Happy Halloween!

I can't let the fall go by without a Halloween costume round-up. Lord knows I spent a ridiculous amount of time on them, I really ought to immortalize it with a blog post. Presenting... a coffin and a pile of leaves.

But not just any coffin... this coffin had a mummy in it.

 I successfully steered McKenna away from the princess route and talked her in to being a pile of leaves. I spent all of $8 worth of leaf garland from Michael's. The brown shirt and brown pants were already in her closet and I  just stitched leaves to the arms and ankles, then made a hooded bubble-shaped  top from some brown fleece I had in my studio. I stitched each leaf up the middle, maybe about 80 leaves in all. When I had her try it on she said, "I think I want to be a ghost now." Ahhh, three-year-olds. Luckily she came around when it was time for trick-or-treating.

 People thought she was A. a tree, B. "Fall", and C. Marjorie the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock.  When asked, she told people, "I'm leaves!" duh!

Sage wanted to be a mummy in a tomb. He was adamant about the "in the tomb" part. And the tomb had to have R.I.P. on it, and eyeholes, and a door that opened. Alrighty then. I took up the challenge though, based on his drawings.

 

Years ago I needed light blue vinyl for a purse and found something ridiculous like 14 yards for $24, so I got it and I've had tons of it ever since, enough to make a coffin for my son, which is kinda creepy now that I think of it. I figured I could sew heavy naugahyde better than I could duct tape together cardboard, so I did. The top ended up being floppier than I thought it would, so I had to reinforce it with cardboard at the top and in the door. I even sewed the cardboard to naugahyde in some places and miraculously did not kill my machine. I put a handle on the door and holes in the back so it attached to him like a backpack, and then we painted it black. It was a good thing it was waterproof because when the kids went to trick-or-treating in the downtown Renton it acted as a full-body umbrella and he stayed warm and dry inside.

 I made the mummy part for him after he went to bed one night - tattered muslin pants, tattered muslin stitched to a thermal underwear shirt, and a tattered muslin mask. The best part about making it was being able to leave all the threads hanging. Thankfully, when he tried it on in the morning, everything fit perfectly.

On Sunday night, we attended a Halloween party in our neighborhood. After spending all my time making costumes for the kids, I didn't have much time for my own so I threw together a costume I've worn several times before - Raggedy Ann.

 Sage said, "Raggedy Anne again? You really should get more creative with your costumes." Har.

Erik went as one of the Blues Brothers - Elwood. Here he is with Sage playing the part of Jake.

 Raggedy Anne, Elwood, a mummy in a coffin, and a pile of leaves - no cohesion whatsoever. Someday maybe we'll do the family-theme thing. We went trick-or-treating with our friends in the neighborhood - about 30 of us altogether - kids and us parents trying to keep up with them as they ran from house to house, many which gave out full-sized candy bars. This neighborhood rocks.

Have I mentioned that I love it here? The trees, the autumn leaves, the brisk air, the friends, the house, the brand new life - everything. Best move ever.