Halloween always ends up being a bit stressful for me because I insist on doing family costumes. I'm too cheap to buy them, so I usually end up making them. One of these years, I might have had enough and just buy the kids a random costume and send them off for trick or treating, but even though it is tons of work, I love doing it in the end. Long ago, I realized that if we don't do family costumes, I will be lame and not dress up at all. So, while most of stress is done for my kids, some of it is for me too.
My kids originally wanted to be Pokemon for Halloween. We had everything all planned, and all I needed to do was buy the fabric. Then, everyone that we talked to said they were going to be Pokemon also. Andrew really didn't want to be the same thing as everyone else, so we had to go to Plan B.... which as usual was Harry Potter. (And as a side note... I did see a million Pokemon out there on Halloween, mostly Pikachus, so maybe it was good that they changed their minds!)We had already done the Harry Potter theme two years in a row, so we knew we had to do something unique with it. We decided on some secondary characters to be, and then I set to work.
By this time, I was in way over my head and was stressed out. Not only was Halloween only a week away, but I (the Primary) was also in charge of the Ward Halloween Party, and I was in charge of the Primary Program that was quickly approaching. I was so busy I didn't even know where to start. Luckily, my amazing sister-in-law, Kym stepped in to help. She is a really great seamstress, so she offered to help me with some of the more difficult costumes. My costume, in particular, turned out to be a pain. We bought cheap, silky fabric that was so hard to work with. It slid around making cutting, pinning, and sewing extremely difficult. I would have given up entirely, but Kym pushed through and after many hours of work, we finally had a lovely robe for me to wear. She did 75% of it because it was so tricky. Thank goodness for Kym!
And so, without further ado... Harry Potter Halloween 3.0
Hyrum as Hedwig
Kym took one of Hyrum's sweatshirts and was able to make a pattern using it. I cut all of the feathers out of felt and then glued them in rows all the way down the front. Then I made the owl face for the hood. He was such a sweet little owl. He wanted to really fly. He kept asking me to pick him up and fly him around the house. Then he asked "what does an owl say?" I told him, and the rest of the time, he would "fly" around saying "hoo, hoo!" He loved being Hedwig.
Andrew as Malfoy
Andrew's costume was the easiest because I had already done something similar before. He used a plain black robe that we already had, and then I made him a Slytherin scarf out of fleece. I also printed out a Slytherin badge and then made a button that said "Potter Stinks! (From The Goblet of Fire). He got a Slytherin tie for Christmas last year, so he was able to wear that. He made a great Malfoy! I got comments all night that he actually looked a lot like Malfoy because of his face shape. He also did a perfect sneer in the pictures and went around saying "Potter!" in a contemptuous voice. Haha! It was great.
Christian as Mad Eye Moody
Christian's costume was super fun to make. I am particularly proud of the eye. I cut a ping pong ball in half and painted an eyeball on it. Then I found an apple juice lid and painted it gold. The ball fit right into the lid and I glued them together. Next, I needed a leather strap. I found a leather purse at D.I. that had a perfect strap, so for $2 I bought the purse and cut the strap to attach to the eyeball. I think it turned out better than I ever expected. I was going to sew him a "trench coat," but I found this brown costume trench coat at D.I. for $3. It was close enough, so I didn't bother making anything else. Christian is so creative, and was determined to have a wooden leg. I had no idea what to do, so he thought of having a brown sock and pulling it up over his pants. It worked great. He also found a stick for a staff. The other thing that he figured out was how to make a hip flask. He got an old soap bottle, cut of the lid, hot glued it closed, and used it for the flask. Perfect!
Jonathon as Professor Quirrell
I loved this costume too. It was easy enough to envision, but a lot harder to actually make. We used a black robe we already had and I bought purple fabric for the turban. I really wanted Voldemort to be peeking out the back, so I figured out a way to make a face. I bought a skeleton paper maché mask at the craft store. I filled in the hollow eyes, nose, and mouth with some wall putty and let it dry. Then I sanded it flat with the face, so that it looked like one piece. Then I hand-painted the face. I'm not the best artist around, but it just needed to have the illusion of Voldemort. The hardest part was figuring out how to attach the face to the turban. After much thought, we decided to use an old hat. I cut the brim off, covered it in purple fabric, and then hot glued the face on to the back. Then I learned to tie a turban. It was slightly different each time, but it worked!
Sarah as Professor McGonagall
Here is the beast of a costume. It turned out great, but it was so tricky to work with. I am so grateful for Kym. In the end, the fabric really gave the perfect swishy effect that I was looking for, so I guess it was worth the effort. We used a fancy button as a brooch, and I bought a cheap witches hat and glued on feathers to complete the ensemble.
During the day on Monday, we also got to go to Grandpa H.'s work to go trick or treating. It was so much fun. It has become one of our favorite new traditions. Imagine Learning goes all out to make it fun for the families. They give donuts and apple juice and almost all of the employees give out candy. On the second level of their office, they create a themed land that is decorated beautifully, and the employees come dressed in costumes to match. Last year it was a book theme, and this year it was a board game theme. Everything from Candy Land to Monopoly to Clue was represented. I loved the atmosphere and the kids loved the candy. Lastly, we went trick or treating on our own street. So much candy (though they only got to keep 20 pieces as usual) and so much fun!
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