Halloween costuming
It's been a busy Halloween season at La Casa de los Poosycats Locos.
On Halloween proper, I was working at a school that doesn't dress up. There are some really good reasons they have that policy, so I wasn't looking to buck it, but I also felt like I couldn't just do *nothing* either.
It was totally worth it just for the bus ride to work. There was a mom with her two little girls, maybe 5 and 2 or 3. The littler one kept peeking around her mom’s side to look at me. When I’d look back at her, she immediately hid again. I smiled and mom kinda chuckled. The little girl peeked around maybe five times. Then she looked again. I don’t know what she was thinking, and she didn’t say anything, but her finger came up like she was pointing at me. I looked over to smile again. When she saw I was looking at her, her finger went straight up her nose. Good cover, kid!
Wearing the eyes on my head was fun at work too. All the kids were “what’s that?” What, I asked. “Up there!” I looked at the ceiling. Where? “No, on your face!” On my face? “No, on your head!” I patted my hair. What? Some of them were finally able to verbalize “on the top of your head”. Some got as far as “your eyes!” My eyes? “No, your other eyes!” We talked about whether I was a bug or an alien, whether or not the eyes were real, what would be different if the eyes *were* real (Could I turn them around and see behind me?). A couple of the teachers caught on and helped the kids get specific with their language or use their prepositions. Yay, teaching moments! I think I should wear the eyes all the time for my speech kids. It’s also a good ice breaker for parent meetings. If nothing else, it’s a good test of who’s actually paying attention.
Then, for the party we were going to, I decided I was going to have a costume that involved some actual *making*, not just buying this year. One that took a little more effort than just wearing wings and going as a Social Butterfly.
So I bought a dress at Goodwill. $7.99, as I recall.
It was kinda big on me.
Please take a moment to admire the hamburger socks.
I cut about 8 inches off the bottom and stitched up the hem. I'd hoped to have a longer dress than I ended up with, but I wasn't sure how to deal with the pleats. I'm also planning to make a skirt of some sort with the part I cut off. Oh, and I dyed my dress - two packets of yellow over the light beige fabric made for a saffron-ish yellow. Not too bad!
Then I made the prop.
I borrowed an umbrella and looked for tights. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find white tights in October? Holy cow! I finally found a cheap (and I mean "cheap", not just inexpensive) pair at Value Village. I also tried to find just the right shoes, either used or inexpensive new, but none were to be had, so I had something made from a nice lady on Etsy. At least they'll make good house slippers the rest of the year.
And I ended up with this.
Other than the tights being a shade too small (and all the requisite fussing that goes with *that*) and the umbrella being too large for indoors, the costume went over fairly well at the Halloween party we went to.
Michael went as Dr. Who. How handsome is he? Of course, not everyone recognized him right away. Some folks guessed Sallah from Indiana Jones (needs a different tie), Henry Jones (Indiana's father) (needs a different hat), and aa shriner (needs the little car). Still, all in all, a well-put-together costume.
On Halloween proper, I was working at a school that doesn't dress up. There are some really good reasons they have that policy, so I wasn't looking to buck it, but I also felt like I couldn't just do *nothing* either.
It was totally worth it just for the bus ride to work. There was a mom with her two little girls, maybe 5 and 2 or 3. The littler one kept peeking around her mom’s side to look at me. When I’d look back at her, she immediately hid again. I smiled and mom kinda chuckled. The little girl peeked around maybe five times. Then she looked again. I don’t know what she was thinking, and she didn’t say anything, but her finger came up like she was pointing at me. I looked over to smile again. When she saw I was looking at her, her finger went straight up her nose. Good cover, kid!
Wearing the eyes on my head was fun at work too. All the kids were “what’s that?” What, I asked. “Up there!” I looked at the ceiling. Where? “No, on your face!” On my face? “No, on your head!” I patted my hair. What? Some of them were finally able to verbalize “on the top of your head”. Some got as far as “your eyes!” My eyes? “No, your other eyes!” We talked about whether I was a bug or an alien, whether or not the eyes were real, what would be different if the eyes *were* real (Could I turn them around and see behind me?). A couple of the teachers caught on and helped the kids get specific with their language or use their prepositions. Yay, teaching moments! I think I should wear the eyes all the time for my speech kids. It’s also a good ice breaker for parent meetings. If nothing else, it’s a good test of who’s actually paying attention.
Then, for the party we were going to, I decided I was going to have a costume that involved some actual *making*, not just buying this year. One that took a little more effort than just wearing wings and going as a Social Butterfly.
So I bought a dress at Goodwill. $7.99, as I recall.
It was kinda big on me.
Please take a moment to admire the hamburger socks.
I cut about 8 inches off the bottom and stitched up the hem. I'd hoped to have a longer dress than I ended up with, but I wasn't sure how to deal with the pleats. I'm also planning to make a skirt of some sort with the part I cut off. Oh, and I dyed my dress - two packets of yellow over the light beige fabric made for a saffron-ish yellow. Not too bad!
Then I made the prop.
I borrowed an umbrella and looked for tights. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find white tights in October? Holy cow! I finally found a cheap (and I mean "cheap", not just inexpensive) pair at Value Village. I also tried to find just the right shoes, either used or inexpensive new, but none were to be had, so I had something made from a nice lady on Etsy. At least they'll make good house slippers the rest of the year.
And I ended up with this.
Other than the tights being a shade too small (and all the requisite fussing that goes with *that*) and the umbrella being too large for indoors, the costume went over fairly well at the Halloween party we went to.
Michael went as Dr. Who. How handsome is he? Of course, not everyone recognized him right away. Some folks guessed Sallah from Indiana Jones (needs a different tie), Henry Jones (Indiana's father) (needs a different hat), and aa shriner (needs the little car). Still, all in all, a well-put-together costume.
