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Halloween

From Fairy to Flamingo—An Upcycled Halloween Costume

Today, over at The Train to Crazy, Andrea posted this photo of Grace:
 (or maybe I should say Grace’s shadow)
Right now Andrea has her Handmade Costume Series going on and today we are participating by sharing a costume creation of our own.
 
Here’s what we came up with.
(Or I should say Grace came up with.)
Here’s the problem with my kids and costumes:
They change their minds every other day about what they are going to be for Halloween and I usually don’t know until about an hour before we Trick-or-Treat what they are actually going to end up being.
 
And what they end up being is NEVER normal.  Some notable costumes include: A Shrieking Eel (from The Princess Bride), Spaghetti and Meatballs, a cheer leading ghost, and an elevator. 
 
Wait…that is a lie…the elevator costume was never worn…only partially completed…half way through the process Simon found a can of silver spray paint and the elevator costume was changed into a robot costume.
 
Domo Arigato.
 
Which brings me to the point of my post.  For me, what to wear for Halloween is a fluid concept.  (Maybe I should be more firm with my kids but I figure Halloween is the one day they can be who or whatever they want so we go with it.)  Which means we’ve got to be able to pull together costumes from items that we already have and without a lot of notice.
 
Two days ago when I talked to Grace about what she wanted to be she thought a pink flamingo sounded like a grand idea.  So a pink flamingo it was.  However, today she wants to be a vampire baby.  Anyway….back when we were thinking pink….
 
To put her costume together we put on her black leggings and a pink shirt.
Then we pulled out her fairy suit from the dress up bin.
Next we added the wings that I made for the Riley Blake Fabric Fest Fashion show.
And then we topped it all off with a feather boa from a past costume and one of her pink feather hair clips.
 
Wah-lah! 
Instant flamingo.

Now I’m not saying National Geographic is going to mistake her for the real thing but she felt flamingoish…and happy…and cool.  And that’s what it’s all about (for me anyways).



 
 I know my style of putting together costumes isn’t for everyone.  And yes, my kids are the ones walking around with a note pinned to their costumes so that every adult they pass doesn’t ask them, “What are you supposed to be?”  But there is a part of me (a really big part of me) that loves that…loves their ca-razy ideas and helping to put them together.  I only hope their ideas stay creative forever.
 
So as we head into October I’m prepared to put together at least 15 different creations before we settle on one…and honestly…I’m looking forward to it.
 
Thanks Andrea for inviting us to participate in your series. 
We just love things like this!
-liZ

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Comments

  1. christina says

    too cute! my kids have finally decided. now i have to make a snake, a frog and an eft salamander. this is going to be a tricky year. at least no fur to sew with it:)

  3. Mmmmm...cookies! says

    Apparently Wub is a costume sticker. Last year she wanted to be Spiderman. I asked her if she wanted me to make her a spider girl costume. (I had visions of spider web tights and sparkly skirts.) “No, Mommy I want to be Spiderman. I know he’s a boy but it’s just pretend and he’s sooooo cool.” And who can argue with that? In an off hand comment I said “Well then next year you can be Firestar and the year after you can be Iceman.” (We watch the 80’s version of Spiderman in our house.) She’s consistently asked at least once a month since then how I’m going to make her Firestar costume and what we are going to do about her hair for the Iceman costume.

  5. Beth Cavanaugh says

    I always put off the costume making till the last minute for the same reason! My daughter so far wants to be Rapunzel this year, which I’ll probably go ahead and start, since it can go in the dress-up bin if she changes her mind!