Happy Halloween!

The Roy’s Pumpkins: 2013

Tim bought two smaller pumpkins so that the kids could each do their own this year. Shay wasn’t interested, so Eden and I set to work and came up with these designs. This is the first pumpkin she cleaned and carved all by herself. Great job!

Dirty Laundry Costume:

We were talking at work the other day and I was reminded of one student’s costume from last year’s Halloween Parade. He dressed-up as “dirty laundry”. We have been struggling to agree on a costume for Shay, but when I suggested this idea, he thought “dirty laundry” might be fun. Personally, I was pulling for the Girl Guide costume, but he wouldn’t bite.

For this costume, I took one of our older (broken) laundry baskets and cut the bottom of it out. (My husband thought this was a great idea, as I actually might break down and go and buy a new one to replace the broken one we’ve been using for what seems like forever.) Here is a list of what we used to pull together this costume. It could seriously be done in under an hour.  I lucked out and had everything I needed at home with the exception of the old soap container.

  • one laundry basket with the bottom removed
  • grey pipe insulation to set along the inside of the cut basket (meant to provide extra comfort) I have an extra piece, but wanted to show the sharp edge.

    basket with pipe insulation

    Here is a shot of the bottom of the basket with pipe insulation installed around the hole for a more comfortable fit.

  • two pieces of fabric scraps (or something similar) to tie to the basket and lay across the shoulders to support the basket
  • one hoody with various articles of clothing pinned or stitched all over it randomly
  • one bedsheet (We included a bedsheet in the basket because it is large and yet very light to carry around.)
  • one large plastic empty laundry detergent container (I messaged a few friends and my neighbor had one we could use – Yay Jen!)  Cut the container below the handle to open up the tops, so that candy can be dropped in through the opening.
  • one empty stain remover bottle, hung and glue gunned to the edge of the basket
  • various clothes pinned to the sheet (to avoid losing them)
  • dirt or dark face paint to add to the “dirty” effect
  • “Dirty Laundry” sign, if you wish
dirty laundry

Here is a trial fitting, minus the face paint to make Shay look “dirty”. You can see how much fun he is having getting suited-up!

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Yippee for Pippi!

Eden loves Halloween and this year we decided to make her a Pippi Longstocking costume. She was really excited, but worried that most of her peers would not know who Pippi  was. Unfortunately, this story book heroine is unknown by most children today.  I absolutely loved Pippi Longstocking when I was a kid. In fact, I’d like to believe it was her fault that I spent so many hours of my childhood in time-out chairs or sitting in the hallway at school. (Believe me I was not always the “goodie two-shoes” you think I am.) Perhaps she didn’t make the best “role model”, but I loved the way she was able to outsmart adults. I was indeed quite a “prankster” (brat may be more accurate), but sadly, my parents and teachers didn’t find my behaviour all that amusing.

I found this original trailer for the Pippi Longstocking movie and couldn’t help but think about how much times have changed.  I look at Pippi’s pranks and antics and they really don’t seem that funny anymore. It reminds me of the times in which I’ve tried to share some of my favourite childhood family movies with my own kids only to have them complain and show no interest. It seems that kids are so accustomed to dynamic special effects and fast paced story lines, that the old movies don’t have nearly the impact they had when they were first released when I was a kid.  It is a bit sad to think how spoiled we are by technology and how entertainment has become so complex. We have a cupboard full of board games that often go unused. I often ask the kids if they’d like to play (I LOVE board games) and most often they have no interest. I think of the hours of fun that we spent playing cards or board games and honestly can’t understand why my children aren’t interested.  It seems like entertainment has to involve video making, cameras, computers, iPods or video games in order to pass the kid test these days.

If you were a fellow Pippi fan, you might enjoy this trip down memory lane.

Pippi Longstocking Costume

The great thing about a Pippi Longstocking costume is that it pretty much consists of regular clothes.  The key is putting all fashion sense to the wind as she always had a collection of mismatched outfits.  We decided to go for her classic look with a red and white striped top with a denim jumper.  We found a t-shirt and a pair of denim overalls at the thrift store.  thrift store overalls I cut-off the “legs” of the overalls and converted it into an overall jumper dress.  I also added a patch from my denim scrap collection. I cut up an old t-shirt and added a ruffle layer that extends below the bottom of the skirt to extend the length and give the dress more of a layered look.  old t-shirt for skirt ruffleWe decided to buy Eden a pair of fall lace-up fashion boots that she could use for the costume and wear throughout the fall.  We found these at Target as well as some knee-high patterned socks that were on clearance for $1.50 per pair.  The socks can also be worn after.  We also bought some orange hairspray to finish the look.  This costume cost us less than $16 (not including the new boots and socks that Eden will continue to wear after Halloween). We dumped the pennies out of the big metal pail that they were in and this will be what she’ll collect her candy in.  She will also carry her sock monkey (that I made her last Halloween to go with her Sock Monkey Costume) in lieu of Pippi’s pet monkey, Mr. Nilsson. For her braids, we simply opened up a wire coat hanger, and rounded the center around the top of her head and left the ends sticking out the sides to be shaped after the braids were done.  hanger for braids

We trimmed the ends of the wire with tin snips and sprayed her hair once the braids were in. (I added a little blob of hot glue to the ends of the hanger so that they weren’t so sharp.) This costume required minimal sewing and was among the easier ones to pull together. Eden had a Girl Guide Halloween party on Monday, so I have a picture of her all dressed-up, pre-Halloween.  Shay won’t have a final fitting until tomorrow, so we’ll have to share his costume then.

Pippi Longstocking Costume

Halloween Costume Ideas

For other costume ideas, check out my previous Halloween Post.  You might enjoy the video of Shay as Sesame Street’s “The Count“, if you missed the original post.

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