We went to our first Fall picnic with the other families from my hubby’s post last week. But due to inevitable marital communication discrepancies, I found out just days before that this was in fact a Halloween party. With children donning costumes.
You’ve never seen a woman hit the shelves of craft stores with such tenacity and pterodactyl-like precision…leaves, check…black wool, check…fall berries, check…black fabric, check…Aaarrrrggh!!
Sewing machine, ON…google “how to thread a bobbin”…again.
Unearth flashy belts and necklaces and fabric and glitter.
Boil kettle again.
I had, after all, been talking up these fantastical characters to my kids for weeks…the Autumn Fairy Queen and Cap’n Jack Sparrow, to be exact…and they were beyond stoked to don their costumes at school, but mentally I still had a whole week to pull this stuff off.
I’m sure I looked as though I was strung out on something inappropriate as I raced through the aisles muttering things under my breath about holidays requiring costumes and the sheer absurdity of it all.
But then I found my sweet spot. Glue. Glitter. And tea.
I was up until the wee hours last Tuesday night, armed with a large pot of tea, a glue gun, a bazillion glue sticks and more packages of leaves, berries and gold sprigs than I could count (all found on 70% off clearance at Michaels, woohoo!).
I glued those suckers onto an old wing frame (that I’d ripped out from under the couch) until I couldn’t see straight. I only disfigured a few fingertips and glued her wings to the countertop twice in the process. Not bad. Of course, I totally forgot to snap a “formal” picture of the back side of her wings…which turned out SO beautifully!
Bug’s costume was mostly assembled from odds and ends from around the house, a pirate hat he already owned, and a head-wrap made from the remnant of Bean’s outfit, which I then braided thick black wool through, and added some beads and a gold leaf.
I’m quite sure I had as much fun putting these together as they had wearing them.
I wrapped a long dowel with scrap fabric, glued it in place, then wrapped it with a Autumn garland…glued a Styrofoam pumpkin on top and called it a “scepter”. She just beamed and made me feel like the smartest woman alive. I love that girl!
Oh, and this dude…
A simple white collared shirt and black pants are the base outfit here. I found a cheap $1 black sleeveless shirt on clearance that I simply cut up the middle to create a vest, which is held in place with a belt (which I tied scrap fabric to on one side). A large buckled belt from my closet, strapped across his chest (over one shoulder and under the other arm) was the perfect thing to attach his $1 pirate sword to…with a rubber band.
Captain Jack also happens to be sporting a nifty medallion around his neck that looks remarkably like the Carnival medal we earned last week on the cruise for pulling off the worst rendition of Bruno Mars’, “Just The Way You Are”. Into microphones. On stage. In front of numerous intoxicated people.
Because we believe allowing ourselves to look like morons in public on occasion is good for the soul.
I just want to kiss those piratey little cheeks!
The majority of Bean’s costume was haphazardly stitched together from a pair of heinous orange curtain panels I picked up from at a thrift store a few months ago. For 10 cents (yeah, baby!).
Then there was glue. And leaves. And more leaves. And all those other things you see glued on. Once everything was assembled, I simply sprayed it all down with gold glitter spray.
Her crown is a small candle wreath that I simply tied some clear elastic to (which sits under her chin and behind her ears)…bam! She’s a queen.
We also took her old scuffed up cowgirl boots that have their toes completely destroyed, and mod podged a leaf over the damage…then sprayed those babies down with glitter glue too. If they’re going to get tossed out…they might as well go out in style!
Leaves, gold butterflies, berries and an overabundance of glitter cover over a multitude of sloppy sewing “techniques” …take that to the bank.
Just don’t take it out in public if you’re over 12.
Throw in a little face paint, eyeliner and a few rhinestones and you’ve got yourself two delicious little Halloween babes.
{ooooh…..aaaaah!}
Happy Hallo-Wonderful, sweet peeps!
