It doesn't feel like Halloween. It feels like Christmas. There are no corn mazes here. In fact, there is no corn at all. There are no fields of never ending pumpkins ripe for the picking. The fall leaves fell weeks ago, and were recently buried under a fresh layer of snow. But Halloween it is! And the Burns' family participates!
All of our holiday trimmings are in the in-laws' basement in Georgia, so I had to be get creative with the Halloween decorations. Well actually I didn't really create this idea, I just straight stole it from another blog. But who's keeping up? Not me. Not anymore. I used to think if I didn't invent the idea, then it didn't really count. Making something that someone else thought of was the equivalent to tracing in my mind. These days when I see an idea and follow through with making it, I am proud of myself.
So. I took black card stock paper and used chalk to rough out some basic owl shapes. Then I just cut them out. I used spray adhesive to temporarily glue them to the window. It was really simple, plus I already had all the supplies on hand. I wasn't feeling particularly witty when I cut in "Burns' Halloween". It made no sense then or now. Sooooooo. Yeah.
Getting into Character
Annie Oatmeal dressed up as Mary for "Dress up as a Bible character" day at Awanas.
She was very happy about it.
Did you see "How to Train Your Dragon"?
Here's our little Viking. She helped me put this outfit together with stuff we already had. She wore it to her preschool party and on the eve of Halloween to the community Halloween bash sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
To make the hat I took a ball cap that no longer fit and cut the off the bill. I used masking tape to cover the embroidery and to give it an overall uniform texture. I shaped the antlers out of aluminum foil and wrapped those with masking tape as well. I spray painted the tape with silver paint. I realized I could have simply used duct tape after seeing how it turned out (it looked just like duct tape). In my defense, I initially considered using duct tape, but I didn't think it would look right. We had trouble keeping the hat on her head, so I ended up sewing a brown headband into it. It blended right in and worked perfectly.
During dress rehearsal, Charley actually thought to have me crisscross white yarn across her forearms. It was a very viking-ish touch, but on party day it proved to be too uncomfortable.
Girls Go Out
So. I took black card stock paper and used chalk to rough out some basic owl shapes. Then I just cut them out. I used spray adhesive to temporarily glue them to the window. It was really simple, plus I already had all the supplies on hand. I wasn't feeling particularly witty when I cut in "Burns' Halloween". It made no sense then or now. Sooooooo. Yeah.
Getting into Character
Annie Oatmeal dressed up as Mary for "Dress up as a Bible character" day at Awanas.
She was very happy about it.
Did you see "How to Train Your Dragon"?
Here's our little Viking. She helped me put this outfit together with stuff we already had. She wore it to her preschool party and on the eve of Halloween to the community Halloween bash sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
To make the hat I took a ball cap that no longer fit and cut the off the bill. I used masking tape to cover the embroidery and to give it an overall uniform texture. I shaped the antlers out of aluminum foil and wrapped those with masking tape as well. I spray painted the tape with silver paint. I realized I could have simply used duct tape after seeing how it turned out (it looked just like duct tape). In my defense, I initially considered using duct tape, but I didn't think it would look right. We had trouble keeping the hat on her head, so I ended up sewing a brown headband into it. It blended right in and worked perfectly.
During dress rehearsal, Charley actually thought to have me crisscross white yarn across her forearms. It was a very viking-ish touch, but on party day it proved to be too uncomfortable.
Girls Go Out
(From the right) Maria, Rachel, Courtney, Jamie, and I just before we walked up to a haunted house in Salcha and realized we'd have to wait 2 or more hours out in the cold before going in. But we had a good time. It was nice to go out with the girls.
So Halloween has come and gone. Our candy bags are full. Our jack-o-lantern's face is sunken. 10 Comments
Your creative :) Love the Mary outfit and the Viking outfit. Annie Oatmeal plays it well :)
ReplyDeleteHappy November
Love to be able to see this. I so appreciate today's technology. Great costumes Hayley. So glad to see you "trying" to do the haunted house with the girls. Great picture of the girls in the snow. I really loved the Mary costume.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Halloween story - sounds like you guys made the best of it! I was tempted to drag out some of your decorations, but we have plenty to decorate with. Do we have that huge monster that we gave ya'll for Christmas one year? You may have sold it or gave it away, but I started thinking about that monster this weekend. Do you remember it?
ReplyDeleteOh & Charley looks FABULOUS! Also, I am so glad you got to go to the haunted house.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I'm so glad you had a girls night. :) Did Charley go Trick or Treating?...On second thought with the cold and wild animals, that's probably not the best idea. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Miz Liz. She is quite the actor.
ReplyDeleteMom as you know, the Mary costume was thrown together at the last minute. She is the one who went and got the scarf and the yarn for her head. She also got baby Jesus out of her baby doll bin. She picked the most realistic one.
I am sorry to say Phyllis....that monster was damaged by some neighborhood dogs when we left the garage open once. Soooo sorry. I know it was probably expensive. You know we probably couldn't have pulled it out till Annie Oatmeal is like 15 anyway, right? That things was SCARY.
Thanks Katie. She did not go trick or treating. We don't worry too much about the wild animals in town, but the cold weather keeps most kids from trick or treating. They make up for it in other ways though by handing out candy at events in town.
Sorry I missed the Haunted House and Halloween. Happy to be home, and missing all you girls. Think we might have to do a Girls' Night soon!! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a very scary face Charlie is making. As the VIKING! Not Mother Mary! Very innovative costume, there, sister! I also love the Mary costume. Charley is SO into her characters, isn't she? Maybe she could come out here and take my place in the acting world for a little while. She kinda looks like 80's Mary with that chain belt, bright head dress and wrinkly baby. I don't know why I said that wrinkly babies are from the 80's.
ReplyDeleteThat's a cute pic of you and the girls. Thank GOD you've got some girl friends up there. I'm really thankful for that. Looks like ya'll are having fun despite having numb extremities, and that's definitely a trait I admire in people.
I have just discovered your blog today and I read the whole thing! It took me a few hours but it was so enlightening and interesting. I loved all the photos! We are planning a move to Delta Junction soon and I am trying to soak up as much as I can from bloggers living in the Great North! Thanks for being so transparent and sharing such great insight! Your family is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
7wonderfulblessings@gmail.com
Thanks ya'll.
ReplyDeleteBlessedMamaofMany, I am super flattered you read the entire blog! I totally understand your quest to soak up as much as you can about the area. I did the same thing before we came up. Here are a few blogs you may or may not already know about.
Both living in Delta
http://littlefarmonthetundra.blogspot.com/
http://karla-alaskaandbeyond.blogspot.com/
From Fairbanks
http://susanstevenson.com/blog/
I would be glad to help you out in anyway I can! Just ask! I tried to follow your blog but for some reason I got a message that blogger couldn't handle my request right then. I will try another day. Thanks again for tuning in!