Costume Parade

Finally, the moment I know you've all been waiting for!  The Halloween photos are here!
Did you guess what their costumes would be this year?  That's right -

 Peter Pan and Company!

 flying away to Neverland

to fight the evil Captain Hook

 (don't forget the crocodile)

 and live happily ever after

 

 I love doing costumes.  It's so much fun to see what I can create, spending as little money (and time) as possible.  The kids have never seen the Disney movie, only the stage play with Cathy Rigby, so they were rather upset when I started making costumes based on the Disney movie.  (James was especially concerned that Wendy's nightgown was blue instead of white.)  However, I was afraid no one would recognize them, so we went with the movie.  And once James was promised a dagger, he stopped caring about the rest of the costumes.


Here's a closer look at what I came up with this year--

 Peter Pan

            James' costume was made from a $2 piece of fleece I found in the remnant bin at the fabric store.  (There's still lots left over for something else, too), scraps from the stash for his belt and "boots" (which just slip down over his real shoes and have an elastic across the bottom to keep them there), and some green pajama pants for leggings.  His hat was made out of an old t-shirt, with a feather left over from the "Little Chief" project.  The beauty of using fleece and knits is that no edges had to be finished, which made the project very quick and simple.  
He and his Daddy made the dagger out of some cardboard, aluminum foil, and tape.
Total cost: $2.00  Total time: about 2 hours

Wendy

 

         I made Ailidh's costume out of some pieces of an old knit sheet I had.  It was probably the simpliest of all the costumes, since I used a pretty basic design that I've used for many other little dresses.  I took a little extra time with it, finishing seams and doing a neater job than I usually do with costumes, since I thought it would make a sweet little nighty for her to actually wear next summer.
I didn't have any ribbon exactly the right color for the sash and hair bow, so I did buy a spool for $1.50.
Total cost: $1.50  Total time: about 3 hours

Tinker Bell

 

             Joy's costume was a lot of fun, but also a bit more of a challenge!  I drew an outline on tissue paper, and held it up to her, then cut it out of a green satin (fabric store remnants bin again) with some scrap muslin for the lining.  I attached the "dress" to a onesie to hold it up.  For finishing touches I made little felt pom poms for her boots and a felt hat out of scraps.  The wings were some little dress up wings someone had given us.  I took off the old torn cover, re-bent the wire, and re-covered it with pieces cut from an old pair of white nylons.

 Total cost: $2.00  Total time: about 5 hours

 Captain Hook

        It seems like Steve's costume is the hardest one every year, and this year looked like it would be the same - especially the hat.  However, it turned out to be remarkable simple.  Which is fortunate, because, once again, I left it until the last possible minute!  Thanks to Mom visiting to help with the new baby, it got finished.
I had an old straw costume hat that I've been keeping for the last 5 years or so (who knows why!) that worked perfectly - we just pulled off all the fake flowers, wet it and bent it into shape to dry.  A few coats of spray paint after it was dry, and all it needed was a feather!  I have discovered that you can buy white ostrich feathers at the fabric store, however, at $9.00 a feather, it was way out of my budget.  Instead, we got a bag of little feathers for $1.50, bent a coat hanger and covered it with white felt scraps, and glued the little feathers all over it.  It was perfect!
The coat was really very simple.  I found a huge red knit bathrobe at Goodwill for $3.50, cut the bottom and zipper off, and took the sides in to make it fit like a dress coat.  I added the pieces I cut off the bottom to the sleeves to make big cuffs.  A touch of velcro at the front to keep it closed, and it was done.  His shirt is just a white turtleneck with lace tacked onto the sleeves and a large piece of chiffon (from a wedding dress I altered) folded and added to the neck.  The sword belt is a piece of ribbon; the sword, believe it or not, my brother made out of an old car antenna and side view mirror.  The hook is the tip of the hanger from the feather, covered with aluminum foil and glued to a spray painted yogurt container.  To finish it off he tucked a pair of black pants into the tops of tall white socks (he didn't have any tall enough, so I bought a pair of girls tights for $3.00 and cut off the top) and wore his black dress shoes.  I originally had visions of "silver" shoe buckles, but ran out of energy about 10 pm, and called it good enough.
Total cost: $9.00  Total time: one evening, plus painting the hat

Which brings us to the cutest one of all...

The Crocodile

           For Declan, I used a little pullover costume I found at a yard sale. I just had to replace the elastic at the top and bottom. (Cheating?  Possibly, but since he didn't show up til 2 days before, I decided not to worry about it.)  The hat I made from the same t-shirt as James' hat, and glued on a felt nose, eyes, and teeth.  The funniest part - I used an apple to model the hat while I worked on it!  Such a tiny little head!
 Total cost: $0.50  Total time: 1/2 hour



So that's that.  The kids loved dressing up and playing their parts almost as much as their Daddy did!

I got such a kick out of seeing them "flying" all around, and seeing the infamous Captain Hook holding the dreaded crocodile so gently and carefully.

 Of course, everyone wanted to hold the crocodile.

 

The girls, especially Joy, weren't at all sure about Daddy with that crazy mustache at first, but they soon warmed up to him, and think his "evil pirate laugh" is the funniest thing they've ever heard.

Now, what are we going to do next year?

 

Welcome baby!

 Two weeks ago today, our newest little man finally arrived!  I had really expected him to come early, like the last 2, so when he was an entire week late, I was beginning to think he would never come!  Little Declan was born at home after a fairly short labor, and weighed 7lbs, 14oz. 

 He has big blue eyes, a few scraps of redish hair, and looks just like his big brother.
He has completely stolen all our hearts!  His brother and sisters adore him.

 

 So that's the big news around here.  I have been doing almost nothing for the last couple weeks.  Usually I have a really hard time "resting", but this time I've been completely lazy and loved every minute.  However, I am starting to feel like it's time to return to the outside world again, so we'll see if I can catch up on all the things I've been ignoring...

costume time

I am so proud of myself this year - here it is only the beginning of October, and I've already started on Halloween costumes!  Most years I wait until the day or two before. 
I really love doing it - I love the challenge of coming up with something creative, spending as little as possible by using all (or mostly all) materials I already have, and the adrenaline rush of a deadline! My least favorite part is working with small, wiggly models as I try to design a new pattern.  But I find that hints of a party and candy to come, works wonders...

Here's some pics from previous years...

A Cowboy and His Cow Pony Dog

Wizard of Oz

don't forget Toto!

Little Red Riding Hood

We tossed around a lot of ideas (this is the first year James has been old enough to really have some opinions; that made it a lot more interesting...) and I was all in favor of something really simple, but James had his heart set on this one, so that's what we're going with.

If I show you a few photos of what I've finished, do you think you can guess what our theme is?

Any guesses?