Halloween 2012: A World of Pure Imagination

I love making Halloween costumes. I really do. Something about it gets me so excited. I know when I have more kids I may not be able to handcraft everybody's costumes like I've done so far, but in the meantime, I am enjoying every minute of Halloween-costume craftiness. Previous years here, here and here. 

***For previous Halloween Posts, see:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2010: UP
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings
Halloween 2015: The Force Awoke

I also know at some point Calvin will realize that children generally choose their own costume for Halloween. So far, he thinks that Halloween is where Mommy chooses something and makes a neat costume for you to wear. We are going with that as long as he'll let me.

This year, we are Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa. Thanks for Amberlyn for taking the pictures! Here is an inspiration picture:

Calvin as Mr. Willy Wonka:

Willy Wonka Costume - $14 total

Tuxedo Jacket- $4 (DI Thrift Store)

Fabric Spray Paint in Lavender - $3 (Hobby Lobby)

Vest- $0 (had on hand)

Purple embellishment for vest - $1.49 (Joann Fabrics)

White shirt - $0 (had on hand)

Dress pants - $0 (had on hand)

Shoes - $0 (had on hand)

Cardboard for hat - $0 (had on hand)

Fabric for hat - $2 (Joann Fabrics)

Fabric for bow tie - $1 (Joan Fabrics)

Ribbon for hat and bow tie - $0 (had on hand)

Dowel for cane - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Drawer knob for cane - $1.49 (Hobby Lobby)

I painted the Jacket and added decoration on the vest with a hot glue gun. The bow tie is made from a long strip of fabric and tied pretty. Besides that, all I had to make was the hat and the cane. The cane is just a painted dowel with a fancy drawer pull on top of it. The hat is the only thing I made from scratch. Here's how it went: 

I started with a priority mail box and formed it into a circle, cutting strips at the top and the bottom. The top strips got folded in to form the top of the hat, the bottom strips were folded out to form the brim.

I hot glued a circle of cardboard on the top to make it solid. and the edge of a paper plate around the brim to do the same. Then I bent the cardboard to shape the brim.

I began covering the hat with the fabric using Mod Podge, beginning with a circle on the top.

I just painted the hat with Mod Podge and kept covering and pressing down the fabric as I rotated the hat. Calvin took this picture!

Lastly, I put a ribbon around the bottom edge, covering up the ugly seam I had. That's it!

Next is our little Oompa Loompa!

Oompa Loompa Costume - $15 total

Brown turtleneck - $3.88 (Wal-mart)

White bias tape for stripes - $1 (Wal-mart)

Heat N Bond Transfer Paper - $0 (had on hand)

Fabric for pants - $2 (Joann Fabrics)

Velcro for suspenders - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Tights - $2.88 (Wal-mart)

Brown fabric marker for tights - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Big Buttons - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Pom pom balls - $1 (Hobby Lobby)

Felt for booties - $0 (had on hand)

White cream makeup for eye brows - $1 (Wal-mart)

Kool-aid for hair dye - $.25 

To make my Oompa Loompa, I added stripes to a turtleneck shirt using white bias tape using Heat N Bond transfer paper. You could also sew or hot glue these on as well. I drew stripes on the tights with a brown fabric marker. I tried to find some white pants to begin with, but couldn't find any so I decided to just make them.

I used a pair of shorts that I knew fit him well and turned them inside out to make a pattern from them. Then I added the triangle sides to my pattern, cut everything out and sewed it all together!  

Here's the shorts before I added the suspenders. I just hot glued the buttons on the front and back of the pants after I sewed the suspenders on.

To make the shoes, I covered existing booties with brown felt.

 I love these brothers.

Other Halloween Years:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2010: UP
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings
Halloween 2015: The Force Awoke

Tricks and Treats

So, it is official. Calvin's favorite thing maybe ever is trick or treating. He absolutely loved it. He shouted "trick or treat" all day today, asking if it was time yet. Then, when it was finally time, he ran from house to house, shouting "next one!" We went for about an hour before he got so tired that we went home. Now I have to figure out what to do with all of this candy...

My favorite thing about Halloween is making costumes. I think maybe the best ever was Calvin's last year. I had big plans for one for him this year, but since Linus came early, I simplified. I did make a costume for Linus, though. Behold the little candy corn:

He liked it a lot better with his hat off.

The costume was super easy to make (only 20 minutes) and materials were really cheap (only $2.70 total).  I just laid Linus down and traced a candy corn shape around him, allowing a little extra for a seam. I marked where his armpit and shoulders were too. Then I sewed the orange and yellow together and turned it right side out. I then cut out some arm and head holes and added velcro to the top to fasten it. Super easy!

 

I embraced my nerdiness and went as Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games. I liked what I found at various thrift stores, though I did wish I had more money to spend on a better wig. I probably should have struck a more serious pose, but I just don't think I can come across as very hardcore.

I am most proud of my homemade Mockingjay pin. It's just 3 pieces from Michael's hot glued together!

 We had so much fun for Halloween and thanks to pinterest, I am already working on ideas for next year!

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood

 All Calvin wanted to be for Halloween this year was Christopher Robin. He has been talking about it for months about how "on Halloween, I'ma dress like Christopher Robin an knock on the door. An say Trick-or-treat, an then they gonna give candy to Christopher Robin."

I have to say that it was a pretty simple costume. We went for the classic C.R. from Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree:

All I had to do was buy him some black Mary Jane shoes. He loves them. All morning he has been playing outside with his Pooh and Tigger stuffed animals, pretending he is C.R. I have made his little dreams come true.

I love this one.

Coming soon-- mine and Linus' costumes!

Halloween

For Halloween this year, Calvin was Russell and Tyler was Carl Fredricksen from "Up." I was so excited about making this costume.

****For previous Halloween Posts, see:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2012: A World of Pure Imagination
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings
Halloween 2015: The Force Awoke

Russell's outfit had so many little things to put together. I loved figuring out ways to scale everything down to Calvin size. It was a lot of fun, and I was so happy with how it turned out.

I worked a lot with PhotoFabric, a colorfast fabric that has a paper backing to allow you to put it directly into your inkjet printer. I was able to then print images of merit badges and the Wilderness explorer logo for his sash, hat, and little flag. At first I had some problems because the thick fabric paper would jam every time I would try to print on it. I was ready to give up, but decided to just pull the fabric away from the paper backing and just stick the fabric into the printer. I had to be careful to make sure the fabric wouldn't bunch as it was pulled through, but it printed out perfect the first time! It was amazing- I just printed these out!

Then they have you run it under water until it runs clear, and then you iron it.

Then, I just cut them out and sewed them on the little sash I made!

Russell's backpack was pretty easily made with a variety of things I found at the thrift store nearby. I was able to find the perfect little things to go on it. I got some various tiny pots and pans, and a little handbag with a long strap to become his backpack. I cut the straps off and made little backpack straps and straps for the bedroll with it. I got a little dog harness from the dollar store, and it became all the little brown straps that I hung little carabiners on to carry the pans, compass, rope, flashlight, bugle, etc. The rest of the outfit was just some Russell-ish articles of clothing that Calvin already had or that were easily found.

The BEST part about the costume was that Calvin LOVED it. Seriously, when he'd see his backpack around the house, he'd beg to put it on. He has been wearing the costume since Friday and has never once wanted to take the backpack or hat off. This costume was exactly his kind of thing!

On Friday, we went to our church Halloween party. Everyone loved his costume again this year as he won the costume contest again! Our chili also won the Chili Cookoff for the 2nd year running (I have to give all credit for this to Jennifer)! We had lots of fun! And between the clanging of his backpack and the balloons tied to him, we could hear and see Calvin no matter where he was at the party! A great unforeseen perk of this costume!

On Saturday, we went trick-or-treating at Macey's (the grocery store-- I'm not misspelling the name of the department store). Calvin didn't really get the idea of going around and holding out his bag for candy, and instead just wandered around the store, finding himself being tripped over by the other trick-or-treaters. He began causing quite a disturbance when people started getting out their phone and taking pictures of him. One woman took a picture, and then another man ran up saying, "You're doing pictures?!" and whipped out his iPhone to snap a quick shot too. I felt excited and flattered that they liked the costume so much, but then get a little scared as shoppers started to stare to see what the ruckus was. We left shortly afterward. Calvin loved the attention.

Sam and I went as Red and Mokey from Fraggle Rock. These were a little more whipped together and not quite as polished as Russell, but I was very happy with the product nonetheless. Let me tell you though, if you ever need colored tights, don't waste your time trying to find them anywhere. We went to about 15 different stores and finally found purple ones, but never found yellow. Save yourself some time and just buy white tights and dye them. The dying didn't take long and they ended up just the color we wanted. Also, I was happy with the wig I made for Mokey. Only took yarn, a hat, a glue gun, and an hour.

Phew! I am pretty burnt out from crafting costumes, but so glad that everything turned out well. I don't know how I can ever make a cooler costume for Calvin, though. I need to start planning now for next year.

Calvin trying on his not-quite-finished costume for the first time. 

*****For those interested in making this costume, I found the merit badges here. Just print them whatever size you need them, cut them out, and sew them on a sash!*****

Other Halloween Years:
Halloween 2009: Where the Wild Things Are
Halloween 2011: Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood
Halloween 2012: A World of Pure Imagination
Halloween 2013: I've Got No Strings

Pumpkin Smash

Halloween was just so great this year! That seems to be the general consensus anyway. Our Halloween was no less than really awesome. Friday, I spent the day frantically finishing costumes for our church party that night. I was buying accessories, cutting, sewing, and hot gluing like a maniac all day. We were also going to bring a chili to the chili cook-off that night so I also had to buy ingredients for that and make it while getting Cal and I dressed. I was so grateful that Carson came home in the middle of the flurry and could shred chicken hot off the George Foreman while I bustled and hustled to get out the door.

The party was so great! There were really good costumes this year- the highlights being Hagrid and Hermione (which was a little awkward when they were holding hands...), Cruella De Ville and Jasper, packages of Skittles, Mr and Mrs Pac-man, Princess Leia and the little Ewok Wicket, and others. Of course everyone's babies were so cute. We went as Wild Things with Calvin as Max, King of the Wild Things. I love his costume. It was really easy to make and I think it turned out great! (The hardest part was removing the giant embroidered Tigger thread by thread from the front of the sleeper. That took a couple weeks and couldn't have been done without help from Victoria.)

Tyler's pants took the longest.

Some people thought he was Shrek.
That'd be bad Shrek costume, but a pretty good Wild Thing.

Not only did we have fun, but we won, too! Calvin won best baby costume, and our chili won Best Chili. Both of these contests had very intense competition. But I think Calvin's costume is very cool, and since we used our friend Jennifer's amazing recipe, I was sorta hoping to win. Jennifer, your chili is amazing. We have already made it again since we didn't get to eat enough at the cook-off.

So that was Friday.

After Friday, I just wanted a fun, but not-too-intense Halloween. I spent the morning making an apron full of harvest colors to cook in later in the evening. I bought some fantastic orange Tulips when I went out for more ingredients for the evening festivity. It still felt like a pretty busy day, but I felt like I was living life so fully. Like really enjoying the finer things in life. That's a good feeling. We had fun as a family and then had our friends Dave and Kate over that night for Iron Chef: Pumpkin Battle. It was less of a battle actually, but no less delicious. It was maybe like if a couple of Iron Chefs got together some weekend with a theme ingredient for some sort of exhibition.

Tyler caramelizing the onions and pumpkin.

Here's the menu:
Hearty Bread with melted Gouda and a rich Pumpkin Spread
Pumpkin Sauce Penne
Japanese Kabocha Soup with Sesame Oil
Almond Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Is your mouth watering yet? It was so delicious. It was everything I had envisioned for this pumpkin exhibition. The best part about it is it didn't leave me feeling pumpkin'd out. I would do it again this week. And I found a neat recipe for Pumpkin Gnocchi that I didn't even get to try yet. Man, do I love pumpkin.

Witches why I love Halloween.