{this post contains affiliate links}While Halloween may be over for most, today Miss G and I celebrated once again with the wonderful mamas and munchkins of our play school co-op. Now, while she very easily could have worn the mermaid costume I made just a couple of days back, I couldn’t help but make Grae another one… A paper bag princess costume based on one of my favourite Robert Munsch books, The Paper Bag Princess!
While Miss G may have decided that she wanted to dress-up like a mermaid months ago, in true Jen fashion, I started the costume last night – the night before Halloween {like I did last year, and the year before that}. Honestly – I wanted to start it weeks ago, but I just didn’t have any clue how I was going to pull it off. I’d scoured the internet for clever ideas, but the combination of Miss G needing to be able to walk down flights upon flights of stairs while trick-or-treating and my not having a sewing machine really didn’t turn up any viable options.
Last year, Gracen knew exactly what she wanted to be for Halloween – a brown fox. She decided weeks in advance and never once wavered. This year she wasn’t quite as sure. In the beginning, she was fairly certain that she wanted to be a giraffe or a kangaroo, but eventually the ideas of a lion, hippo, and tiger got thrown into the mix too. I was a little bit worried about how I’d pull off one of those ideas sans sewing machine, so I was pretty relieved when she mentioned being a superhero. That I could do. I showed her a photo of PBK’s gorgeous amazing girl costume, and she was immediately sold (the tutu may have done it ☺). With that, I collected a few craft supplies (some felt, sparkly craft foam, ribbon, self-adhesive velcro, and elastic) and a few awesome and inexpensive pieces from our local H&M {a headband, a teeny purse, shoe wings, and a half price leotard with a tutu attached) and we were good to go. Thinking back to last year’s night before costume, I must enjoy working under pressure, because armed with my glue gun and a pair of scissors, I began working on Miss G’s Supergirl costume last night at 11 p.m. The good news is that because the project involved absolutely no sewing, I was done in 2 hours flat. Yay for that!
It’s been a busy day for us so far… After an early morning visit to SweetSalt Baked Goods & Playscapes for coffee, fresh bread, and ghost cookies made with organic flour and pumpkin, and a Halloween celebration at Strong Start, we headed to Bradley’s school for a little visit.
Gracen was so excited to visit her Papa and show him the treat bag she’d made at school and even more excited to go from one classroom to the next, popping in to say hello to all of the lovely teachers.
What she wasn’t excited about, however, was leaving without Papa in tow. Poor little lady cried her most pitiful cry and ran back to Papa twice after already saying goodbye and escaping Mama’s grasp. ☹
♥
Weeks and weeks ago, I asked Gracen what she wanted to be for Halloween. Without hesitation, she exclaimed, “Fox! A BROWWWN fox!” Her response kind of surprised me because we haven’t really spent much time talking or reading or learning about foxes. And at the time, I wasn’t convinced she’d have the same answer a week down the road. But was I ever wrong. Although she wavered a tiny bit between a being a brown fox and an orange fox, never once did she change her mind about the fox part itself. So, Gracen the fox it was.
I knew I wanted to make her little costume (making her Halloween costumes is just one of those things, like making her birthday cakes, that I want to do until she’ll no longer let me), but I had no clue how I’d do it. So while I’d been collecting materials, I hadn’t actually started putting anything together until last night when I realized that our Howl-o-ween Play Gym had crept up on me and was the very next morning. Oops. So I kept it super simple (I highly recommend starting costumes with a hoodie) and just added ears, a tail, and tummy fur to a little brown hoodie, and made a mask to go along with it. Here’s Gracen the fox…
I’m still hoping to make little clawed mittens and clawed black boot covers before Halloween night, but we’ll see what happens… All that matters right now is that Grae absolutely adores the costume and is already asking about when she can wear it next. Soon, Baby Girl, soon.
♥