the eclectic eel: summertime clothes.........

my goodness! it's been awhile, hasn't it? i've almost forgotten how to blog! we've been busy bees and believe it or not, i (mamaeel) have actually gone back to work on a little more than part time basis. not to the office, but to my first love....co-op records! it was my dream job as a teenager (what child of the 90's didn't dream of working in a record store?) & it came to fruition on july 15th 1999. that was my first day and what a surreal day that was. well, now here we are 12 years later & i'm back. a little older, wiser and the only mother amongst the other record slingers. we have fun, and most days i can't believe that i get paid to do what i do! and best of all, business casual doesn't apply!
so, besides being a mama & wife, slinging records & crafting every chance i get, we've been busy hitting up water parks, hiking on days that aren't too hot, going to story hour @ the local library, spending time with family & friends, and taking in live music! this weekend we had the pleasure of going to pitchfork music festival in chicago. this was H's 2nd year and he was definitely more active this time around! i think he literally said, "hi" to every person there and better yet, he thoroughly enjoyed shaking his little tush to the live music! while we tried to express the magnitude of what he was witnessing, "son, that is thurston moore!" he wasn't impressed & only cared that the man on stage was providing us with a danceable tune. this child was full force all day & by the time animal collective played (they closed friday), H was so exhausted he was fast asleep about 2 songs in, which means he missed, "brother sport," his favorite animal collective song. we tried to wake him to no avail, so i had no choice but to dance enough for the 2 of us (literally-i was wearing H the entire time & my back is now in dire need of an adjustment!). haven't heard that song, or seen the video? well, here it is just for you! they've definitely embodied the spirit of paul simon in this song, so don't be surprised if you find yourself wiggling around a little bit.

since we were going to a music festival, i wanted to make H something special to wear to celebrate the occasion. last year he wore this adorable kung fu cotton shirt that belonged to my niece when she was a baby (she is now 22 & is getting married next month!) & while it was a little big at the time, sadly it doesn't fit too well anymore. didn't he look too cute, though? god, i love this picture!

i'd seen these adorable wings on pinterest months ago & wanted to make them & figured pitchfork was good enough of an occasion as any to wear them. you can find the tutorial i used for the wings here; http://llevoelinvierno.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-alitas.html
it's a pretty great blog! she gives measurements for the wings, but since her little one is older than mine, i just measured H's arms & back so his wings would be a good fit. i cut out the base of the wings from material that looked "pretty" from both sides. it's a woodland themed tapestry we've had that has been used for everything from making a slipcover for H's glider that we picked up at a garage sale before he was born, to a floor pillow i made for H, to a wall hanging, to this and there is still some left!

i used everything from scrap material to dad's old shirts for the "feathers." i really like how the different prints & colors came together!

it was mildly tricky to get the right placement of the first feather onto the wing backing, but once i got my rhythm, it was smooth sailing.

before i knew it, i had a set of matching wings! i used my rotary cutter to trim up the edges & then i took some ribbon and made neck ties & two little arm straps.