Halloween is such an exciting holiday around our place. We always do our best to think of costumes and characters that no one else would choose. My kids love dressing up and thoroughly enjoy the attention. So we have to make it as difficult as possible by first eliminating any and all costumes bought in a store. The challenge is really on my shoulders to come up with creative costumes without breaking the bank. I don’t have a sewing machine and even if I did, my knowledge of how to use one is pretty limited. So I begin with making them choose who they want to be and then I get busy. It’s always fun to use bits and pieces of things I have laying around to make their costumes and then step back and admire the finished product. They are always so proud and it makes all the mess and the hard work seem worth it.
This year Jessica chose to be a “Mad Scientist”. She was SO excited about her costume and planned the vast majority of it on her own. We used an old lab coat that has been around for ages and then built it from there. Purple cleaning gloves from Wal-Mart, crazy tights, goofy magnifying glasses from Michael’s, goggles and a beaker from her Granny’s 5th grade Science class and she was all set to go. I added a few finishing touches like her wild hair and a glow-stick packed inside her beaker with saran wrap to make a special effect. She looked hilarious!
Levi loves the bow and arrow so this year he decided to be Robin Hood. He was not enthused about the little pointed Peter Pan style hat so we decided to make him look a little more like Kevin Costner. (Mom prefers him too! Haha…) I started with an old cape we had laying around. We added daddy’s long sleeved green shirt and his big sisters black tights and we had the beginning of a great costume! Dad bought real arrows and spray painted them brown and then made him a quiver with some scraps of faux leather we had left over from an earlier project. The buckle holding it on is actually a woman’s belt that I got ages ago and was too large for me. The huge belt around his waist was previously used for a Santa suit and his boots used to belong to a pirate. He looked much sweeter than Kevin Costner when we were finished with him!
Judah has developed an obsession with Legos and neck ties this year and since it was the first time he has taken interest in what he was going to be, we felt we had to comply. He wanted to “be a Lego Man and wear a red tie”. I think we pulled it off pretty well but this was definitely our most challenging costume to date! I made the body with cardboard and spray paint. The tie was made with red poster board. The head was Daddy’s project and took two whole days to construct. It was made from a water jug turned upside down. The eyes are stickers and the mouth was cut out with a saw and then covered with lining from one of my skirts so he could see out. The little circle on top was made from pvc pipe and screwed on top. Daddy went all out and even used thick foam to line the inside like a football helmet. He sure turned a lot of heads this year. He was “super” cute!
