...because we all have our motley moments!


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

In Honor of October 7th...

...I've decided it's officially time to panic a little about how quickly October seems to fly by. We have a birthday to celebrate this month AND halloween details to attend to. I'm not sure why I always wait til the last minute to put halloween costumes together, but I'd really rather not stress myself out this year. I love to make the kids' costumes, or at least assemble them from things I've found to create a character they are familiar with. I try not to sew the entire thing...that's way too time and energy consuming!


Isn't this picture hilarious? I told them to look sad because they are lost and hungry...pretty good, huh? I have much better pics of them in costume, but this one was too funny!

Last year, they were Hansel and Gretel. I ordered real leather liederhosen (used) from eBay for KID 1 (that's how I bribed him to be Hansel). All he needed were suspenders and knee socks to finish the look of a little German ragamuffin. KID 2 wore a handmade gown I found at a consignment sale for a few dollars. All I had to make for her costume was an apron and a kerchief for her head. The apron was actually a ruffled pillow sham that I cut in half and sewed onto a long  fabric band (to tie it in back). I sew a mean straight line. Anything more complicated than that requires supervision.

Anyway, I'm thinking Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf will be making an appearance this year. Daddy can be the Woodcutter and Mommy can be the Grandmother. I will definitely be hitting the thrift shop for my granny dress and any extras we may need to finish the look, but we've got everything here except for the red hooded cape. If you've got one I can use, let me know. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get sewing...yikes! Pretty sure I can stick to straight lines for this one...right?

And the birthday...how badly does a three year old need a birthday party? I mean, seriously! Maybe I'm a horrible mother for saying so, but I really don't think they need big parties with friends every single year. Are you tying the noose right now?

What halloween awesomeness do you have planned? I know Rachel's son will be beaming his Buzz Lightyear laser at his friends for halloween. Does anyone else dress up with their kids?

12 comments:

Bryssy said...

I always have lofty goals as far as Halloween goes. However, we really don't do trick or treating. The kids dress up for school and we do the Fall Fest at church.

This year, I suggested that we do Peter Pan. Contessa as Tinkerbell (I got the costume at a garage sale for $1 - brand new), Bryson as Peter, me as Wendy and daddy as Captian Hook (I have an adult pirate costume). But, now Contessa wants to be a beautiful princess.

So, I have a feeling we'll do what we normally do. Go to the dress-up box a couple of days before and make-up some costume. One year, Contessa was a Cinderella Bride/Doctor. She wore a white princess dress complete with veil with all her doctor gear. Who needs a prince? Right?

As for birthday parties, we didn't do a 3-year-old party for Contessa. She had a small party when she turned 4. I figure it's a big enough party with family...certainly a friend party is not needed! But, it's hard no to feel the pressure when there are so many other friend parties going on!

Liz said...

Ethan said, and I quote, "I want to be a dinosaur for Halloween so I can scare Aunt Terri." So a dinosaur he shall be. I'll probably make him a green vest with "spikes" on the back out of felt and construct some sort of tail to put on green shorts. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! Micah is going to be a cowboy since we already have all the stuff from when Ethan was a cowboy 2 years ago.
As for birthday parties, I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping it small or keeping it to just family. Having 2 boys with birthdays 3 days apart, I think I'm going to be doing a lot of "combo" parties, at least until they're old enough to complain.

Pam said...

This year, Alex wants to be the Hulk, and I am treating myself because I am going to buy it - brand new! I am thinking of dressing up too. I am thinking of being a witch because that has really fit my mood lately. Why not assume and embrace the whole character? I think we are mainly going to dress up here and hand out candy. We will go to a few houses, but we still don't know that many people and we don't need that much candy!

Maria said...

I love Walmart for costumes! I don't typically sew anything so I look forward to buying a costume of the girls' choice each year.

This year Sarah will be a Flamenco Dancer and Syd will be a Princess (again). I buy them a month early and the kids are forbidden to wear them after the first try-on day. They pine for them a whole month and then get to wear them.

After Halloween, the outfits join the others in the dress-up bin and they are worn to rags for the next year.

I usually don't dress-up unless I have a grown-up party to go to.

Donna said...

Liz, I have a purple and green dinosaur costume you could try with Ethan. It has a hood, but the face part is all open. You're welcome to try it!

Pam, you're gonna be a hilarious witch! ;D

Bryssy and Maria, you both must have great costume chests! I remember dressing up all the time as a kid...we'd put on talent shows, plays, dances...it was awesome. We were awesome as far as we were concerned!

Anonymous said...

I do the same--scour the house..with 4 kids we can get quickly out of hand as far as budgets go. My girls are still brainstorming but have been told they can use their recital costumes in any way they can think of. The costume consists of a multicolored tu-tu. My suggestions have been a flower, clown, butterfly, dragonfly, or the old ballerina princess standby. My oldest was a shipwrecked sailor last year. He wore Poppy's old cracker jack navy uniform (yellowed and stained), wore an old life jacket, carried an old seabag, and sported flip flops. Hubby has tons of hunting and firefighting gear and those too have been used. I love to be creative and use what we have. I also really get into the make-up and go all out if they let me! This is usually all done about an hour before our trunk-or-treat at church. I love doing something for nothing. Bring on the challenge!

Liz said...

Really, Donna? That would be AWESOME! Thanks!

Rachel said...

Yes, our little guy is transforming into Buzz Lightyear this Halloween, and he has tried on the costume already. It is adorable! Thanks to Bryssy for that!

I really wanted him to be Charlie Brown--wouldn't a yellow polo shirt with some felt attached be super-easy but really cute? He wasn't interested. Hey, if you can be a superhero...

I don't think you have to throw a birthday party, but we wanted to. Our little guy has been dreaming of a party for the past year after going to those of his friends, and when he woke up last Tuesday and I wished him a happy birthday, his eyes lit up and he said, "It's my turn?" It was precious. I tried to keep it simple so that it would be fun for everyone (including me!), and aside from the incredibly loud pressure washer in the next shelter at the park, it was exactly what he wanted--to eat cake outside with his friends. In my little mommy world where I struggle constantly with whether or not I'm doing things right, it was nice to know that such a simple thing made him so happy.

So, do whatever brings joy to your family! It's a special day, and I'm sure your little one will feel special no matter what you do "officially!"

Donna said...

Thanks, Rachel! Sounds like good advice. I guess I need to gauge how important a party is to our birthday girl and what level of party she requires! ;) That's sweet that he was excited for "his turn" to eat cake with friends on his birthday!

Liz said...

That is such a precious story, Rachel.

Karly said...

I usually let the kids pick a store bought costume because I am so not crafty, and it is what they really want anyway. I mean, how am I going to make two transformer costumes??
And then we add them to our dress-up bin. Which is full to overflowing. But I think they are worth the money because my kids will wear them for months.

For birthday parties, I haven't done big ones for the kids for the last two years. Family or a few friends has great and the kids are happy. And I am not stressed out or spending tons of money. I don't think every year has to be a huge party, as long as the day is special. I mean, I want to keep the bar low and build as time goes on, ya know?

Although, this year I might do a combined party with friends and make it a little bigger. We'll see!

Lindsay said...

For Halloween I have a small budget to buy (or make) the costumes. This year Sage wanted to be Wall-e (is anyone surprised?) Have you seen those prices??? I REALLY wanted to let her be Wall-e but it would take every penny of what I had budgeted and she refused to let me make her Wall-e ("It's not REALLY Wall-e"). But thankfully Avery decided she would wear an old dance costume, and Capri is going to be Tinkerbell from when Sage was 2, so Sage does get to be Wall-e and she is THRILLED. It arrived yesterday. She will wear it everyday after Halloween I'm sure (but not until then).