posted by Lily on crafty, crochet, family

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Abby’s gone off to a Mario party this evening … Charlotte and Michelle’s 15th – or should I say, Mario and Luigi!  Oh my, you should have seen them all – it was so colourful and wholesome and fun.  There were Princesses, mushrooms galore, overalled plumbers, and all manner of characters I couldn’t put a name too.

Charlotte’s Dad had provided for some marvellous Mario Kart building (15 girls, each with their own foundational cardboard tea chest and plenty of coloured card, pens, tape, glue and all manner of decorations) whilst Charlotte’s mum was busy inside putting the finishing touches on tables groaning with party food and lots of mario-inspired games. After they’d built their karts, they had races around the block … Abby was still laughing when she arrived home hours later.

And Abby … why she went as a toad mama … the toad in charge!  Things have been super busy around here with essays to write, drug calculation exams, babysitting, parent teacher interviews, and life, but last night, after getting home from the last of the interviews at 9.30pm, I settled down with the crochet hook and got going on the costume.

A crocheted red cap (left over Beaverslide from the Blaithin) with lots of wee crocheted white rings  sewn on with the long tails I left at the start and finish.  A t-shirt appliqued with mario-styled mushrooms (vlisifex, the busy mama’s best friend in the sewing room)  - smallish on the front and a giant one on the back.  A pair of red and white corduroy pants – lovely fabric, so soft and cosy, made with our go-to pyjama pants that’s doable in under an hour!  A pair of mushroom slippers … that needed a wee bit of repairing from the days of Toph the mad dachshund who just couldn’t keep her teeth off them.  And a basket full of baby mushrooms, ready to be sent out into the magical world of Mario.

For Michelle, Abby asked me to make a felt dinosaur – apparently Michelle loves dinosaurs.  However, I didn’t have a dinosaur pattern so tried to make do with a polar bear one instead – change the shape of the head, add some spikes and a spiky tail  - that will work, yes?

Sort of.  Lesson learned?  If you’re going to fiddle extensively with the pattern, don’t leave it until 2 hours before the party  (no, mum, I still haven’t learnt this lesson), ’cause when you wind up with a strange pointy red bit, sticking out from under the dinosaurs tail, whilst stuffing the dinosaur in the car on the way to the party, there is nothing you can do about it.

What you definitely shouldn’t do is roar with laughter until the tears are running down your cheeks after you point out this unwanted piece of anatomy to your fourteen year old daughter.  Apparently, 14 year olds and 42 year olds don’t find the same things funny!

oops!