Moving on Already

As I take down the Halloween decorations, and wrap up the awesome time we all had, I have to admit I am already preparing for Christmas in my mind.  I have been an early shopper for years, for several reasons.  First, I have to mail gifts to both coasts and the mail is cheaper and faster if you mail it the last week of November.  Seriously, the difference between Nov 30 and Dec 1 is surprising.  Also, I make a lot of gifts by hand, and that takes time and preparation.  Besides, in our area of the country, November feels like winter and time to think about winter holidays.  Shopping over a longer period of time helps me to spread the costs over several pay periods and lessen the impact on the budget.

So before I embark into all the many things I do for Christmas, I wanted to take a minute and celebrate the success of our Halloween this year.  I set out to have a free Halloween, and did it!  The kids loved their costumes this year.

Lily was a “little house on the prairie” girl.  So cute!  This outfit, straight out of the dress up bin, got her lots of OOOs and Ahhhhs.  She loved trick or treating, totally understanding the concept quickly.  At each house she said “ treeeet  treeet?”  and “peeze peeze?” Very sweet!!

Colleena was Snowwhite, also straight out of the dress up bin.  She loves the Disney Princesses, because, of course, she herself is a princess!  She was a real trouper trick or treating, going as far as her big brother who was driven to get the biggest haul ever.  The dress fit right over her winter coat. Ahhh, Halloween!

  

Baden’s costume was a bit more work.  We’d originally planned to use an old umbrella for wings, but we

could not get the fabric dyed right, or cut right, or to sit nicely on his shoulders.  It was a total failure.  We had to take a night to regroup and re-think the whole plan.  Shawn was thinking of things we had around the house, and came up with garden landscape fabric, or weed-stop. 

The light material did not weigh down the wings, or need help to support it.  We hot glued two layers together, creating a neat effect of having ribbing in the wings. Then we just safety pinned them to his coat.  The light shined through just a tiny bit and the material looked gauzy.  They turned out great!  Baden was able to wear them to the indoor carnival, then add layers underneath and be perfectly warm for trick or treating.  He was so happy with this costume, and was proud he was the only bat.

At the start of the Halloween season, I was feeling disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to decorate as much as I usually do ( over the top).  I was out for a walk with the kids when I saw some cute little ghosties made from stuffed white socks.  What a great use for those mismatched socks.  Except, none of mine are white, because white socks do not cross the threshold of this house!  However, I do have a closet FULL of material left over from projects, bought at sales and stock piled over the years.  I even have some from when my mother in law cleaned out her stash!  Surely, I could find something!  I found a large piece of white-ish material, and cut out a bunch of circles, and stuffed them with the clipping bits from in between the circles.  I let the kids draw faces on them all, and hung them up around my house.  So cute! And free!  It was a great craft to do as a family.  Now, I will simply untie them, throw out the stuffing and stick them back in my decorations box for next year.  The kids love seeing things they have made proudly displayed around my house, and it was a great free craft.