Happy Hauntings

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! It is that time of year when leaves turn beautiful shades of rustic reds, oranges and yellows. When sweaters come out, sandals go in and hot cocoa is purchased in ample supply. I love the changing seasons. I really cannot choose a favorite because they all have so much to offer. But even though Summer brings heat, for some reason Autumn offers warmth. Perhaps it is because I know Thanksgiving is coming and family and friends come just a bit closer. I think everyone's heart gets a bit warmer with that thought. Of course there are other reasons for excitement too.  As usual I get ridiculously exhilarated over any chance to do a new craft. Of course the husband teases me and acts as though I am some cracked out crafter. With Fall here and Halloween just around the corner there is much to do. From decorations to costumes there is more than enough on my plate. This year Christian and Malachi want to dress up as characters from the video game "Plants Vs. Zombies." It is actually a rather funny cartoon game where zombies are about to attack and you need to plants various plants to defend the homestead. It should be no surprise that Malachi (who is close to copywriting the color green) wants to be the Squash from the game while Christian wants to be the Zombie. Isaiah, of course, sets his expectations high and wants to be an actual transforming Optimus Prime Transformer. Unfortunately they do not make these costumes for purchasing and even if they did I really don't want to spend $60+ in costumes. Being my frugal self that means it is time for Mommy to roll up her sleeves and get crafty! I have posted some pictures of what the characters look like.

 

          

Malachi's costume was fairly easy to assemble. I purchased some green fabric for $2 at the local thrift store. I folded it in half and hot glued the pieces opposite of the fold end together. Next I cut out two large half circles (with a small space in between the circles) in the middle of bottom fold for his legs. I cut out a very large half circle in the direct middle of the upper hot-glued seam for his head to go through and cut circles near the top on both sides for arm holes. I then cut a small straight line halfway down the back so he can get in and out and added left over ribbon on both sides of the slit to tie the costume together. I formed the fabric to look like a squash shape and hot glued the sides together. Next I drew the face on the fabric and voila I had the basis of his costume.    

         

                                                                    

 Next comes Christian and his Zombie costume. This was really easy. I paper mached a head for him from a balloon with newspaper and a flour water mixture. Once it had ample time to dry I cut out a mouth so that Christian could see out of it. I picked up a can of gray spray paint for $0.59 (you can't beat that!) and after I finished spray painting, I drew on the face with other paints I had laying around the house. I was able to get him a church jacket from the thrift store for $1. He already had a tie, white shirt, jeans with holes in them and shoes so we are pretty set!  


                                                      
       

 Finally comes Isaiah's transforming Optimus Prime transformer costume. This has taken up a  lot of time for sure. You will need a lot of small-medium boxes, duct tape, hot glue, paint and an over abundance of wine patience :) Now obviously this will vary a bit from person to person but here is what I did. I took a big double pack box of Honey Nut Cheerios for the chest, two 12 pack cases of pop (or soda for all those who probably have no idea what I mean. Sorry, it's a Pittsburgh thing) for the legs. Two small boxes for the arms (you could probably use something a little bigger than a rectangular tissue box) and another large box that will attach to the back but will become the front of the car when in the lying position. After 1 roll of duct tape, 1 bag of hot glue sticks, 1 bottle of Riunite Lambrusco (not required but it helps a lot) and some crazy engineering skills you will have yourself the basis of a costume! Next comes an INSANE amount of painting and a couple tablets of Aleve for arthritis you are now developing in your hand. At the end of the day, I don't think I spent more than $10 dollars for all of their costumes. It was a lot of effort but my kids love them. Thanks for your time to look at my blog. I hope I may have persuaded some of you to save your money & get crafty!