs or fire bombs. Imagination….of course.

Armed with that conviction, I sewed and cursed and sewed and finally cobbled together a semblance of a costume. My goal was his birthday in March and with several very late nights plus some hand sewing done in the office on conference calls (shhh), the costume was mostly done.

Unfortunately, between the mother, the grandmother and me, we can’t find any pictures of J in his costume, even though we know that they exist somewhere. Even if I had them, I couldn’t publish them anyway. So without further ado, the components of the Bowser costume:

The front + look at those adorable gloves!

That tail!

Me modeling the hood

It is hard to describe what it feels like when you *make* something and a newly five-year old boy’s  eyes light up with joy. When he throws down his current toy, and immediately shucks off his clothes (that’s not too hard to imagine if you know little boys), struggles into the costume then runs off, tail swinging behind him, with a shout that he’s “GONNA GO SHOW CHRIS!!!!” 

My heart exploded into a million pieces that even now, with the kids happily back with their mother, is not fully put back together.

Pattern:  Simplicity 1765

Materials:  Fleece, more fleece, fiberfill, felt, zipper

Missing:  Fierce arm bands, a spiky shell

Bowser Therapy

Bowser - just your basic dragon/turtle bad guy with penchant for mohawks and ships.

Bowser - the ubiquitous villain from Nintendo's Mario Brothers game is just your basic bad dragon/turtle hybrid guy. He enjoys roaring, throwing fireballs and most of all, kidnapping Princess Peach who by now I think pretty much digs it as revealed in this hilarious video by College Humor.

Nonethess, when J, our foster son, joined us in October, he had never played video games before. It was our logical first step in the middle of the chaos of being placed with a stranger-to-us 5-year old. We had no toys, books or even a bed, but we did have Wii and Mario Kart.

Turns out, in the aftermath of a traumatic separation, video games provided him the perfect outlet to release frustration and grief. There were tears and yelling – but it was aimed at the game and eventually, with enough determination and grit, he fought his way through levels and began collecting the coveted Mario Galaxy stars.

Along the way, J (who cannot be pictured due to confidentiality issues), developed quite a fondness for Bowser, the ultimate Mario bad guy. Who knows why, but nothing Bowser threw ol’ Mario’s way could dissuade this love. When I jokingly suggested one day that I make him a Bowser costume, the idea stuck. And unlike the suggestions for eating vegetables or drinking milk, this one has been pursued with a vigor that has surprised us all.

So I've added this to my Life Life (it has to be a quick one!) on GoMighty.

Make a Bowser Costume for My Foster Son Before He Leaves Us in March.

So, now it is off to Pinterest, Joann’s and crafting sites to figure out how in God’s name this costume is going come together.

Sewers and crafters, your ideas and suggestions are welcome. In a rare instance to a foster case, this one will have a happy ending and I’d like to send him off with his costume.

Link Round Up - Crafty Goodness

Oh, for an extra hour in the day! There would be no limit to what us crafty types would accomplish!

Of course, sleep is always a terrific option too :-)

• For those of you like Chris and me who think the crust is the best part, these lattice cookies look to die for.
• Can art be practical? Yes! Especially if you have tons of thread laying around. Make them beautiful with this framed spool holder.
• Just what I need...another afghan to make. But this Missoni pattern and the colors have already spurred me to look through my yarn stash.
• Once we figure out how to bring more light into the hallway, these herb planters are going up. It's not like we don't have plenty of mason jars.
• This painting is definitely going to be made for the new office. I planned it even before I picked the office colors.

I can tell I am going to be busy when the choir season ends.

A Little Bit Obsessed

You know it's bad when the fabric lady at Hobby Lobby says "another bag?"

Bag: Basic Messenger Bag

Fabric: Hobby Lobby

Hello, Adorable

A missed day of blogging means a new treasure for my closet!

This year, I am trying several different tacts to stave off the yearly blues that the dead of winter can commonly bring. My first strategy was to hit the mall with some Christmas money and my sister. New clothes certainly do help.

Another strategy is to create. The spring and summer are a veritable storm of natural creation. There is green and sunlight, gardens and abundance. So, I decided to make winter the season of my own creation. Creating is even better in color.

Hence, this little treasure...

Pattern: Phoebe Bag

Fabric: Hobby Lobby

Friday Link Round Up

I don't know if anyone else's week has been exceptionally long, but mine has. Whew. So yippee for Friday. Especially because tomorrow is the Lafayette Oatmeal Festival - where I plan on consuming my weight in oatmeal - and also a much-anticipated Sister's Day.

So to celebrate the close of another week, here are some links that I found inspiring or moving in some way. Enjoy!

• America: Too Stupid to Cook - a mini-manifesto on America and cooking by Michael Ruhlman. Preach it, brother!
• Cutest stamps ever. So love the argyle patterns you can make with these.
• A powerful and moving essay by Roger Ebert (yes! the movie critic) on life without what most of us hold sacred.
• And last, just what a craftygirl needs before the weekend starts...100 Best Craft Tutorials of 2009. I already have fabric for the bags!

Have a great weekend!

Ummm, yeah

So I will admit to being a bit absent here on this blog. I say at least once a week..."I need to update my blog!" and then going about working on my crafts, cooking, singing, working...and it's two weeks later and then two months later!I am back, yet again. With no major goals to update regularly, which is probably good because I don't think I have many readers (hi mom!) but I think I do need to get my write on. Just a bit maybe.

The haps around here? Oh, so much. Besides the crazy that is my job which I don't discuss here anyway, I've been wildly practicing with my two groups getting ready for our two early fall shows! Early fall shows means summer practices but Christmas off - so it all balances out in the end. I would encourage everyone (hi, again Mom!) to come check out our performances. We have new directors for both groups and a new freshness and energy.

• Modern Broadway by the Northland Chorale on 10/23, 10/24 and 10/25. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.
• To Touch a Hundred Flowers by Sine Nomine on 11/21 and 11/22. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

We've also got a new member of the family. Introducing the very sweet and eminently lovely Jeely.

And my beloved mean green Taurus (aka Taurai) finally bit the dust at 199,685 miles. I have a wonderful new car but every time I see the Taurus sitting out in the front, I still think I would've liked to have gotten those last 315 miles! We are going to give it away and if anyone has a suggestion of a good charity, I would appreciate any ideas!

And lastly, I've been a crafting fool. My new house means a new scrapbooking/craft area - just for me! And nothing helps fuel a passion like a space to do it in. Even a tiny space. I've also discovered online classes. For a mere $20 (or so) per class, I can be challenged and learn new ideas. Happily, one of my all time favorite scrappy inspirations is hosting an online class on making a very cool minibook. A link to the class shop can be found here. Here is are a few examples of the patterned paper lusciousness that came with the class kit.

Seriously nom.