Last year, the boys were
MacGyver and his side-kick, the Swiss Army knife.
This year I decided we should all be involved in the fun..you know,
make it a family event. This may be the last time I really get away with
"picking" since E is already shouting out opinions for next
year...which all include a sword and shield.
So
for one girl {albeit quite pregnant} and three boys, I went with the
Wizard of Oz gang. I had originally planned to make/piece together all of
the costumes in some form or fashion. But when my mom gave me a toddler
lion costume that she bought from Costco, I didn't turn her away.
Here's a bit of the break down for the rest of the gang...
The tin {toddler} man
Much
of his ensemble he already owned: shoes, hoodie {we went with a gray
long sleeve for the actual day}, and pants. I made a heart out of red
felt, embroidered "if i only had a..." on the front, stuffed it, and
safety-pinned it to his top. I bought a huge funnel at a local hardware
store along with some chrome spray paint. It originally was tied with
jute string but kept falling off so I switched it out to thin elastic.
That did the trick and he kept the hat on for the entire night.
The
axe is made from gray and brown felt and stuffed. I free-handed a
pattern which worked great. The biggest problem came with making it
stand up straight..that's where W came in. He added some cardboard and a
skewer to reinforce the structure. Perfect...well, enough to hold up to
a wild toddler hacking at air.
I added a bit of silver face paint to boot.
{this was pre-elastic..he was pretty bummed that it kept falling off}
Knocked-up Dorothy
I found a really simple and easy tutorial
here
{she's not the most UN-annoying person ever} which I just sewed instead
of using the fabric glue she did. It's basically a skirt and a bib
piece tucked into the skirt. I also used her glitter shoe tute in the
video too. Since my gingham fabric was really see-through, I added a
white lining. And I had zero petticoat luck at the thrift stores so I
added some lace trim.
I
really wanted to add that red tulle underneath too and have it just
peek out a little. But I didn't find a tutorial that was workable enough
and simply ran out of time {and energy}.
I
made an over-sized red bow with felt and leftover gingham since
pigtails & pregnant felt way too wrong. ;) Threw on some of W's long
socks, a red cardi and I was ready to roll.
The scarecrow
W
already had everything but the hat and corn cob pipe. Both of which I
picked up at the party store while getting face paint. My MIL had made
the brown pants over ten years ago for a Renaissance fair and his shirt
was thrifted for the same event. His was the easiest!
After
pictures with my parents, we headed over to our friends' neighborhood
for trick-or-treating. We did much better than the three houses from
last year although we were up way past the boys' bedtime.
It
really felt like E's first year this time. We practiced what to say
each time and that kid said "Happy Halloween" or "Thank You" with so
much gusto at every house. As he trotted back, he'd give me his candy
and announce how many pieces he got. If he got more than two, he'd say,
"It's because I'm a lucky, lucky, lucky little boy." A movie reference
we use often with him. Love that boy so.
the whole gang!
until next year...