Do you know what Sunday is?
October the 31st.
The day I LOATHE.
(You can read about last year here)
Why?
Because I have to attempt to be creative and come up with FOUR costumes for FOUR children with ZERO dollars.
Lumberjacks are cheap, man.
I got the girls taken care of. We are going with the usual Little House on the Prairie/Disney Princess characters they know and love so well.
But . . . it’s those boys . . .
Quick! Help me!
I need some ideas for boy costumes.
Here are some key things to remember:
1) I don’t sew, knit, crochet, quilt, or cross-stitch. Ironing is also a weakness.
I can, however, launder things.
2) My boys are naughty.
3) I might have a hot glue gun. I cannot be certain.
4) One can oft find my boys’ hands down their pants.
5) I don’t have any felt. Is felt required?
6) I only have one pair of cowboy boots.
7) Glasses are optional. Depending on whether or not Sir Handsome Dude breaks them.
8) I am not crafty. Really. Not at all.
9) I don’t have an etsy shop.
10) What is an etsy shop?
11) My boys like all things with wheels. If that helps?
12) I have no spare sheets or curtains or any other large, glorious amounts of fabric.
13) I do have lots of clothes that are too tight for me.
14) I might have construction paper.
15) I am out of glue.
16) I have a 3-hole punch and 3×5 cards. Is this helpful?
17) Yes! I have construction paper!
***
Fun Fact: My mom, who is clearly as creative as I am, once dressed me up as a “Bunch of Grapes.”
How did she accomplish this?
Well.
She dressed me in green pants and a green shirt and taped 4.2 million purple balloons to my body.
I wasn’t even that young.
It was probably the same year this fateful picture was taken:
So.
Now you know why I am the way that I am.
Anyways.
If you have any super-easy-fun-free-cheap-EASY ideas for me, feel free to enlighten me.
And don’t get any smart ideas . . . I don’t have any balloons.
Later Dudes.
PS-I just wanted you to all know that I, yes, I, Taylor Maliblahblah, made my own strawberry jam tonight AND canned it.
Holla, Taylor Maliblahblah.
Holla.
PPS-Notice how I did not make huckleberry jam. This is because I haven’t submitted the necessary forms required for my husband to grant me permission to use the purple gold.
Perhaps next year, I will get my ducks in a row.
PPPS-Why do people hand out banana-flavored tootsie rolls?
For shame, people.
For.
Shame.
Don’t feel bad. I am creative and can sew and may one day own an etsy shop, but I, too, loathe coming up with Harvest Party/Carnival/Shindig costume ideas. It’s typically a last-minute ordeal at our house. And you’re right–girls are much easier to accommodate without planning.
Sigh.
It will be over in a few days. 🙂
P.S. I just realized I wasn’t very helpful. I have been known to pull existing dress-up type stuff out, but it sounds like maybe your boys don’t have any. Do they have overalls? (Farmers) Flannel shirt and jeans you could stuff with grocery bags and little bits of straw? (Scarecrow)
Or you could make LJ proud and stick leaves all over them and they could be hunters. Heh.
Still not helpful, huh?
I’m sorry to tell you that I made our costumes this year (except Mike’s – that would have been a really hard one) and I don’t say I highly recommend it. I’m not terribly crafty, and I make it up as I go along, and I get really frustrated when it doesn’t work out like it did in my mind when I pretend-did-it.
You could tape/glue (even hot glue!) your construction paper together so that you get rather big squares of the same color (for example, tape nine sheets of red or orange or blue together), then cut big circles out of the taped together sheets, two circles, same color, same size. Punch holes in the top of each circle, and string them together so that they go over the boys’ shoulders (two circles for each boy, one color per boy…does that make sense?) and cut out “m&m” out of white construction paper, or paint it on there. They can be m&ms. 🙂 “For freeeeee!” (ha, I quoted a movie, and knew it, but had to look up what movie it was. 🙂 ) Oh, just jeans and sneakers under the circles, and a t-shirt. Best if it’s the same color as the circle, whichever circle you are talking about, or white is fine.
I totally made all that up just now. Watch out Etsy, here I come!
And jam? Making and canning your own jam?
Holla!
I say take Jim Halperts idea of writing the word Book on his forehead and going as the social network known as Bookface….
In leu of that, dress your boys in white t-shirts with construction paper dots affixed to the front and send them as domino’s.
Oh – and Holla girlfriend for the strawberry jam! I will expect a jar in my Christmas basket from you…
Dress them as laundry: http://www.parentsconnect.com/do/laundry_basket_costume.jhtml
and static cling: http://family.go.com/holidays/pkg-halloween/article-933496-static-cling-costume-t/
Everyone will be so impressed with your creativity.
I was going to suggest static cling! I dressed as that once, a few years ago. Sadly, I had to explain it to EVERYONE. But it was a very comfortable costume to sit all day in an office in!
mini lumberjacks? surely you have the attire for that!
No help on the costumes as it is too late for me to actually think of anything. Although, I will say that at Little Guy’s school today one of the boys had the best robot costume. They used some type of silver tubing for the legs, light up things, switches, screws, and such. Then it was all painted silver.
One question for you – Where do people in Ruralville go trick or treating? And does it get filmed on the trail cam?
I think it is safe to say that your’s is my all time favorite blog!
Just thought you should know.
Let’s see. You moved recently. Do you have boxes? Do you have aluminum foil? Do you have that shiny silver tubing used for clothes dryer ducts? If not, have LJ pick some up, it’s CHEAP! That, plus construction paper and random household screws, knobs, etc. Put it all together (bigger boxes for the bodies, smaller boxes for the heads and ducting stuff for the arms and legs and POOF! You have ROBOTS!! You don’t even really need the duct stuff. Just grey or black pants/shirts!
http://www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com/robot-costume.html
Cowboys? Elk hunters? Army guys? Oh! I know! Dress them as their sisters! You have costumes for that!
GOOD ONE, Mindee!
My mother once dressed me as a TV. She took a box and cut out the front so my face was “on screen”. She covered spools of thread with aluminum foil and stuck those in the bottom for knobs, and then she stuck a wire hanger out the top as an antenna. That was all on my head. And obviously it was an old-fashioned television set. I have no idea what she was thinking my body was supposed to be. The entertainment center? No wonder I have image issues!
I too dislike the dressing up as I am not creative, so no real help here. But definite holla on the jam making!!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I really really love costumes and dressing up!!!!!!!
Here are a few little web sites that give cool ideas, hope you have fun!
http://www.robinsfyi.com/holidays/halloween/costumes.htm
http://www.canadianfamily.ca/articles/slideshow/get-your-freak-homemade-halloween-costumes/6/ (I love the Captain Halloween one!!!!!!!! Super Nerd is also cute OH, Eco-Man too!!!!)
I could go on forever and ever, I wish I could dress up every day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with someone above…put them in overalls and flannel shirts and have them be farmers. Simple and cute!
I wanted my kids to be crayons. It was going to be so so cute. Have them wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants in a matching color and then write the word crayon on a piece of black construction paper and cut into an oval and pin it onto their shirt. Then have them wear a party hat (or construction paper rolled into a cone hat) in a matching color. And there you have it…crayons! But my 2 and 3 year old decided they wanted to be Mickey Mouse and Belle (costumes we already had thank goodness) so no crayons at my house. But I think the idea is super cute and would be free if you already have the sweatshirt and sweatpants that match! (I think I saw this idea in a parenting magazine…I cannot take credit for it as my own idea!)
My sister once used a white hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants and black electrical tape(I’m sure you can find some of that) and made my nephew a really cute zebra costume, cost nothing because she already had those! Good Luck!
Holla stinkin’ heck! Strawberry Jam! Applause Applause Applause! I haven’t mustered up the courage to “can”. I fear canning. I want to can.
Here it is 6:47 a.m. and I’m howling outloud, snorting with laughter at this post. I detest Halloween. The angst my kids went through and now the granddaughters. Plus the candy overload for weeks. And they refuse to hand over their 100 Grand Bars (formerly known as $100,000 Bars).
The best costume I saw last year was a lady wearing a turtle neck and pants covered with socks,underwear, etc. She was “static cling.” Thought I’d die right there on the floor.
i’m luvin the static cling idea!! i might have to use that for my daughter this year, if she ever decides if she ‘s going or not!! that’s awesome!! and taylor, props for the jam making!! nothing better than homemade jam, unless you can get someone else make it homemade and send it to you….address to follow….. (HINT HINT) lol
You are awesome! I gigigle at the idea of dressing them up as their sisters…. I know my girls LOVE doing that to their brothers…and occasionally get away with it when Daddy isn’t home!
White trash bags, black sharpie, crumpled newspaper, scissors & tape.
Take sharpie and paint 2 big ghost eyes and ghost mouth on trash bag.
Cut open bottom of bag.
Fold up bottom of bag to the inside (make a balloon hem with tape) and fill with crumpled newspaper.
Slide over HD’s head and tie drawstring.
Note: careful to not tie drawstring too tight, HD must breathe.
If you only have the black bags, then make them spiders or cockroaches, or black jelly beans. 🙂
All you need is a box and wrapping paper. I did this for my oldest daughter when she was in 1st or 2nd grade and I am going to do it for myself this year. You go as a present, get a box and tape the bottom and cut a hole in the top for the head and then two holes for the arms, wrap it in Christmas or birthday or whatever wrapping paper. Put a bow on the head, you are a present. For mine though I am not taping the bottom but I am going to hold it up with straps on each side made of tape and wrapped in paper.
My mom always wanted to dress us in all green and make us go as buggers, or all pink and have us be pepto bismol. While that never happened, I did go as a highway one year. Wear all black, use masking tape to make the lines, and pin pictures of a cars and highway signs on. I was also 1/3 of the Three Blind Mice – we wore all grey, sunglasses, ears, and snapped on grey socks for tails so we could pull them off for the ‘cut of their tails’ part.
Make an eyepatch out of black cloth, put a tie around there head, a baggy shirt and ahoy matey, they’re pirates!
…or hobos. A stick with a little napsack of whatever, some patches on clothes, and freckles made of eyeliner?
Once I was a newspaper. I rolled two poster boards together, covered them with newspaper, stapled them together and cut arm holes out.
I wish I could fit between two rolled up poster boards now.
Sob.
Jam? I was going to write a blog post about how i never make jam, but my mom does, and she judges me for buying it at the store, and it makes me feel like a bad parent…but I didn’t want to sound like a whiner.
Make one boy a lego! Stick a painted cardboard box on them with plastic cups glued to the front for the prongs of the lego. Prongs? thats the right word i hope 🙂
who’s there?
JAM! Yay! Holla indeed! I have yet to get the nerve and/or courage needed to try jam. In my 6 yrs here in Missouri Ruralville, I have learned to can many things; green beans, green tomato relis, pickled beets…etc, but I NEED to learn how to make jam.
Costumes? You have great ingenuity and imagination…and lots of great advice given above. You will come up with something fabulous, I am sure!
sneak into Target and buy some costumes on sale? I do not have any creativeness in me AT ALL. I could probably pull off the Christmas present thing, but that’s about it.
Honey Bee who?
The floor of a movie theatre…tape/glue popcorn, candy, and drink cups all over them. Too funny, if I may be so bold!
camo = elk hunter
Banana-flavored tootsie rolls? Sounds disgusting!
BTW, how about you dress up your boys as hunters. Surely you can cut up/borrow some of your man’s clothes. I’m positive he’ll never miss them.
At least sort-of positive.
Or rather, you could dress them up as an elk. One could be the front, and the other could be the back.
Just make sure the hubster is in town. Wouldn’t want him to go hunting all of a sudden.
My friend did this to his kid one year. Grey or blue sweatsuit, glue or tape cotton balls or batting on them for clouds (or paint them on, or whatever). Send them out with a water pistol, and tell everyone they are ‘Partly cloudy, chance of rain.’ More fun if you don’t live somewhere that gets blizzards on Halloween like we sometimes do, though.
Is it too late to suggest that you dress them in jeans and a t-shirt and they can go as reformed nudists?
Found just the article you’ve been looking for!!!
http://shine.yahoo.com/event/haven/30-easy-diy-halloween-costume-ideas-2400816/
This year my son is going as a hyperactive boy with food all over his shirt because he can’t keep anything on the plate. It’s the same costume he wears every day.
So, in short, no, I don’t have any ideas for you.