Monday, November 1, 2010

Don't Eat My Son, Please

Happy Belated Halloween, Folks!

This year, as Halloween approached, I questioned my children every day, several times a day, as to what they wanted to be this year. At first Kai wanted to be a lollipop, so I set out on a mission to find the things I would need to create such a costume. Good thing I didn't actually buy anything, because as we drove home from school one day he informed me that he no longer wanted to be a lollipop. The kids at school thought it would be weird, he explained, and he was starting to think so too, so he wanted to be a vampire instead. Our first case of peer pressure. Lovely. On the plus side, we already had most of what we would need for his costume hanging in his closet, but it was still hard to see him cave like that. I was hoping Zeke would come up with something fun for me!


Every day it was something new for Zeke. Every minute it was something new for Zeke. For days he was spouting off random things with no actual desire to be any of them. Driving home from school, "I want to be a stop sign. I want to be grass. I want to be a house. I want to be a tree..." At home, "I want to be a table. I want to be fork. I want to be a cup. I want to be pizza..." Wait! Stop! Pizza!!! I could do pizza!!! Since he told me he couldn't decide on anything else except for that he didn't want to be the banana I made for Kai when he was 4, we decided that he would be pizza.

Off to the fabric store I went, coupons in hand, to stock up on felt, interfacing, thread and glue gun sticks. I had a general idea of what I would be doing, though I still had to make the final pattern. I ended up tracing Zeke on some paper and then drew around it to make the pizza shape. It wasn't precise and it was hard to tell where his head and arms would go. I didn't want it to be uncomfortable or difficult to move in, so there was a lot to think about. I ended up with a pattern I thought would work, so I got to it. After cutting all my pieces, I ironed on extra-firm interfacing to sections to help keep the triangular shape and then I sewed the pieces together, a front, a back and two sides. I also attached some adjustable straps that I salvaged off a backpack our lovely dog decided to shred. These were a great way for his shoulders to support the costume and to keep his head free and mobile. After finishing the "bones," I was able to move on to the fun stuff!!!!


I used my pattern to make a cheese shape, put sauce under the edge and hot glued everything down. I cut a hole for Zeke's face and then large X's for his arms. I cut out all the toppings out of felt and slapped those on with the glue gun as well, with only two blisters as a result. Go me! I couldn't wait for Zeke to try it on! When he did, he laughed and laughed at himself in front of the mirror. It was so cute! He wore it to school the next day and then again trick or treating last night and almost everyone who saw him made a comment about how yummy he looked or how much they loved pizza. Only two people thought he was something made with strawberries. I'll take it. :)






Love it! And Kai wasn't half-bad either, for something "normal." :) At least I got to do his hair and make-up and, with three boys, that's not something I get to say often. They both had a great time and came home with a decent haul. Of course, it's too early to think about next year for them. They'll change their minds a million times before then. But maybe I'll start thinking about something fun for me... Hmm... ;)

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