Happy Halloween Part Deux

Joey was a baby vampire, too!

Happy Halloween!

love,

baby vampire

I'm Famous.

I nearly forgot that I was quoted in the newspaper today.  The column was about homemade Halloween costumes.  I promise, I won't let the fame go to my head.

Happy Halloween!

Early Halloween Festivities

Each year we look forward to trick or treating at the UA sorority houses.  This is a great opportunity for us because our neighborhood is unfortunately not conducive to trick or treating.  This event draws a huge crowd, but the roads are closed to traffic so it feels safer than trick-or-treating in a neighborhood.  Especially since (in this area at least) some parents drive their kids from house to house rather than walking.

Unfortunately, last night there was the threat of "severe weather" and trick or treating was canceled.  However, there were indoor activities on campus that we were able to participate in.

The Student Alumni Association had a Halloween festival going on with games, a bouncy house, and candy.  We met our friends Hayley, Joe, and Adelyn there.  Joey bounced in the inflatable dragon, decorated a brownie, and dug through sand for buried treasure.  She especially enjoyed the sand.

 

Next we went to the indoor football field for a Halloween event hosted by the student athletes.  Joey kicked a soccer ball around and jumped in a bouncy house, but probably enjoyed running around the field more than anything.  She was so worn out that she was asleep in the car within five minutes after leaving. 

 

Joey chose to run around in her leotard and tights rather than in the adorable tutu that I made for her, but here are some pictures of her in costume that I took before we left the house.

Getting Ready for Halloween

Here are some pictures of Joey in her Halloween costume.

In case you weren't keeping track...

Joey's Halloween Costume

Unlike the past two years, this year I really took Joey's interests into consideration when deciding what to dress her as for Halloween.  She is getting to the age where she's enjoying dressing up, and I knew that her costume would be reused for playtime regardless of what it was.  She loves princesses but she's getting a princess dress for Christmas (shh!), so I didn't want to buy another one.  I turned to Etsy for some inspiration and found the idea of Candy Corn Princess. 

For Joey's Candy Corn Princess costume, she'll have a tutu, a magic wand, and either a tiara or a hat.

I found several tutu-making tutorials online, and the consensus said:

Cut the tulle into 4 inch wide strips
Cut the strips to double the desired length
Layer three strips together and fold in half length-wise.
Sew or knot around elastic (cut to desired length with the ends sewn or tied together)

I was able to find 25-yard spools of 3 inch wide tulle pretty cheaply, so I bought one spool each of white, yellow, and orange.  They were $1 each, but after shipping and handling (gag) they worked out to about $3 per spool.  I had 75 yards of tulle to work with, and would you believe that I actually used all of it for Joey's tutu?  I cut the strips roughly 24 inches long and layered three of the same color, folded, and sewed, allowing room to thread elastic through.  Although it seems to be the trend to make "no-sew" tutus with knots, sewing seemed easier to me.  I threaded the strips onto a wire hanger before the elastic to make sure that the tutu would have the fullness that I wanted.  After all of the strips had been threaded onto the elastic I sewed the two ends together, fluffed, and Voila!  A tutu!

The magic wand was purchased at Hobby Lobby.  It is a wooden star-shaped wand that cost $1.47.  I first painted the entire thing yellow using acrylic craft paint, and then added a candy corn design using white and orange paint.

A candy corn hat was lent to us by Paul's coworker, but if I'm able to find a tiara I may use that instead.

Joey will wear her costume over a long-sleeved black shirt, black leggings, black socks, and black Mary Janes.

This project was so much easier than anticipated that now I want to make tutus for Joey for every occasion!