Pretty Bitty Bugs: Is It Way Too Late for a Halloween Post??

I am very aware that it’s February and Halloween was almost three months ago, but I’m trying to catch up on all the posts I didn’t write during my crazy time last year. I can if I want! : )

First on my list of posts to write: Halloween. Since my older sister and I are only an hour apart, we decided to have all of our kids coordinate their costumes this year. We’ve done this in the past too, but this is the first year I feel like we’ve really nailed it. And to ‘nail it’ with five kids and four homemade costumes (I took the easy way out with Judah’s) I think that’s noteworthy. I’m going to give you the condensed version since I can’t remember everything that I did and I didn’t take pictures of all of it. I’m such a good blogger. Are you picking up my sarcasm?

We went with Toy Story for all the kiddos, and before you tell me you think it’s lame (shut up or I’ll cut you) keep in mind that we have three boys and two girls to find costumes for and none of them are terribly happy being background characters. So my oldest nephew got to be Woody and his little brother rocked the Buzz. And since Judah is totally vote-less this year—you don’t get to vote until you can speak intelligibly—he wound up as an alien. They’re cool, right? Eden wanted to be Bo Peep with her awesome dress and Sissy claimed the role of Jessie. “Because I’m going to be a farmer,” she said.

I bought supplies a few weeks before, but in true Brittany fashion I waited to start working on them until three days before we needed completed costumes. ‘Cause that’s how I roll. With Trunk or Treat looming on the Friday night calendar, I started on Jessie’s cowhide jeans on Tuesday evening. All that took was a little cow-print fabric purchased at JoAnn Fabrics, my pinking shears, and some Aileen’s Craft Glue. I just took a look at pictures of Jessie I found online and covered a pair of jeans with the fabric similar to hers.

I chose to use a pair of jeans that were just a smidge too short for Adaleine since I thought I was ruining them by gluing the fabric on. I happily discovered upon washing them (after we were through with them, thank goodness) that Aileen’s glue is not washable, so the fabric washed right off. I was so glad that I didn’t try to wash everything before Halloween, and also glad that the jeans weren’t ruined after all! They were happily passed on to a little girl at church. : )

Next I started on Jessie’s shirt. I used a hand-me-down button up shirt and went to work. I painted the yellow first with craft paint and once that dried I added the red ‘stitching’ on top with more craft paint. I was so excited with how Jessie was coming together!! I didn’t mess with trying to make her a yarn wig (although I totally should since a couple of clueless people thought I’d dressed my daughter up as Woody for some reason) but I did find a foam hat at a craft store that I spray painted red and added white stitching to the outside.

This was my Instagram 'sneak peek' of Sissy's shirt.

Bo Peep was a bit more challenging, but I was really excited to do it. I found a light pink shirt at a second-hand store and started out by cutting the collar the way I wanted it and adding lace to the bodice. From there I used some white broadcloth I already had and glued on some pink felt for the dots just like Bo’s on the movie. Using two homemade tutu’s that we already had (thanks, Aunt Tiffany!) we fluffed up her skirt so it was nice and full. It sounds a little bit simple the way I’m describing it, but I had to sew and re-sew a few times to get it right. It took forever and I was SO frustrated!