I would hate for Halloween to have come and gone without you getting a chance to see pictures of my kids in their costumes. Wouldn't you hate that too?
This was the first year that Pippo cared about Halloween at all. He's never particularly enjoyed wearing costumes or playing dress-up before, and he's too shy for the idea of knocking on strangers' doors to have any appeal. Which is fine by me.
But this year, when I described trick-or-treating to him, he sounded excited. (His exact words were, “Oh yes, I think that would do me good!” By which I'm pretty sure he meant “that would be a good and fun thing for me to do.” And he was right. He loved it.)
I gave him some options for who he could dress up as, and he decided he wanted to be a Lion Knight. (The knights from his Lego castle are divided into good guys and bad guys — Lion Knights and Dragon Knights, respectively.)
Here, for reference, are a few Lion Knights:
(We suggested that Molly could be the Fair Lady you see in the upper right, but Pippo thought she'd need more hair for that. Some day, little girl.)
He and I discussed what his costume should look like — having spent many long hours studying those Legos, he had a very clear idea of what a Lion Knight should wear, and rejected a few of my ideas outright. I had so. much. fun. making it. It really made me realize that I need more crafting in my life!
The sword we already had, and his helmet is made of cardboard, tin foil, and duct tape, with a straw-and-wooden-skewer plume. The shield is cardboard and colored paper, with a duct-tape handle, and his tunic is made of fabric and felt from my stash. (My husband, upon seeing the fabric: “Is it going to be… a gingham tunic?” Me: “Chain mail! It's chain mail!”)
I made a scrap-paper template to make the lion head pieces (it was easier to get it symmetrical that way), which is why the shield and tunic match so nicely.
Pippo is delighted, and has worn it every day since it was finished.
I figure it's good to have a knight's costume around for general dress-ups when you have a boy in the house, and while we didn't have any All Saints' Day parties to go to this year, we now have a Saint George in our arsenal (and could have a dragon for him ready to go, too). So that's how I justified getting a little crazy-crafting-mom on this particular project. Plus, I've forbidden myself from buying crafting supplies until I make a serious dent in my stash, so it's all part of a good day's work.
Molly got some pink felt ears (which she loves) and a nose (which she hates), and went as a piggy. (“Pig” is the only animal noise she can consistently make, so we thought it was appropriate.)
I wondered if perhaps her silhouette could be a little more round, so we tried adding a poufy dress. For the actual trick-or-treating, she ended up wearing a sweater and a puffy vest, then sitting in the stroller the whole time with blankets piled around. Which is why I only made her ears and a nose. But those ears were pretty cute.
Pippo did work up the courage to put on the piggy nose, later.
Pumpkins, candy, costumes, and then feasting on a delicious (if I do say so myself) apple pie for All Saints Day. It was a good weekend! How was yours?
Theresa Anne says
One of the things I love about reading this blog is it brings back memories of when our children were younger. Our youngest son was fascinated by knights and St George for a number of years. One year for Halloween he had his heart set on dressing up as a knight…the night before Halloween. It was a late knight finagling a knight costume out of cardboard, foil, and a race car helmet. The look on his face in the morning was worth every minute of lost sleep.
We also hosted a St George party on the feast of St George (April 23) when he was little. One of my favorite memories is when we painted a large mural of a dragon and clipped it to the chain link fence and all the little knights took a turn slaying the dragon.
His 2 favorite books at the time were The Making of a Knight by Patrick O’Brien and St George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman and .
Enjoy these days and “knights” with your little ones!
Anne-Marie says
“One of the things I love about reading this blog is it brings back memories of when our children were younger.”
Me, too! One year my father gave my two sons really nice wooden shields painted with a lion rampant. I made matching surcoats of felt with an appliqued lion copied from the shield. Their older sisters made them chain mail by knitting grey yarn in garter stitch on large needles. For several months they called each other St George and St. Michael.
Kathy@9peas says
Adorable! I once had a piggy too for Halloween. The Lego inspired knight is perfect!
A. says
I would indeed hate to miss Pippo and Molly’s costumes, since I was disappointed to discover that no one comes trick-or-treating to our new neighborhood and blogs are apparently the only way I get to see adorable children in costumes 🙁 But they are adorable, and well done Rosie on the costumes!
On a related note, does anyone have suggestions for what to do with two bags of fun size Kit Kat bars? Now I am really wishing the store had not been out of Hershey’s . . . at the time I was not anticipating the problem of having this many leftovers, but at least you can bake with those!
Barbara says
Google Kit kat cookies. There are loads of recipes. And I have chopped them up and put them in homemade ice cream with good results.
Sarah Sams says
There are dentists who will buy back your candy and ship it overseas to servicemen. See http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/
Barbara says
Very cute. Pippo reminds me of when I had little boys for whom to make costumes. Frankly, I think boys’ costumes are way more fun than girls’. 🙂
I am impressed that your husband knew what gingham is!
Tori says
So adorable, I love them both. Definitely a homemade costume success.
Anne says
Adorable costumes!! Love the pig nose!!
Mrs. Pickles says
You go, crazy crafting mom! Those costumes are awesome!! I am especially impressed by your shield-device-decorating skillz.
Homemade holidays are the best. This year I was so proud of my 4yo’s fox costume: it was made out of a hoodie, leftover felt, an old t-shirt, pillow stuffing, tempura paint, and multiple safety pins. The only thing I actually had to purchase was red sweatpants from the thrift store for 99 cents. And my little fox loved it!
Catherine says
Cute costums! Kuddos to the Captain for identifying gingham!