Here's some of our Halloween tricks and treats while I have some computer time... Did I tell you that I was still finishing Adam's costume at 2pm on 10/31?
Freshly Picked Eyeballs
I had been meaning to knit up some creepy eyeballs for the boys to toss around but didn't get a chance so I made these instead. Nick and Adam gobbled up a couple of these this week and we brought some to the grandparents' - although they got too melty in transport as you can start to see from the pictures. I think they were pretty gross looking when they got passed around at my mom's.
Vanilla Ice Cream - Strawberry Sauce - M&Ms and black candy sprinkles. I used a melon ball scoop.
My mom and grandparents made these foot print ghosties with Adam the other day. This would be super cute with little, little ones. After I took the picture, he took the ghosties off to his room and when he came back, they all had smiles.
PotionsWith some food coloring and scavengered glass bottles, the boys made up a batch of potions for our dining room. Adam made a black sleeping potion with some plastic googly eyes floating in it - haven't tried it on him yet. Nick and I made a mess with several colored-water combinations.
When we had it just right, Nick set about naming them. After we're done with them this year, I will put the bottles uncovered out in the garage to get dusty and dirty and just spooky right for potion-making next year. Nick and I had some great ideas for things to add to the potions but they wouldn't have "lasted" the month on our shelf. Maybe some herbs, twigs and gummy things for next year.
Road Construction:
You could do a lot with the "road" idea but my little road wouldn't put up with anything that interfered with running, climbing, rolling, etc. so I kept it pretty comfy and on the cheap. It was great because I already had the supplies except for the textile paint and a bit more velcro.
When we had it just right, Nick set about naming them. After we're done with them this year, I will put the bottles uncovered out in the garage to get dusty and dirty and just spooky right for potion-making next year. Nick and I had some great ideas for things to add to the potions but they wouldn't have "lasted" the month on our shelf. Maybe some herbs, twigs and gummy things for next year.
Road Construction:
You could do a lot with the "road" idea but my little road wouldn't put up with anything that interfered with running, climbing, rolling, etc. so I kept it pretty comfy and on the cheap. It was great because I already had the supplies except for the textile paint and a bit more velcro.
For the painted portions of Adam's costume, I made easy iron-on stencils with Reynold's Freezer Paper using the directions in The Creative Family book (never tire of this book) but also found instructions on Craftster's "Painless Stencils." The stencil part was great because Adam could help with the painting.
I used Jacquard textile paints from Joann Fabrics. For the white I used their SUPER OPAQUE which worked great with only one coat against the black fabric. For the other colors I used their NEOPAQUE which worked pretty well with about 2 coats - 3 for the red.
For his orange traffic cones, I used this pattern as a start but then wanted them a bit smaller so I only INC to 15 stitches (instead of 24) for the cone and CO 8 for the base. I ran a tapestry needle on black thread through the cones (at different angles) and made them into a belt.
For his cars - I am not completely happy with my technique. I made felt shapes and adhered them to his costume with velcro. It was nice that he could move the cars around as he wanted.
Seattle's HallowGreen
Chris' sister and brother-in-law participated in King County's EcoConsumer 2009 HallowGreen Challenge. This year the focus of the challenge was to showcase how costumes could be created by re-using materials found at home or purchased at Goodwill, a co-sponsor of this year’s event. The challenge limited them to $20.
In a spectacular display of creativity and resourcefulness - baby Alexandria went trick-or-treating this year as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and her father, Troy, went as The Tornado. Still makes me laugh. Troy even made her a yarn wig and covered camouflaged Crocs in re-purposed red glitter fabric. If you get a chance - check out this news video of the challenge. They are the last costume (4th) to be featured. Pretty neat.
