Halloween Safari

Two weeks before Halloween, the kids started discussing costume ideas. After talking about tons of different options, Christian finally decided he wanted to be a zebra. Andrew loved the animal idea, so he decided he wanted to be a cheetah. I always like to do family costumes, so the Safari theme seemed the perfect way to go.

I always make our costumes because I can never get myself to pay $20 each for store-bought costumes. I honestly had no idea how I was going to make a zebra or a cheetah, so I just headed to the DI to see if I could find any inspiration. I stumbled on a leopard-print sheet that I thought would be perfect to make Andrew's costume out of. Unfortunately, Andrew would not accept leopard print for his cheetah costume. He kept telling me that it didn't look like a cheetah. The differences between a leopard and cheetah are pretty subtle, but Andrew knew and would not accept it. So, the search continued...

In the men's section, I found a large yellow sweatshirt. I decided to buy it and try to cut it up in pieces to make a costume. I used the sleeves of the sweatshirt to make the little hat and ears. The front and the back became the tail and the shirt. Then I painted on the cheetah spots using some black fabric paint. Andrew was in heaven! He wore his costume for a week straight before Halloween. He would put his tail and hat on and run around the house yelling, "I've got Cheetah Speed." Here is our cute... uh ferocious little cheetah:

I couldn't find anything I liked for the zebra costume at DI, so I went across the street to Walmart. As we were walking by the bedding section, I noticed a zebra-patterned pillowcase. For $8, I was ecstatic to not have to paint zebra stripes on any clothing. I took the pillowcase home and cut it up into a hat, ears, shirt, and tail. It worked perfectly. I added a felt zebra mane to the top of the hat to complete the costume. The boys loved them! That is really all that matters, but I was thrilled with how both costumes turned out as well! A definite Win-Win. Here is our little zebra:

 Jonathon was nice enough to be the elephant in our safari. We really wanted him to be a big animal to fit with the size proportions of the boys, so it worked well. He wore gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Then I made him ears, a tail, and a trunk out of some cheap fabric. Here is our little safari before heading to the church Trunk-or-Treat.

 I didn't really want to dress up as an animal, so I decided to be a Safari Guide. I wore some khaki clothes and found an awesome safari hat. It was perfect because I just wore my camera around my neck as part of my costume and took pictures the whole night. Unfortunately, I took pictures of everyone else and didn't get in one single picture. (Oh well, that seems to happen more often than not.) The Trunk-or-Treat was really fun. Jonathon told all of his friends that he was dressed up as a "Republican." Everyone got a good laugh out of that. The boys participated in the costume parade, and Jonathon and I made chili for the Chili Cook-off. We didn't win, but it was definitely the best chili we have ever made.

On Halloween night, we took the kids Trick-or-Treating around our neighborhood. They were excited to wear their costumes again and get more candy. Luckily, we made a deal with them to limit their sugar intake. I let them each choose 10 pieces of candy to keep, and they gave us the rest of their large stash in exchange for a little prize from "The Great Pumpkin." They were completely happy with their 10 pieces, and I used the rest of their candy to give to the Trick-or-Treaters that came to our house. I know I am cheap, but I thought it was a pretty awesome idea. Plus, since I gave all of the candy away, I won't be tempted by all the extra! I'm pretty sure we will be doing the same thing for many years to come...

Happy Halloween!