by Erin on November 4, 2008
That’s how the first email I received about the “Obama Cape” started — “A Very Special Cape”. And was it ever!
A few weeks ago I got an email asking if I could do a custom cape for one of the members of Senator Obama’s field campaign in Florida. The email went on to explain that most of the staff members had been putting in 16-18 hour days for months … and that at the beginning of the campaign, she had said that all the field organizers (for both campaigns) should feel like Superheroes because of all the hard work they had been putting in.
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So a bunch of her co-workers wanted to surprise her on Election Day and present her with a handmade, custom, beautiful Superhero Cape … and they wanted ME to make it! They gave me a rough sketch of what they wanted the logo to look like and the wording to say … but above and beyond that they basically gave me artistic freedom to create it however I wanted.
I was THRILLED they had found and asked me. I was TERRIFIED – I had never made an adult size cape, let alone one that was as intricate and detailed as this one. But most of all I was ENERGIZED – what an awesome way I could put my own little mark on this historic election and donate a little of my time to such a great cause.
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It turned out to truly be a group effort. I had my mother in law helping me come up with a pattern for an adult cape, my mom cutting the intricate tiny little letters, my brother in law modeling the mock-up we made for sizing, my sister in law pinning and cutting, my husband encouraging me and staying up to talk to me and let me bounce ideas off him … but it was all worth it. It turned out so great!
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“Botts” is the nickname of the staff member who is now a TRUE Superhero. “Team Florida” is to represent her wonderful team she works with. The 27 is to represent the 27 electoral votes Florida has. And of course, the Barack Obama campaign logo we’re all so familiar with.
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I am so happy that I had the chance to work on this special project. Angela, if you read this, I hope that this Superhero Cape brings you much joy – I know your coworkers were excited to make this a reality for you – you can tell they really appreciate you!
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Here’s to the end of an exciting Presidential campaign and a new President of the United States of America!
by Erin on September 20, 2008
Meet Aubrey:
She’s a Superhero of the most spunky variety — just check out those pigtails and sunglasses! Aubrey is a little friend of Mason’s – so when she wanted a Superhero cape she got to come to our house with here Mama and help pick out her own fabric. Didn’t she do a great job pairing the magenta with the orange? It’s SO cute!
We got together today to play and to deliver her the finished cape — she LOVED it from the minute she saw it and didn’t waste any time running up and down the grassy hill with her cape flying behind her.
Hope you enjoy your cape, Miss Aubrey!
Aubrey’s cape is magenta on the outside and has the Orangesicle stripe fabric for a lining (currently out of stock). The emblem is an orange cotton ball with a purple letter.
by Erin on September 6, 2008
Two of my favorite Superheroes so far are the darling kids of my friend, Julie. Aidan and Halle were both SO excited to come over to my house and help their mom pick out the fabric for their capes. Halle thought I was going to make it right then and there and was a little disappointed when we told her that they wouldn’t be ready for a little while!
I finally got to meet up with them at the park to deliver their capes and they were both SO excited. It didn’t take long for them to both want to start jumping off the rock wall and running around the grass. So cute.
I LOVED the material on the inside of Halles’ cape — I actually only bought a teeny bit of it and haven’t been able to find it since – so right now her cape is a true one of a kind!
Aidans’ is a true boy cape – with turquoise and blue for the main colors, and cheery red and yellow for the emblem. It fit his cute personality perfectly!
Have fun, you Superhero Siblings!
by Erin on August 19, 2008
OK — how cute are these 2 brothers that are the newest Superheroes outfitted by Plum Pear Apple Designs? You can just tell that Connor is THRILLED with his new cape — his mom, Holly, said he hadn’t even had it on for two minutes when he was already flying through the house and yard!
I love the way that the capes for the two boys are similar (same inside fabric and emblem shape) — but individual in their colors. So cute. Connor recently turned three and had a Superhero themed birthday party – so hopefully his new cape fit the bill for what HE thought his official uniform should look like. :)
And of course babies need capes, too! Connor’s little brother, Will, isn’t too steady on his feet yet but is still able to be an outstanding Superhero. He is patiently sitting while observing his big brother zooms around the yard.
Thanks to Holly for the beautiful pictures — you make my capes look gorgeous! Check out Holly O’Keefe Creative for more of her stunning photography!
by Erin on August 4, 2008
First off, welcome Tip Junkie readers! I am so thrilled to have been featured by the wonderful Laurie at Tip Junkie — I’ve read her great blog for a long time and never imagined I’d have something worthy of being featured! ;)
When my friend Melanie from Heart Unfolding ordered a Superhero cape from me for her godson John-Michael – I was so excited because I knew Melanie takes amazing pictures and she’d make my cape look really good! :) Along with the fact that her John-Michael is beyond adorable and HE makes the cape look really good, too!
She said that he loved it and would not take it off all weekend, even apologizing that the cape looked wrinkled in a few pictures because he wanted to wear it all the time. I say that a wrinkled cape is the sign of a well loved cape – so that’s fine with me!
Horray for a new Superhero!
by Erin on August 1, 2008
How cute is THIS idea?! I had a first grade teacher contact me and place an order for two capes — turns out she is a first grade teacher and is planning on using them in her classroom for birthdays and rewards.
What a great idea! How cute would it be to have a Superhero of the Day spotlight? Or have the helper of the week be a Superhero? This could work for both preschools and younger elementary school kids. Such a darling idea!
Her first cape is yellow with the rainbow check inside. It has the cotton ball emblem with a red “W”. The second cape is red with the blue with rainbow dots inside. The emblem is the pow with a blue “W”.
I hope Miss W’s first grade class has a fun Superhero-filled year!
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Some website things: You might have noticed my new button up on the top right of the page. This is to make it easier for those of you that want to subscribe to Plum Pear Apple’s RSS feed. Don’t use an RSS reader? You are missing out! It’s a great way of keeping track of all the different blogs you want to read, in one central place. Some popular ones are Googles Feed Reader (what I use) and Bloglines.
Also I have two giveaways going on right now. One is the MomDot.com giveaway that I talked about the other day (read that post here). You can enter to win a custom cape through MomDot by entering at this post. Make sure you do it quickly – as the contest ends on Monday August 4th!
The other giveaway is being run by my friend Erin on her website East Pecos. She has a friend, Michael, that recently became a teacher and is starting his first teaching position this fall. He’ll be teaching 2nd grade in Albuquerque, NM. Michael is a great guy and will be an awesome teacher for the kids – but since he is a first time teacher his classroom is bare and he wants to cheer it up for the kids! Erin had the idea to post his name and address on her blog and see if people wanted to donate posters, crayons, paper — basically anything that 7 year olds would like — to help him spruce up his classroom.
She then decided to go a step further and provide the incentive that everyone who sends Michael something gets entered in a drawing for a custom cape made by me! Isn’t she a terrific person! You can read more about Michael and his classroom, and about her contest for the Superhero cape at her website. I’m so happy that I am getting to outfit little Superheroes as well as help out big Superheroes!
I also added a new section to the sidebar to list any current giveaways and contests that are going on with my Superhero capes. I’ve had so many great people contact me about donating capes for their wonderful causes … I’m so lucky to be able to do something that can help other people, too!
xoxo, Erin
This little cutie is the nephew of one of my friends in my neighborhood. She was one of my first customers and bought Oliver a Superhero Cape for his birthday!
What a handsome little guy! And it does look like the cape is giving him a bit more spring in his step – doesn’t it! ;)
Have fun, Oliver! I hope you had a great birthday – and I hope you have so much fun with your new cape!
The newest Superhero we have outfitted is Superhero Gweniveve! Like all TRUE Superheros she has a great Superhero nickname – Gweniepants. Look how cute she looks all suited-up and ready to go:
Look how ADORABLE that shadow is of her cute little pigtails – I’m dying here, so cute! And look how FAST that cape makes her run – she’s a pretty fast little girl anyways but in that cape she just ZOOMS!
All Superheros need a break from time to time and Gwenie looks adorable as she take a little rest at the park!
And all Superheroes sometimes get a tad bit cranky when it’s time to go home from the park to take their naps.
My most recent cape is for Superhero Miles. He’s an outgoing, high-energy kid, so I knew he’d need a funky fun cape to match his awesome personality!
His cape is orange with a fun multi-colored circle pattern for the inside. It’s so bright and cheery!
The ORIGINAL Plum Pear Apple Superhero Cape kid! Mason’s the reason that I got into making capes in the first place. I’m sure you’ve read the story – but we borrowed a cape from my sister-in-law for a photoshoot I was getting done with Mason. He LOVED the cape and ended up not wanting to take it off for days. I decided he needed one of his own and so I made a pattern and embellished it with a custom emblem and his original blue and yellow cape was created.
Please note: my initial emblems are now hand sewn, not machine sewn. If you like the look of the machine sewing better – I can still do that for you. :)
Here’s one of the pictures from the photoshoot we had with Michelle Coleman of Little Dreamer Studio. I LOVE how all the cape pictures turned out!
