It's been months since I've posted any projects, but Bea's Halloween costume this year was so much fun, I just had to share.
Bea decided she wanted to be an arcade "Claw" machine. We found a used "claw" on eBay, and Eric did all the construction using red foam board, red masking tape and lots of hot glue. He even made a secret candy compartment inside the coin slot that Bea could open with the push of a button. I added the graphics, blinking lights and stuffed animal accessories inside. She looked like the real deal, for sure.
The Claw costume was a huge hit - especially with Bea. Even though it was sorta heavy and hard to maneuver at times, she was so proud of her costume and the rave reviews she got at trunk-or-treat events, the school costume parade, and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.
Our kids are getting older, so our crazy costume days are almost over. Sigh. It sure has been fun.
I'm a child of the 1970's so, I pretty much grew up on sugary cereals. I loved Captain Crunch and Quisp and Cocoa Pebbles. But the Halloween cereals were my absolute favorite. Probably because they only came out once a year. It made them seem even more special.
I've had this idea to make Halloween cereal box costumes for about 10 years, but my kids were always too small and my husband doesn't really like to dress up for Halloween. (Boo.)
However... this year, I was finally able to convince Bea, Gus and our next-door-neighbor-buddy, Jay, to dress up as Franken Berry, Boo Berry and Count Chocula boxes! We're going to go trick-or-treating as a group on Halloween and hopefully hit some Trunk-or-Treat events the next couple of weekends. (For the first time ever, we have our costumes done early. Hooray!)
Ideally, I wanted Eric and I to dress up as the lesser-known Halloween cereals: Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute. But the logistics of steering 3 kids in bulky box costumes, up and down stairs and through the dark streets of our neighborhood, means we better remain costume-less. Not that I wouldn't make an awesome Yummy Mummy mommy!
I scanned images of the actual cereal boxes and created files of the front, back, sides and top in Photoshop. Then I took the files to my local sign printing company - Signs Now - and they printed them on vinyl and adhered them to plasticore. Then Eric and I cut and taped them into box shapes. I'm going to build some compartments, just inside the hand holes, for the kids to stash their candy treats. That way, they don't have to hold onto any bags.
Happy Halloween everyone. Let the trick-or-treats begin!
I've been mildly obsessed with sugar my entire life. So it's not surprising that I would want to dress one of my children up like cotton candy.
I created this costume tutorial for SheKnows last weekend, and Miss Bea got to act as my sweet model.
For all the step-by-step photos, check out my easy, no-sew, hassle-free, Halloween-how-to at SheKnows.com.
Guess what though? Bea doesn't want to wear this for Halloween. She wants to be a calico cat. Sigh. Better keep the hot glue gun plugged in, I guess. Only 26 more days 'til trick-or-treat.
