Sometimes Bug's brilliance and creativity just astounds me. This week has been one of those times.
This year we just haven't had the time to visit our normal Halloween-time haunts. We have been overbooked with soccer, Cub Scouts, school activities, and working on the house in between. This actually gave Bug a little more free time than I had though.
For those of you that don't know, I'm kind of a scrooge when it comes to store bought Halloween costumes. I'm not sure if this is because of my penny-pinching side or my creative side, but I really don't see the point in spending upwards of $30 for a costume that will only be worn once, is a copy cat of every other kid at school, and will invariably rip before trick or treating is over with. So every year I encourage my kids to be creative and work with what we have on hand. I am willing to shell out a few bucks for clothing that they will wear again or a handful of supplies needed to complete their project.
It has been a lot of fun to watch their creativity grow. From their year as Harry Potter and Hermine or Sis's jaunt as an emo/Gothic rock star, to Bug sampling life as a hobo last year, these kid's have really proved that they can think outside the box and work with what they have. Bug really proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt with this year's costume.
He has been a little obsessive about playing Mario Cart on the Wii lately. He comes home from school and tells me about how he and his classmates pretended that they were characters from the game during recess. Everything around here lately seems to revolve around his favorite character Yoshi. So it came as no surprise when he decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to be the little green dinosaur for Halloween.
He begged for me to give in and order a $50 costume off the Internet for him. I just couldn't justify spending all that money though and helped him look up ideas on how to make his own costume. We found a site that offered a suggestion on making a paper mache head of the character. So after the purchase of a couple large balloons, Bug set to work with piles of old newspaper and a water/flour/glue concoction.
This year we just haven't had the time to visit our normal Halloween-time haunts. We have been overbooked with soccer, Cub Scouts, school activities, and working on the house in between. This actually gave Bug a little more free time than I had though.
For those of you that don't know, I'm kind of a scrooge when it comes to store bought Halloween costumes. I'm not sure if this is because of my penny-pinching side or my creative side, but I really don't see the point in spending upwards of $30 for a costume that will only be worn once, is a copy cat of every other kid at school, and will invariably rip before trick or treating is over with. So every year I encourage my kids to be creative and work with what we have on hand. I am willing to shell out a few bucks for clothing that they will wear again or a handful of supplies needed to complete their project.
It has been a lot of fun to watch their creativity grow. From their year as Harry Potter and Hermine or Sis's jaunt as an emo/Gothic rock star, to Bug sampling life as a hobo last year, these kid's have really proved that they can think outside the box and work with what they have. Bug really proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt with this year's costume.
He has been a little obsessive about playing Mario Cart on the Wii lately. He comes home from school and tells me about how he and his classmates pretended that they were characters from the game during recess. Everything around here lately seems to revolve around his favorite character Yoshi. So it came as no surprise when he decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to be the little green dinosaur for Halloween.
He begged for me to give in and order a $50 costume off the Internet for him. I just couldn't justify spending all that money though and helped him look up ideas on how to make his own costume. We found a site that offered a suggestion on making a paper mache head of the character. So after the purchase of a couple large balloons, Bug set to work with piles of old newspaper and a water/flour/glue concoction.
I did help him attach the two balloons together after they had dried and took over the spray painting in an effort to minimize the mess.
He took the reigns of his project back again after the green spray paint was dry.
There are peep holes cut out of the black parts of the eyes and nostrils so he can see where he is going. We purchased the camouflage fleece pants and green thermal shirt on sale at Target for only $15.
The tail came from an old stuffed alligator that he had slated to be given away to Goodwill with a belt looped through it. Sis was mildly disturbed to see us hack away at the stuffed toy but was pretty impressed with the outcome.
Today is Bug's big classroom Halloween party. I had to commission a friend to give him a ride to school with the big costume. I am excited to hear his recount of the event when he gets home.
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