With Halloween coming up, surely you're already scrambling to get costumes together. Before I dive into showing you some of our past Halloween costumes, I felt the need to write a good girl Baptist disclaimer: Why I don't boycott Halloween anymore. It made me feel better to clear the air before posting any Halloween pictures. So, thank you for allowing me to feel better...Plus, it was interesting to hear some discussion yesterday from both sides. THANK YOU to those (few :-) that participated!
For today's post, I thought I would post 3 different costumes. I have others I'll share in the upcoming days... Today, I want to show you 3 costumes that are easy to create at home--you could even get your kids involved!
So, let's talk creative costumes!
First of all, I can take no credit for this first costume. It was created by our very talented summer photographers at our summer camp, for a party one term. Our photographers this past summer had creativity coming out of their fingertips. Plus, we just loved them to death!!! (The photographers, not necessarily their fingertips...)
Can you tell what this first costume is? (And what an adorable little girl modeling!!)
Yes!! It's a Nutter Butter cookie! Isn't that SO FUN?!! They took one of those egg crate foam mattress pads and cut 2 pieces shaped like a peanut. They attached the sides (stapler?), leaving holes for the arms and cut out a place for a face. Isn't that creative--and EASY?! I'm sure there are plenty of variations you could even think of using this foam.
This next costume wasn't for Halloween, but for a party during my daughter's summer camp term. My daughter wanted to dress up as a green crayon. I knew we could take green poster board, and wind it around her to turn her into a crayon. But, I knew she would be running around, dancing, and sitting--so I wanted to create something easy for her to move around.
I purchased a Large men's green t-shirt at Walmart, for my daughter to wear as a tunic, and some green leggings. However, green leggings aren't easy to find. So, what do you do when you can't find green leggings? Hold on and I'll show you!
But first--how do you create the Crayola logo for the t-shirt? I didn't know...but Billy, one of our favorite camp photographers EVER helped me out! (Okay, so he did the whole thing...but I stood by, providing moral support!)
Billy googled "Crayola" to find an image of the basic Crayola logo. He then enlarged it, and printed it out (on several sheets of paper, to get it large enough to cover the t-shirt.) He carefully trimmed the logo, and taped the pieces together so they matched up. He also took scrap computer paper, taped it together, cut a large oval in the middle, to create a "paint shield" to keep the shape of logo.
He placed the green t-shirt on the ground, and carefully laid down the logo and paint shield--and started SPRAY PAINTING the logo black! Did you know you could spray paint a shirt??? Who knew? Billy knew--that's who! (He created several spray paint shirts last summer. They are even machine washable!)
After spraying a couple of coats to get the logo dark enough, he very carefully pulled the logo papers off. I believe at this point, he also let the t-shirt dry a bit.
And voila! Look HOW AMAZING it looks!!! Hi, Billy!!! Rebecca thanks you for such a cool t-shirt!
Now, I know you can purchase green crayola costumes online for $30... But, isn't it a lot more FUN creating your own? (If your answer is no, then I don't even know why you've read this far into my post! You just click on off now, and drink another cup of your light soy caffeine free cappuccino. (Is that even a real drink?) You know I am KIDDING, right? I have done my share of purchasing when life gets crazy. Last year my girls were Darth Vader and Princes Leia, compliments of the shiny polyester costumes from Walmart! And my girls couldn't have been prouder!
Oooh, but don't forget about those green leggings I couldn't find ANYWHERE!!! What is a girl to do without green leggings???
Well, she MAKES SOME...with green spray paint! Billy inspired me so much, that I thought, "What the heck! I can spray paint, too!"
I bought cheap footless tights at Walmart. I think they were on sale for $1. Then, I bought a can of cheap green spray paint--maybe $2?
Spray, baby, spray! I was careful to make sure to spray evenly. Now, I KNOW these green "leggings" aren't perfect. But, they're cute, and they're creative.
Sorry I didn't get a picture of Rebecca in her completed outfit. She was at summer camp, you know! I didn't think the camp directors would want a hovering mother peeking into the camp gates with my camera on party night...
Other spray paint t-shirt costume ideas? How about a Reese's on an orange t-shirt? Or...Starburst on a yellow t-shirt, Butterfinger on a golden t-shirt, Laffy Taffy on any bright t-shirt, Snickers on a dark brown t-shirt... I've got to stop--I'm getting hungry!
Okay, so I saved my favorite for last... These are costumes I could have made at home...if I knew howto sew! But, since I don't... I actually ordered them from a lovely site online--The King's Daughters. I stumbled onto the site (or maybe my husband did?) when I googled "Little House prairie dresses." The King's Daughters has darling dresses like these--all beautifully hand-made. When I called to order, the lady on the phone was so sweet in helping me select just the right dresses and fabrics.
As you can tell, this was a Halloween about 3 years ago. I know we spent way more on these dresses than we ever do for costumes, but we felt like the girls could get a lot of use out of them, which they did! I cannot tell you how many times we have loaned out the dresses for girls doing school projects (Author Day--Laura Ingalls Wilder; Pioneer Girl costume; even a Colonial costume when she wore just the simple blue under dress.) Every time we loaned out the dresses, my husband always said, "We should be renting those dresses to help re-coup the cost! If you know my wheeler-dealer husband, this doesn't surprise you in the least!
Anybody else need to borrow a prairie girl dress? Size 7 or size 3 toddler? Oh yes--they come with a bonnet! Aren't they precious? If you are looking to purchase a similar dress on The King's Daugters' site, it is the Melinda dress, and Girls Prairie Pinafore. The same fabrics are still there, too.
Someday when I am old, and my girls are all grown with families of their own, I will look back at this picture of my sweet "Laura and Baby Carrie" prairie girls, and I will be so glad we bought these dresses. This picture just makes this mama's heart glad.
What are some of your favorite creative costumes???
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