Wish you were here...

We've just spent a great week in Jersey.
The sun shone every day and we got to see all of our favourite people and places.
Whenever it was warm enough the girls played on the beach.
It made everyone happy.

Les artistes

Well, the one shelf of Halloween candy in our local Super U has already been replaced by two aisles of Christmas chocolates but I promised you a costume round-up so here it is.

First up Florence who was a little French Artist.
I was inspired to make this costume after I posted the pictures of the mess she had made with a permanent marker on our bedsheet. The act of putting that first picture up on the blog actually made me quite fond of her artistic efforts so I decided that as there was no hope of ever budging the marker from the sheet I might as well cut it up and preserve her art in a Halloween costume.

I used the art smock pattern from Little Things to Sew by Liesl Gibson and just like any Oliver + S pattern, it is a joy to sew, which is just as well considering I didn't start cutting it out until 10pm the night before the party!

Even though I had only left myself a few hours to get this costume put together, I still couldn't stop myself using french seams like the pattern recommends. When in France...


Or changing threads numerous times to match my contrasting fabrics. For, the record, I decided by the end that using the thread colour of the dominant fabric (cream in this case) would have been best from the start. If I ever make another one that's what I will do.


As I progressed with the project I could tell it was going to be something Florence would get use out of way after Halloween so I decided it was worth putting the extra effort in to make sure it holds together through numerous washes. Totally worth staying up past midnight to making contrasting bias binding that you can't see from the right side!

For such a simple looking design this pattern is full of clever tricks to make it come together neatly. I particularly liked the way the neck elastic and binding are sewn under the center back facing. A neat, time saving trick. Didn't quite get it right, the binding should have been tucked under the facing before I edge stitched it, but by this time I needed it done and out the door!

And while I'm confessing to mistakes, here's a biggie that will bother no one but me. I wanted the 'original design' to be centered at the back, but I got confused about what were side seams and what were center back seams so I cut it wrong. Maybe I will learn my lesson in future and cut out patterns in the morning when I'm a bit more awake and I can see what I'm doing?

Once the smock was all sewn up, I dug out the beret from last year's Christmas photo and a couple of paintbrushes and she was good to go. I love the finished result and so does Florence. It was an easy costume for her to wear and she actually likes wearing that hat. The thread count was so high on that particular bed sheet that the sewing machine needle could barely punch through it so I'm hopeful this smock will repel all sorts of paint and marker activities for several years to come.


What's left of the bedsheet has a new life as a drop sheet, and was perfect for protecting the floor while Georgia and Savannah added their own artistic flair to their Halloween costumes. Whilst browsing the racks at Claire's Accessories a few weeks ago, they were inspired to turn themselves into 80s girls for Halloween. We picked up a couple of neon tutus (which I could have made myself had I had any neon tulle or time!) and some neon fishnet gloves (surely can only be made in China?!) and then bought a plain white t-shirt from the sale rack in H&M.


We thought decorating the t-shirt with bright paint splatters would add the perfect 80s touch whilst keeping a bit of the handmade that has been traditional in the girls' costumes ever since I made flower bonnets (to match India's flower fairy costume) when they were six weeks old.


We used some acrylic paint that I've had in the craft drawer for years, and which I know from bitter experience doesn't wash off clothes once it dries! The girls splatted the paint over the front of the t-shirts and matched the colours to their tutus.


It took a bit of practice to get just the right splattering technique, but the end result was just the effect we were looking for.


When the girls were all little, Halloween photo shoots were a big deal and would often result in the best photo I took of them all year. These days, I am lucky to get one photo of them in costume as they dash off down the street and this is the best I have of Savannah but I think you can see that she captured the look not to mention the excitement of the day.

Georgia glowing in the dark. It took some convincing to persuade her that the tulle headband was authentic. That was a last minute hairstyle addition and it was only as I was tying it on for her that I remembered it should really have been lace. How could I forget? My one small act of rebellion at school when I was her age was flouting school uniform rules by wearing lace ribbons instead of the regulation grosgrain ones!

And last but not least... India who started off the day with her friends as a Disney Princess of which there is no photographic evidence, but went trick or treating with them as a colour. She was white - all pulled together from her own wardrobe but sporting the white go-go boots that have featured in all three big girls' Halloween costumes over the past few years.

So there you have it. For some reason, Halloween is the one time I seem to be able to make time to sew for all the girls at once. This year it was fun to have all of them participate in the making. I wonder what we will come up with next year?

Expat Halloween

Happy Halloween!

This post is dedicated to Sara Louise in Le Petit Village who woke up this morning with a bad case of the expat blues on account of the fact that she's not expecting any Trick or Treaters to come knocking at the LPV tonight. We happen to be on vacation in Sara's neck of the woods down in Provence right now so we celebrated Halloween early with all our expat friends last week, much to the bemusement of the French neighbours in our Paris suburb!

On the last day of school before the Tousaint break, the girls were all allowed to go to school in their costumes (even sixth grader India) for a musical parade through the corridors and a craft party in the classroom afterwards. I somehow managed to find myself responsible for Georgia & Savannah's third grade craft. After a bit of online searching for the perfect craft that could be completed by 46 third graders with minimum mess and maximum success in less than half an hour, we decided on this simple and effective idea from the craft blog Skip to my Lou. Orange, white and black tissue paper, decoupage glue and some empty jam jars are all supplies easily and cheaply found in France (unlike many of the requirements for other Halloween crafts out there in Blogland) and the pumpkin and ghost lanterns were a huge hit with the third graders. They particularly enjoyed putting into practice the art teacher's advice to apply the glue with their fingers. I was skeptical but it actually works much better than paintbrushes and is so much more fun!

As you can see, they added the perfect touch of friendly spookiness to our front porch to welcome all the trick or treaters we had that night.


The pumpkins that Florence and I picked the day before were carved into Jack O' Lanterns by Georgia and Savannah and their friends with minimum input by me. Apart from cutting off the tops, they scooped, designed and carved everything themselves. A welcome exercise in letting go on my part and an activity that kept them entertained from the moment they got home from school until it was time to go out and trick or treat.

The trick or treating itself was a huge success. Just like last year, we joined with our expat neighbours to hand out candy to all the girls' school friends. Kids in the USA tonight may not need a map to make sure they trick or treat at the right houses, but I doubt they will collect much more candy than our kids did! There were ghosts, cowboys, vampires, Disney princesses and ballerinas swarming the streets as if it was a regular American suburb creating such a fun and friendly atmosphere that we all quickly forgot that we were out begging for candy a week early! I am sure our French neighbours think we have lost the plot but it was worth it to re-create our favourite American Holiday here in France.

Back home for the traditional candy count. Watching the kids absorbed in this activity is my favourite part of every Halloween night.


A traditional Franco-American candy haul.

I love celebrating Halloween with my girls. I didn't grow up trick or treating in Britain so I have no pre-conceived ideas of how it should go, unlike Christmas or birthdays, leaving the girls free to create their own traditions. At it's best in the States it's simple and fun and rarely frightening when little ones are involved. After eleven years my girls are yet to choose to wear a spooky costume. This year, Georgia & Savannah were '80s Girls' circa 1984, India was an 'ironic' Disney Princess and Florence was a little artist. More on the costumes tomorrow...

Red, White and Blue...

parades...


...and popsicles too!










An all American day especially enjoyed by the US Citizens in the family!


If you were celebrating, I hope you had a good day too!

Running away to the circus

Tomorrow is the last day of the school year for India, Georgia and Savannah. The last few weeks have been a whirl of end of term activities, the most of exciting of which have been the extended field trips.


Georgia and Savannah spent a week with their class staying in this former château in Chaudon, an hour west of Paris, learning all the tricks of the circus.


This was the longest time either of them had ever spent away from home and we missed them. With just two kids at home, the house was disconcertingly quiet so I was glad when Friday came around and we could pack a picnic and set off towards the big top to see the end of week show.


The show did not disappoint. We had received letters from the girls during the week telling us which circus acts they had been rehearsing, but it was a surprise when Georgia appeared in the ring with a microphone to tell the first clown joke. Her school reports always say that she needs to be more outspoken and confident so this was testament to what a benefit this trip was for her.


Savannah specialized in juggling and hula hooping.


And they were both stars on the big red ball.


Sisters happily reunited.

After a class picnic in the château grounds, we went for a little walk around the village. Just an hour's drive away from home, we were deep in the countryside and the architecture was completely different.




The best poppies we've seen this poppy season.

When we first told the girls we would be moving to France, the piece of information that most brightened their spirits was that they would get to go on this trip at the end of the year. It has been tough for them to change schools and make new friends and there have been many difficult and lonely days in the course of this year. They came back from this trip filled with joy, having loved every minute of it and with their friendships with classmates cemented. It created such a positive end to the year and will help them enter the new school year with a lot more confidence.