"The Claw" costume

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.

Oreo Cookie Costume

I often joke that my kids are rarely impressed with my baking creations, and would almost always rather eat an Oreo cookie.

So, I wasn't surprised when Bea decided she wanted to be an Oreo for Halloween this year. It was the perfect choice really. She's one sweet kid. (And a really smart cookie.) She even came up with the idea of using a milk jug for her candy bucket.

Oreos & milk - the perfect combination.

Gus is 14 now, so he decided he was too old to dress up and go trick-or-treating this year. But he was a nice big brother, and helped walk Bea around the neighborhood.

I didn't take any how-to photos as I made the costume, but it was pretty simple. First, I had Signs Now print the Oreo wafer images on adhesive vinyl. Then I applied them to black foam core and cut out the cookie shapes with an exacto knife. For the creamy filling, I used upholstery foam, making sure to cut holes for the head, arms and legs. The foam tends to have a yellowish hue, so I painted it white with spray paint. Bea wore a white shirt, tights, hat and gloves and I painted the inside of the milk jug with white spray paint too.

Lego Man Costume

There couldn't be a more perfect Halloween costume this year for our Lego-lovin' Gus.

Eric really took his cardboard construction skills up a notch. He made this whole thing out of blue cardboard, red foam board, hot glue and Smoothfoam™. The legs were a challenge. It wasn't until after we saw Gus shuffling at the school costume parade, that we decided we needed to cut the backs of the legs open so that he could actually WALK and go up stairs. Poor kid. He was a Halloween trooper once again. I promised him last night, one of these years, we'll make him a costume he can actually walk, see and move in. He didn't seem to care. He loved it just the way it was.

Everything was handmade, except for the head. We bought one of those Lego containers that you can use to sort & store Lego bricks, cut out the insides and drilled larger eye holes. It fit perfectly. We used a red sweatshirt for the arms, and stuffed them with some of Eric's old, 4-inch vacuum tubing from the woodshop.

Now that Halloween is over, and we have no storage space left for a costume this size, I think it's going to go on permanent display in Gus' room.

I started to take photos of how Eric made this and then I gave up. Oh my lord, it was very meticulous and involved lots of calculations, cutting, scoring, tabbing and gluing. I don't know how that man's mind works, but I'm just glad it does. There's no way I could have constructed something like this so perfectly. Anyway, here are a few photos of the process and the finished pieces. Knock yourself out if you want to attempt one yourself!