Last Minute Halloween Costumes

No, I don't celebrate Halloween.

I'm horrified by all the merchandise I've seen in the shops recently.

Skulls, spiders, witches, and ghosts can be scary for small children, and difficult to explain.

I try to focus on the pumpkins!

I received an email yesterday from the early learning centre that Grace and Charlotte attend, reminding me to send them in costume today for Halloween. I mentioned it to Neil (who usually drops them off and collects them).

"Oh yeah," he said, "I forgot to tell you about that."

Great!

I asked Grace about it. "I want to be a monster," she said.

About 10:00 pm last night, after our dinner guest had left, I googled "last minute children's Halloween costumes" and found some wonderful ideas for dressing up as a butterfly, octopus, ladybird and the like. But the email said "scary costume".

Neil and I discussed it, and decided the whole scary Halloween scene isn't really something we want to encourage, so we decided not to worry about costumes. I did something else, then went to bed.

This morning, Grace greeted me as usual. "Get up Mummy, it's light!"

Closely followed by, "I want to be a monster. Will you make me a costume?"

She and Charlotte went off happily with Neil, after I had assured her I would work on a costume. I threw on some clothes, and Lucinda and I set off for the shops.

An hour and a half later, we arrived home loaded with supplies. Cheap nighties and leggings from Kmart, and fleece, felt, and other craft supplies from Spotlight.

The raw materials.

I found some good girl/bad girl headbands in the party section at Spotlight.  With a little effort I managed to transform them into googly eyes and horns for the little monsters-to-be.

Wrapping the headband in pink chenille sticks and securing with glue.

Cutting out felt eye pieces from a template I made.

Stuffing little felt horns with filling from a dead cushion insert.

One of the finished headpieces.

My trusty sidekick found it all a little boring.

"I was watching, Mum, but I'm sleepy now."

I hand sewed a piece of fleece to the front of each nightie for the monster's chest, and little felt claws to the bottom of the leggings.

'Claws' at the bottom of the leggings.

I sewed other claws onto little strips of fleece, that could be tied around each girl's wrists for the paws.

It's not bunting, it's claws!

I worked at it most of the day, and only stopped for some appointments this afternoon. I completed the last few stitches in the carpark outside the early learning centre late in the day, but managed to take the full costume in for Grace when we picked her up.

The complete 'little monster' costume.

She got to show her teachers, but I wasn't too fussed that she didn't get to wear it earlier in the day. She may have been too shy to do so anyway. For her, the excitement was in putting the costume on at home later, and it was all the reward I needed to see how happy she was with it.

One very happy 'little monster'!

I made an identical costume for Charlotte, in case she felt left out when Grace got hers. Unfortunately it was a bit late in the day for her though, and she wasn't really in the mood for photos.

"I'm too tired for this, Mum."

Tonight I made one more costume, this time for Lucinda. I had bought a singlet a few sizes too big to sew the fleece onto, and treated the leggings the same way as the others. Instead of a headband, she has a beanie with little horns and one big monster eye.

Felt horns and eye sewn onto a little beanie for Lucinda.

Lucinda's finished costume.

I've never made any costumes before, but I was pleased with my efforts. For less than $50 we have three more dress-up outfits, and I have plenty of fleece and other supplies left over for other projects.

Maybe tomorrow I'll try for a photo of all three 'little monsters' together. Wish me luck!