A very Harry Potter Halloween

First and foremost, my apologies for the crappy photos.  I forgot to charge my good camera before Halloween and so, the battery was dead. *head desk*  Bad Dobby!  Bad Dobby!  So all the photos were taken on my phone.  I'm sorry about the quality (or lack thereof).

A very Harry Halloween (complete with Mischief-Managed in the corner)

We had ourselves a very Harry Halloween.  It all started with my oldest.  She couldn't decide if she wanted to be Harry or Hermione, so she decided to coordinate with her baby sister and posed the question to her.  Go as Harry and Dobby or Hermione and Crookshanks?  The youngest picked Crookshanks.

Inspiration 

Oldest daughter

Not bad, eh?  She has a red and yellow tie (which she got at a rummage sale a year or two ago specifically to use for Hermione) over her brother's dress shirt (which really is too small for her, but luckily, you couldn't see it).  I got that sweater for $1 on clearance last year at Volde-Mart.  It, too, belongs to her brother, but it's 3 sizes too big for him, so it works great for the sister who's 4 years older.  I got the skirt for less than a dime at a consignment store.  She had the tights and socks and she wore existing dress shoes (not pictured here).

She wore robes that we got ages ago on clearance.  They're perfect because they're black, lined in red fabric, and there's a hood.  The only problem is that the huge skull closure makes them look more like Death Eater robes (and when she put the hood on, her baby sister asked, "Hey, Death Eater, where did Hermione go?").  No problem, though, because Hermione needed a S.P.E.W. badge, so I made a huge one and used double stick tape to tape it over the skull.  

She already has brown curly hair, but in order to amp up the bushiness, she slept with her hair in 6 braids.  It worked.  She had perfect bushy Hermione hair.  

Hermione's bushy brown hair

Total cost for the whole Hermione costume: under ten cents.  

Crookshanks wasn't quite as easy to throw together.

Hermione and Crookshanks 

Our Crookshanks

Note the tail.

For this ginger cat, I wanted an orange top with a hood and orange pants.  Problem is, it's damn-near impossible to find solid orange clothes, even this time of year.  So, I hit the thrift stores.  I found this orange sweater for $3 at Value Village.  I found the pants (size 6-9 months, which is why they're so short.  My daughter is 2 and 1/2 and isn't tiny) for a quarter.  My big girls had an orange boa, so I cut a strip of that for the fuzzy chest (to cover the zipper) and used a piece of it for Crookshanks' bent tail.  I used orange felt I had on hand to make the ears (and pinned them on so that we can easily remove them and still use the sweater).  She had orange socks.  We grabbed a few makeup kits last Halloween for a few cents when they went on huge clearance, so I used those for her face.

Total cost: $3.25.

Harry

When I found the Nimbus 2000 replica at Value Village, brand new and on sale for 99 cents, I had to get it.  Actually, I got 2.  When the guy at the register rang it up, he congratulated me and pointed out that they usually sell for $20 each.

That broom is what convinced my son he wanted to be Harry for Halloween.  He was torn between Harry and a Storm Trooper before that point.  Luckily, this is not his first time taking on the Chosen One's identity, so he already had much of what he needed.  He wore his white dress shirt with his red tie (I used the official Gryffindor tie as a model and painted gold stripes using fabric paint).  I cut an old grey sweater vest to make more of a V-neck, but it looked awful.  So, when I found a grey tank top at a consignment store for a few cents, I grabbed it for him.  He wore his existing grey pants and dress shoes (with red socks because he is a Gryffindor after all).  Once again, we headed to Value Village where I found the robes on sale for half off.  So they cost me 98 cents.

Years ago, we stocked up on these glasses for goody bags.  They have big freaky eyes attached.  We still have a few pairs left, so I pried the eyes out of them (much to my youngest's dismay.  She cried actual big tears and screamed at me, 'You ruined my Mad-Eye glasses.") and my son used them for Harry.  Yes, I realize they're purple.  Yes, I'm typically a stickler for details, but, by that point, I didn't much care.

His oldest sister used the same makeup sticks Crookshanks used to draw a scar on his forehead.  For those who are new, we're Jewish and my son wears a kippah (yarmulka).  So he donned his Harry Potter kippah yesterday.  It's his favorite.  FTR, his father clipped it, not me.  If I had done it, there wouldn't be a kippah clip straight through poor Harry's face.

Total cost: about $1.




Next up, we Luna Lovegood.  This was the most expensive of the costumes.  If you've been hanging around for a while, you know my kids adore Luna.  My middle daughter was going to be Darth Vader, that is, until we found the blonde wig (again, at Value Village.  They really should pay me for the advertising).  It was new and $6, but I had a 25% off coupon.  The promise of a long blonde wig was just too good to ignore.  She swapped costume ideas that minute.

Long blonde curls 2009

The funny thing is that my daughter IS blonde, although she chopped her hair off a few years ago.  Before that, she actually had perfect Luna hair.  So there I was buying a wig that wasn't nearly as close to Luna's hair as the child's natural hair was.

So we had a wig, but it needed something more to make her unmistakably Luna.  My mind immediately went to Luna's famous lion hat.  We opted to go with the movie representation rather than the books just because it seemed like it would be more obvious (in the books, it was more of a stuffed lion on top of her regular school hat).  I scoured Pinterest for ideas and headed back to Value Village (seriously, I need to start charging for ad space).  There, I found the jacket from this Old Navy costume for $2.  It was 12-18 months, but I had her try on the hood in the store and it worked.  Poor kid actually tried on every single hood and hat that was even remotely lion-shaped.  That one worked the best.  I took it home and cut the hood off.

Not the best shot, but all I was able to get

When I got my son that $1 grey sweater last year, I also grabbed a black one in the same size for the same price.  So we opted to scrap the standard grey and go with black using this photo as inspiration.  Unfortunately, the only cork we have in the house is firmly pressed into a bottle of wine for the time being, so we couldn't replicate the cork necklace (although both my daughter and I pictured it as a necklace of bottle caps when we read the description in the 5th book).  The hat and wig covered her ears, so we skipped Luna's signature earrings.  We did, however, print Spectraspecs (just without lenses because I didn't have anything on hand that would work).  I also printed a Ravenclaw patch which she wore on her sweater (held on with double stick tape).  She borrowed her brother's dress shirt and blue tie (it killed me that it was blue and silver, like the movie, instead of blue and gold. I'm a Ravenclaw and I'm a stickler for the book representation.  FWIW, her patch was cannon and had an eagle, not a raven).  She wore rainbow knee highs over her black tights and she wore sparkly pink sneakers.  It just seemed like a very Luna thing to wear.  She also spent a lot of time staring into space.

It wasn't, by far, the best representation of Luna, but it worked.

Total cost: $6.50

While trick-or-treating, we heard quite a few people exclaim that we were the only Harry Potter characters they'd seen.  We thought that was odd.  With the last movie coming out this year, we were sure Harry would still be popular.  Two people caught that the youngest was Crookshanks.  One of those declared us their favorite costumes of the whole night.  I wanted to kiss those people.

See the pink tea cup in my right hand?

For the first time since I was in college, I dressed up too.  I was Trelawney (which is another post for another day).  I even managed to convince my husband to dress up, well, kinda.  I found inspiration here and printed him a name tag. 

Dr. Wendell Wilkins

You know you're a potterhead...

You know you're a Potterhead when, while you're working on your son's Harry Potter Halloween costume, he points his wand at you and yells, "Stupify," but before he can finish, you point your butter knife (which you're using to try to pry the monster eyeballs out of gag glasses so that he can use them for Harry's glasses) and yell, "Protego," before he can finish.

And he freezes.

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Looney Luna Lovegood is Full of Awesome

Luna Lovegood is a character in the Harry Potter series who marches to the beat of her own drum and comes off a bit daft at times.  I grew to like her through the books, but Evanna Lynch's performance (and story) made me love her through the movies.

I Luna

Lately, my 2-year-old has become obsessed with Luna.  I don't know where it started (although I suspect her big sisters and brother listening to Harry and the Potters' "Luna Lovegood Is OK" on repeat had a wee bit to do with it).  Every chance she gets, she puts on her sunglasses, grabs any wand-like instrument in her vicinity (be it knitting needle, paint brush, or insanely noisy plastic wand [Thanks a lot, mom]), casts spells and demands that either, she IS Luna or that she wants to meet her.



Now, I agree that Luna's cool and all, but I admit that the toddler's obsession has left me a bit baffled.  Most kids her age love Elmo, Winnie the Pooh, Caillou (G-d save us all from his unending whininess), Thomas the Tank Engine or the cast of Yo Gabba Gabba.  Why is my youngest so enamored with Luna Lovegood?  What on earth should I make of it all?

Recently, there's been a resurgence in sharing this post from Pigtail Pals and suddenly, a light bulb appeared over my head (or perhaps the 9-year-olds yelled, "Lumos" and aimed their wands in my general direction [The younger of my 9-year-olds {who was Luna for Purim} would like me to pause and point out that for the sake of accuracy, neither of my twins can actually have a "real" wand because they're 2 years shy of the required age]).

Luna wakes up full of awesome every day.  That article celebrates the fact that 5-year-old Amelia loves herself--celebrates herself just like many other young children do (my toddler included) without sacrificing her strength, her beauty, or her brilliance to anyone else.  The vast majority of girls don't make it through adolescence with that intact.  There are few (if any) depictions of older characters who feel that way; who simply ARE without restraints.

Hebrew school bound

In this family, we try to raise our children to be themselves and not let others force them into society's preconceived notions.  This often leaves them the odd ones out when they follow their hearts and go against the norm.   My oldest headed to Hebrew school in a getup designed, not by fashion magazined geared towards tweens, but by her own likes and desires.  My big two were the only girls in their karate class.  My son's favorite color was pink for the longest time.  Whereas some of their female friends absolutely refuse to get dirty because it's not "Pretty," my kids run out in the yard to roll around in the mud.
 

Muddy & loving it

My 2-year-old insists on wearing her clothes backwards.  Yes, it's intentional.  Yes, it's odd.  My 2-year-old has her own obsessions which are very different from other kids her age.  My 2-year-old is awesome (as are her siblings).

Luna Lovegood is looney.  Luna Lovegood is out there.  Luna Lovegood is certainly not a red fuzzy monster singing repetitive obnoxious songs.  Luna Lovegood would never be mistaken for a Disney Princess.  Luna Lovegood is true to herself.  Luna Lovegood is awesome.

"Looney Luna Lovegood, you're okay in my book." 

Darth Daughter

Some people think it's stupid, but they like Quidditch.

Boys like sparkly face paint too.

Girls kick butt, even if they're the only girls in class.

Translation For Kindergarteners

Often, there are subtleties in the language of adults which are lost on younger children.  Compiling a collection of these and providing translations for children would prove endlessly useful.

Here is my submission for today:

If, in the middle of the very long story you were just telling your mother, she says, "Hang on, hun, I need to run to the bathroom,"  what she means is, "Wait there and hold that thought until I return."  

It does NOT mean:

"Keep talking.  Follow right behind me.  Stand outside the bathroom door and continue your story, only do so in a screaming voice to be absolutely certain she heard you."  

Now you know and knowing is half the battle.

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The Names, They Are A'Changing.

My son has declared that he has a new name.  So, everyone, say, "Hello," to my son Dinosaur.

Following Dinosaur's name declaration, his big sisters decided they want to be known by their middle names.

Why?  Did they think I didn't cycle through ENOUGH names until I finally called them by the correct one (or gave up and just called the child in question, "You")?

Wordless Wednesday: He's got a thing for her.

Click to see in its full glory.

While at the zoo, the male lion came over and just stared at my daughter.  He refused to move away from her.

I said, "That lion has a thing for her."

My son said, "Maybe he will give it to her."

Confused, I asked, "What?"

To which my son replied, "That thing he has for her."

Oy vey, that boy!  

Wordless Wednesday for Oct. 6, 2010

Dressing the Goat Rodeo for Halloween

I am the queen of bargain Halloween costumes.  I love making unique costumes and being crafty, but hate spending money.  If we're sharing our collection of crowns, I should also point out that I'm the queen of procrastination.  So I don't usually have months to work on these costumes.  In many cases, I had to throw them together at the last minute (ask me about how Jack Skellington became a munchin just hours before trick-or-treating).

I was inspired by Dollar Store Craft's to feature some of our cheap costumes.  I'm going to do a series of posts on the topic.  This is my first.  It didn't cost us a cent.

Costume:  Flying Monkey

Items:
1 brown hooded sweatshirt or sweater
1 empty ribbon spool
1 red t-shirt
1 pair of brown pants
2 sheets of black craft foam or 1 sheet of cardboard and black paint
1 sheet of brown felt
1 sheet of beige felt
a few safety pins.
hot glue

If you have the shirt and pants, the rest of the items can be found at the dollar store.  You could also use a brown sweatshirt and a brown hat and those can both be found at the dollar store.

My son had brown pants and we borrowed his sisters' brown hooded sweater.


I cut out circles for the ears and put the smaller one inside the larger.   I bunched them a little bit and pinned them from the inside.  I cut strips for a tail.  I covered a piece of wire with felt and glued it with hot glue, but I found the wire was unnecessary.  You can just cut out the curly shape and pin that on the shirt or pants.  I found pinning it to the shirt worked better because it didn't pull his pants down.

I used a red t-shirt for the vest.  I cut the sleeves off, cut the bottom to make it shorter and cut it down the center.  The discarded portions of the t-shirt were used to make the hat.  I covered a ribbon spool (the cardboard circle that ribbon comes on) with the leftover fabric and hot glued it on.  I then pinned it to the hood on an angle.  That hat was the most difficult thing for me to figure out.  I was so thrilled when it was done.

For wings, I searched for pictures of bat wings and then just quickly drew that on black foam.  I cut those out and pinned them to the vest.


I purposely pinned on everything to the pants and top so that they could be reused again.  We got tons of compliments when he went trick-or-treating.  It was hysterical to follow from behind and see those wings bounce and the tail swing.

As an added bonus, I'll throw in my ridiculously simple wicked witch of the west costume too.  Since my son was a flying monkey and I do so love coordinating costumes, his baby sister went as the wicked witch.

I'll get you, my pretty.

I used the big girls' black dance skirt as a shawl over her shoulders.  I dyed a dress black, but it was really a waste of time.  You couldn't see it at all.  She wore knock-off baby legs which we had on hand and she wore the rocking Jack and Lily skull shoes we had on hand (I won them from a blog contest).  She actually wore those same shoes last year for Purim when she was a baby pirate.

Then I found a problem--the hat.  I couldn't find any witch hats in baby sizes and my attempts at making one failed miserably.  This year, you can find some toddler-sized ones in the Target dollar aisle.  Last year, though, no luck.

So I hacked into a decoration from the Dollar Tree.  You know those corny plastic depictions of a witch that you can make appear has smacked into your car, your door, your wall, your tree, or your mother-in-law?  Well, we had one that we bought about 10 years ago.  I cut the hat off that.  It was small enough to work.

It didn't cost us anything at all.  Black baby clothing is very difficult to come by, so if you want to create a witch, try raiding your closet or even your older children's.  Our older daughters had tons of black skirts from which to choose.


Both of their costumes were a big hit and didn't cost us anything.  We were able to raid the closets and the craft bins.  If you do need to buy the materials, it still shouldn't cost you much at all.

Not a great picture, but this is SO my son.
It's also very flying monkeyish, don't you think?

.

Kids' Questions For The Universe

Today, we passed a Fed-ex truck and my son asked,

"Why do they call it that if they don't serve you food?"

Get it?  Fed?  Yeah, took me a minute too.  

You Know You're a Jew When...

Every once in a while, we have moments we like to call, "You know you're a Jew when," moments.

My Jewish Cheetah

For example, we had one last Chanukah, while on the way to the rabbis' house, we passed other houses (decorated for Xmas) and E asked in disgust, "Why did they hang their socks on their front door?"  In related news, my youngest daughter has a doll named Gut Shabbos. My son, while playing dress up, puts on parts of an animal costume AND a kippah and announces, "Take a picture of me.  I'm a Jewish Cheetah."  My older daughters put a nursing pad on the cat's head and announce, "She's one of us now." Yeah, it's kinda like that.

We had another such moment today.

Picture this scene:  I'm picking up my kippah-sporting kindergartener (wearing a kippah from his very own collection of kippot, mind you, not a rent-a-kippah from the font by the door) from religious school.  In his hands, he has a folder full of aleph bet worksheets apple crafts and shofar coloring pages.  Under that folder is (yet another) book about Chanukah which he has taken out from Sefer Safari.

I can't remember what on earth we were discussing as we walked down the hall, but he turned and asked, "Yeah, what's UP with that?"

Oh. my. stars!  This kid might as well be Yochanan ben Seinfeld.

So, you see, at moments like those, you are absolutely, positively, without a doubt, a Jew.  These are also often the moments when you are, absolutely, positively, without a doubt,  rolling on the floor with laughter.