Daytime Trick-or-Treating

This year, because we moved to a colder climate, I found daytime trick-or-treating events to take Evelyn to. It allowed us to be out during the warmer parts of the day, and I was able to layer clothes under my daughter's costume and feel secure that she was warm enough without a coat. We've actually had better fall weather than I expected, and it would not have been bad to plan to go trick-or-treating Halloween night. But I've had enough of trick-or-treating at this point, so we'll be at home, passing candy out together.

I learned that daytime trick-or-treating has some disadvantages. We took Evelyn to an event at our local farmer's market, and we took her to an event where shops at an outdoor shopping area were handing out treats. Each event was sort of fun, but I'm not sure they were worth the effort. The problem is etiquette, or a lack thereof. At today's event in particular (the outdoor shopping area), it was difficult to let my daughter walk on her own. Because she is so small, she would easily be overlooked by kids and adults alike, and I constantly worried about her being stepped on. When we would try to enter a store to trick-or-treat (why all the stores participating didn't set up tables outside where it was less crowded and easier to keep the crowd moving, I don't know), both adults and kids would cut in front of us as we opened the door and waited for our slower toddler to make her way in. You would have thought that the stores were handing out $20 bills rather than Dum Dum suckers and bite size Tootsie Rolls with the way some people tried to rush through. And nobody could blame their actions on the weather. It was a very pleasant, sunny 50 degrees outside.

Perhaps in the future I'll stick to more traditional trick-or-treating (doing it around the neighborhood Halloween night), and maybe try to find a Halloween party to go to rather than daytime trick-or-treating. It's not to say that it hasn't been fun this year. I just don't like big crowds of people who don't care to cooperate with one another.

DIY Halloween Costumes

My daughter was a month old for her first Halloween. I remember people asking in the week leading up to the holiday what her costume was going to be. I guess between the sleepless nights, trying to get through the rigors of breastfeeding a newborn for the first time in my life, and planning my shower schedule so I could get at least one in per week, I hadn't thought about making or buying a Halloween costume. Besides, I wasn't really into the idea of dressing up my daughter if she couldn't participate in the festivities. It seemed like too much effort just so other people and I could watch my daughter do what she normally did (eat, sleep, and poop) while dressed as something silly like an elephant or caterpillar. I did, at least, put my daughter in Halloween-themed pajamas that night.

For her second Halloween, my daughter was thirteen months. She was already a walker (had been for three months at that point), so I knew I wanted to take her trick-or-treating, even if it was only to a couple of houses. But I really did not want to spend $20 (or more) on a costume from a store that she would wear once, maybe for five minutes, but definitely not for more than a couple of hours. I finally settled on a Red Riding Hood theme.

I bought a homemade red cape that was stylish and not so costume-y that she could wear it on other days, with regular clothes. I dressed her in a plain dress with cute leg warmers, then I gave her a small basket I pulled out of storage that she could use to collect candy in. It was perfect. The only money I spent was on the cape, and it was a piece of clothing I could have her wear again and again, for as long as it fit.

I wanted to go a bit bigger with this year's Halloween costume, and I decided to make it myself. I looked through costumes at a few different stores, and I couldn't find anything I liked very much. Besides, many costumes seemed to be designed more for warmer weather, and I wanted something that I could throw a jacket over without completely losing the look of it. 

I finally settled on the idea of making a cute ghost costume. I had a few white, short-sleeved onesies I hadn't used, so I painted a ghost face onto one of them with fabric paint. Then I followed a no-sew tulle skirt tutorial, and created a tutu of sorts, using white and black tulle. To make the costume warmer, I layered a white, long-sleeved shirt under the short-sleeved one, and I put black leggings on under the skirt. I also have a black jacket I keep on hand to throw on if it gets particularly chilly. And since my daughter is only two years old, I'm able to attend daytime trick-or-treat events with her, allowing her to be outside during the warmer parts of the day. 

I think I am going to try to make my daughter's Halloween costumes each year from now on, at least until she gets older and vehemently opposes the "uncoolness" of a homemade costume. And I now have a sewing machine, which will hopefully allow for more versatility in deciding what to make. 

Pumpkin Painting

I decided this year for Halloween to buy a pumpkin for my husband and I to carve, and to buy a pumpkin for my two-year-old daughter, Evelyn, to paint.

I wasn't sure, though, how I was going to go about having my daughter paint her pumpkin. I wanted to let her have as much control over the creative process as possible, but I also wanted a pumpkin that looked cute. As much as I love my daughter's "abstract" (and sometimes very minimalist) art, I love it even more when I can incorporate it into a more finished design. 

After looking through some examples of alternative pumpkin decorating, I came across the idea to use masking tape to create a silhouette or other design. Paint is then applied to the pumpkin, and after it dries, the tape is pulled off to reveal a picture or pattern in orange. I thought to myself this would be perfect. I would create the design with the tape, Evelyn would paint over it, and it would be a cute collaboration. 

My husband thought it would be fun to do a cat silhouette and a moon. So, I put strips of masking tape on the pumpkin, covering the area where I wanted the cat and the moon. I drew the cat's silhouette and the moon on the tape, then I used an Exacto knife to cut the excess tape away from the design. 

I then set my daughter up with a little painting station outside (the weather was too nice to not take advantage). 

I used an egg carton to place the paint colors in. It worked great! 

And I gave my daughter foam brushes to apply the paint to the pumpkin. 

I realized right away in the painting process that I had the wrong kind of paint. It would just kind of slide around the pumpkin without soaking in. I either should have initially spray painted the pumpkin with a matte gray or white to make it easier for the kid paint to stick, or I should have done my research and bought the right kind of paints for a pumpkin.

Evelyn had a lot of fun with the process anyway, and her dad and I stepped in to give the pumpkin a more even coat of paint. (We ended up dabbing the paint on rather than brushing it. It wasn't great, but it worked well enough.)

My husband mixed a little bit of the paint with some water and "poured" it over the top of the pumpkin to create a streaked look. The pumpkin started out a bit of a mess, but in the end, we made it work.

And I apologize for the not as good picture of the pumpkin its final final stage (with the tape ripped off). I took that one with my phone. I was too lazy to grab the better camera. I plan to try this idea for painting a pumpkin again next year, and at least I know better than to just try to apply any old paint I have on hand. But I still think this one came out all right. It wasn't a total loss.

Story Book Placemats

While reading the RSS feed for some blogs I follow, I came across the idea to use pages from story books to create placemats for your kids. I love the idea, especially since my daughter, Evelyn, tore apart a board book that was mine as a baby. I stored the pages away in a drawer, figuring I would find something useful to do with them, and hoping that the idea would come sooner rather than later. Thankfully, it did. I really did not want to get rid of the book entirely. Unfortunately, I am out of laminating sheets, but as soon as I pick some up and complete this project I will post pictures.