Happy Halloween! (And FAST costumes!)

My son wanted to be a sword guy after his Mastering Knighthood Summit a couple months ago. He received a foam sword (not pictured, as swords aren't allowed at school) and a shield he decorated there. To make an easy tabard, I asked Summit's Queen Emily. She recommended using a long rectangle of fabric folded in half lengthwise, or even a pillowcase (slit the long sides). Cut a head hole and put a belt on it: BAM. You're a knight.

Like Brooke's daughter and 10,000,000 other little girls, my middle girls wanted to be characters from Frozen. We got storebought dresses from Mom Approved Costumes, which arrived JUST in time. I braided some snowflake Christmas ornaments into Elsa's hair and used gel and hairpins along with white and glitter hairspray. Anna got a white strip of hair (hiding in the back plus more glitter, of course!) and a homemade cloak. I used felt instead of fleece and made the undercape a cape (which Anna's is in the movie) instead of a vest, but mostly followed Eclectic Housewife's Anna Cloak tutorial.

The rest of the morning will be spent sewing on the trim and button.

And of course, we have our troll . . . trolling.

Her costume is a towel cut into a long rectangle. I folded it in half lengthwise and sewed up a couple inches of each side, then cut a head hole. Slip on over a gray sweatsuit, tie on a raffia belt and voila, troll!

She hates it. At least it only took five minutes.

What are your favorite fast costumes?

Tutu Costume Ideas for Adults

So I really liked my McKayla costume, but after having worn it twice and having to explain to everyone who I was, I wanted to do something a little more obvious for handing out candy tomorrow. BUT I had no time and only a tiny budget (spend as little as possible!) Here are some ideas I came up with.


I started with something I already had: A green tutu from my elf costume.

From there I brainstormed several ideas:

Hula dancer: Needed: Coconut bra (white shirt underneath for me) and lei.

Mermaid: Needed: Purple top and red hair dye

Robin: Needed: Red Shirt with "R" on it, mask

Kermit: Needed: Kermit hat and green shirt

 

Tinkerbell: Green top, ballet flats with puff ball, fairy wings

 

What other ideas can you think of for my green tutu?

Toy Story Halloween Costumes

This year, we went easy for Halloween. My older kids used some dress-up clothes my mom sent a while ago, and we put together the rest of the costumes.

"Buzz can't smile!" my 4-year-old insisted.

My youngest was Jessie. We bought a new hat for Woody and used the plastic hat that came with his costume as Jessie's, with a braid made of red yarn taped inside. We took a button-up shirt that fit my daughter and after exhausting all our options, cut a sheet of yellow construction paper to make the yellow yoke (with red marker "embroidery") and yellow cuffs ("bracelets," we told her. She was very protective of them!).

Then we used an old size 6 T-shirt turned inside out. I cut off the sleeves, then cut up the center of the front all the way. The back I cut up to the top collar. That became the back waistband. If I'd had a belt for her, I would've threaded it through the armholes. Instead, I safety pinned the waistband on. I also safety pinned the inside of the legs of her "chaps." A black marker made it cow print.

My husband wore a T-shirt, shorts and Chucks--and a name tag reading "ANDY." I'm not in the picture because I was Andy's mom and was too in character ;) , but I wore an outfit she wears in Toy Story 3.

What are your favorite family costume ideas?

Homemade Costume Ideas

It's about time to decide on a Halloween costume. We love great costumes. Here are some ideas we've shared:

Brooke, her husband, Jasmine and PB were X-Men:  

Storm, Cyclops, Rogue and Professor Xavier 

 

Brooke made that little suit! Cute huh? 

 

Jordan's clan also did family costumes, and she made her daughter's princess dress:

Jaime and her husband were characters from Harry Potter: Professor Trelawny and Snape. 

On Jordan's personal blog, she also has an AWESOME list of family costume ideas. Plus more great costume ideas if you are expecting. Look, they're Phineas and Ferb!

Hope you've gotten a little inspiration!

What are you going to be?