It all started last year at about this time. We were sitting around the table for dinner and somehow we realized that we had enough of kids and two girls and two boys to have King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy for Halloween. So all year the kids would talk about how cool it would be and what they would need for their costumes. For the past couple of years my kids have really been into The Chronicles of Narnia. Particularly Prince Caspian, since that's the movie they have seen. So when they'd watch the movie, I started paying attention to the costumes the actors wore in the movie and the ideas just started churning. I knew that if I was going to do this, it had to be done right. After looking around on the internet to possibly purchase the costumes and finding only Queen Lucy and King Peter, I realized I was going to have to make the costumes myself. Well, with the start of school and things sort of settling into some sort of a routine I started making notes and drawing sketches of each costume and searching around on the internet for ideas from others who had made the costumes too. This site was very helpful. http://costumes.narniaweb.com/pcindex.asp It has great pictures and notes on all the costumes from all the movies. I knew which ones I wanted to make, so I started making trips to Joann's every once in awhile. I always kept my notes (and my coupons!) in my bag so I'd have them on hand if there was a sale. I decided to start with the easier ones first. King Edmund (Isaac) was pretty quick. I already had a pattern for a winter one piece, so I bought some dark grey fleece and made his "chain mail". I did have to make the pattern for his tunic since the size on Dylan's pattern didn't go small enough. I love Halloween time because the patterns always go on sale, so instead of paying over $8 each for the three different patterns I needed I payed only 99 cents for each one. I found the perfect pattern (McCall's M5500) to use for Dylan's chain mail, hood, and tunic. His was all attached except for the hood. I was trying to figure out how I was going to do the lion, but option A on the pattern had one! Paper backed fusible webbing is awesome. For his pants he already had a pair of grey running pants that were perfect. The tricky part, I guess, was finding the right fabric and getting it on sale. I knew in my head what I was looking for, but sometimes my expectations are little high, but on a different trip to Joann's on my own one Saturday I found all the fabric I needed for the girls' dresses on clearance AND an additional %50 off. It was great! The fabric I found was perfect. It was heavier and the colors were perfect. I wanted something a little heavier for the right drape on the skirts. I didn't want them to look "princess" I wanted them to look "Narian" :) Again. That's me wanting to do it right! Plus the heavier fabric was warmer and higher quality so it was perfect all around. The lady who cut all the fabric for me kept telling me what a great deal I was getting on those particular fabrics. I totally agreed with her! The pattern I found for the girls' dresses originally was gone, so I had to use two different patterns instead--one for the bodice (McCall's MP436 option B) and one for the skirts (Simplicity 0415). I did have to do some alterations to the pattern on the girls' sleeves. The original sleeve had way too much fullness on the top so I took most of it out.
It came down to it that Allen was going to be making all the "props" He's so great at doing that kind of thing and is much better and coming up with ways to make them work. He made both shields for the boys, and Lola's quiver, arrows and bow. He used really sturdy cardboard from large pizza boxes, different colors of duct tape (awesome stuff), card stock, aluminum foil for the shields and quiver. Dowels, craft feathers, and foam for the arrows, and a good stick and twine for the bow. All these pieces just made it all come together. I made straps for Lola's quiver and Dylan's shield out of leftover fabric from Meghan dress and the two little red bags I found at the dollar store.
Working on this huge project was great. I love to sew and I don't think I've sewn this much since college, but it was so rewarding to see the kids' faces as I showed them the process. I'd have a little more done when they'd get up in the morning or when they'd get home from school. Working on and spending money on something that was making my kids genuinely happy and being excited together and playing together was totally worth it. Am I glad it's done? Yes. Am I happy with how they all turned out? Yes. I don't know if I'll do this much for Halloween again, but it really was so much more then that. I know they will love their costumes forever and they will always remember when we made and worked on them together. It'll be a great family memory for them.
Backing up to the end of September...Another soccer season! This was Lola's second time playing. She's getting to be a pretty good ball handler. She loves to play and has a smile on her face pretty much the whole time! Dylan has come a long way this season. He's always been a bit timid about attacking the ball, but something in him clicked after a few games (or maybe it was Allen promising him a quarter every time he attacked the ball) and he realized that he could do it. He could keep up and get the ball. He could stop the ball if he attacked it. He likes to play defense...my son. :) I love watching my kids play sports.
For Meghan's birthday she had her first party with some of her friends. It was an ice cream party because she LOVES ice cream! We played "freeze dance", made little ice cream cone bookmarks, tried to catch scoops of ice cream (small balloons) in big paper ice cream cones, and of course, made ice cream sundaes. It sure was a lot of fun!
(Side Note: I just gave Meghan the last piece of her ice cream cake. :)
_____________________________
More Halloween fun...
Last week I went with Lola and her Kindergarten class over to the WSU organic farm. The kids loved getting to ride the bus over to Pullman and the guide at the farm was so good with the kids. I even learned a lot! It was great to be with Lola. Especially after she had a tough week there at the beginning of school. She loves school and has learned so much since stated school just two months ago.
It wouldn't be Halloween without our traditional pumpkin cookies. My mom made them every year and they are so yummy and fun for the kids that I've made them for years now too! I don't have a picture of a finished one though that's been frosted, but oh well. The kids wanted to paint their little pumpkins after reading Meghan's new book Pinkalicious and the Pink Pumpkin.
And here are a few more pictures from Halloween. Isaac helped pull out the guts to his first pumpkin. He was the only one of the kids who would touch the stuff! Halloween night we had some friends over for yummy soups, art projects, witches brew, and trick or treating! Holidays are so fun. :)
We hope everyone had a fun and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
No comments:
Post a Comment