So one of the things Nathan brought to our marriage was an enthusiasm for dressing up on Halloween. The first year I knew him he was the Jolly Green Giant.
(And after not having dressed up for Halloween in years I opted to be a giant potted flower)
Our first year of marriage it fell to Nathan to come up with our first couples costume. He managed to pull off this brilliant idea in a very short time period.
The cutest PB&J you ever did see!
(he made the bread slices himself and they were awesome!)
The next year I was hugely prego and he was super busy with his internship so we reused the pb&j.
Which brings us to Halloween 2011.
We are now a party of four instead of a party of two and we wanted to doing something the whole family could participate in. We threw around a lot of ideas (Alice and Wonderland , Bo Peep and her sheep, big bad wolf and 3 little pigs etc) and then settled on this one.
Waldo, Wenda, and their twinner Waldo babies!
Inspired by this tutorial I painted white t-shirts for the whole family and some white leggings I never wear (you can see them in the picture below), made the hats from knit, and Nathan made the glasses. As always I learned some things in the process:
1. I used packing tape (because it's what I had on hand) instead of masking tape to tape off the shirts and I think that helped create cleaner crisper lines.
2. Not all fabric (or textile) medium is created equal. I used several different kinds (don't ask!) and each called for a greater or lesser ratio of medium to acrylic. A 2 parts acrylic to 1 part medium created a much stiffer (but better color) design; 1.5 parts acrylic to 2 parts medium created a more vintaged color, but the clothing didn't lose it's flexibility and softness. If I had a do over for this project I'd go with the vintage flexible look. With so much of the shirt covered in paint the stiffness got annoying (but it's only a costume, right?)
3. The hats were a labor of love and I pulled ideas from multiple tutorials to finally come up with something that worked. But I will never post a tutorial about it because I do not want to go back to that unhappy, frustrated place. Let's just say knit was harder to work with than I thought. Fleece would have been a more forgiving choice.
4. My kids never cease to surprise me. Nathan made the glasses out of cardboard with an elastic around the back. I was sure they wouldn't wear them. I prepped him not to be too disappointed if they didn't.
And then of course they wore them without a fuss for the entire night.
(We also learned it helps to show them how they look in the mirror. They kept their hats on after they saw how adorable they looked in the mirror. No joke)
(And after not having dressed up for Halloween in years I opted to be a giant potted flower)
Our first year of marriage it fell to Nathan to come up with our first couples costume. He managed to pull off this brilliant idea in a very short time period.
The cutest PB&J you ever did see!
(he made the bread slices himself and they were awesome!)
The next year I was hugely prego and he was super busy with his internship so we reused the pb&j.
Which brings us to Halloween 2011.
We are now a party of four instead of a party of two and we wanted to doing something the whole family could participate in. We threw around a lot of ideas (Alice and Wonderland , Bo Peep and her sheep, big bad wolf and 3 little pigs etc) and then settled on this one.
Waldo, Wenda, and their twinner Waldo babies!
Inspired by this tutorial I painted white t-shirts for the whole family and some white leggings I never wear (you can see them in the picture below), made the hats from knit, and Nathan made the glasses. As always I learned some things in the process:
1. I used packing tape (because it's what I had on hand) instead of masking tape to tape off the shirts and I think that helped create cleaner crisper lines.
2. Not all fabric (or textile) medium is created equal. I used several different kinds (don't ask!) and each called for a greater or lesser ratio of medium to acrylic. A 2 parts acrylic to 1 part medium created a much stiffer (but better color) design; 1.5 parts acrylic to 2 parts medium created a more vintaged color, but the clothing didn't lose it's flexibility and softness. If I had a do over for this project I'd go with the vintage flexible look. With so much of the shirt covered in paint the stiffness got annoying (but it's only a costume, right?)
3. The hats were a labor of love and I pulled ideas from multiple tutorials to finally come up with something that worked. But I will never post a tutorial about it because I do not want to go back to that unhappy, frustrated place. Let's just say knit was harder to work with than I thought. Fleece would have been a more forgiving choice.
4. My kids never cease to surprise me. Nathan made the glasses out of cardboard with an elastic around the back. I was sure they wouldn't wear them. I prepped him not to be too disappointed if they didn't.
And then of course they wore them without a fuss for the entire night.
(We also learned it helps to show them how they look in the mirror. They kept their hats on after they saw how adorable they looked in the mirror. No joke)
And I've saved the best for last. On a whim I submitted a photo to Make It and Love It's costume photo group and we were featured as part of her virtual costume parade!!!
(you can go here to see us)
I was seriously so excited to see that! Her crafting site is pretty famous and it was such a delight to have something I put blood, sweat, and curse words into featured in even a small way.
Saweet!
I'm already starting to get excited for next year.
Such good ideas! Our family loves to dress up for Halloween, too. Still thinking what to do for this year :)
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