A Very Viking Birthday!

We call my third son Concobar. And he loves it. In fact, he is my only child to HAVE a nickname. No others stuck, and J is strongly opposed to nicknames. But the baby, he gets one. His Aunt refers to him as "Concobar the Barbarian!" and so for his first birthday theme, we ventured out of the Young ideas and went to Viking. He had a banner, a cake, and a GREAT costume.

I used a 3XL Hanes shirt from the Men's section at Walmart for his shirt and pants. Super easy(Tutorial is in the works!) The Vest I winged my way through with some fabric out of my Mom's left over pile and the belt was pieced together from the Hanes shirt. I love the bulky look of it! We had to put on the spats too, but instead of using Velcro, I used some Suede cord again to tie them on. I think it really completed the look. I then made a simple skull cap with a band  out of brown fleece(the vest was also lined with this) and added some stuffed horns. PERFECT!

Felt Banner attached to some Suede cord fund in the craft section at Walmart.

Fantastic Cake by Ashley from Ashley's Cakes by Design. Look her up if you are in her area!

I think the best part were the foam battle ax and mace!  He sure had a fun time picking on his brothers ATTACKING INVADERS!

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Halloween 2010 Part 3

Happy Halloween, did you all have one? I managed to finish my costumes with 36 hours to spare! Which is a huge improvement over last year. Remember when I told you what the boys wanted to be?

That's right, a cast of characters from the old Sonic the Hedgehog game. With no pattern available I was left to my own devices (and free hand drawing/pattern making) again this year.  It was easier than I thought, but also quite time consuming. But it was a labor of love, and the excitement from the boys was worth it. Taking pictures was difficult though, as I am sure you can imagine, what with three boys aged 4, 3, and nearly 1. What do you think I will have to make next year to top this? I may have to start sewing in July!

And now for the DEBUT! Sonic, Knuckles, and the Baby as Tails!

I am so proud of these costumes and I think they turned out so well! Let me know what you think!

***Disclaimer: I need to point out that this blog post is also an entry into the Giveaway Blogs Spook-A-Look Halloween Photo Contest. Contest Hosted by http://www.giveawayblogs.com and http://www.uprinting.com***

Halloween 2010 Part 2

Costumes again. But this gets better and better. I'd like to introduce this years concept...

Do you recognize them?

My oldest wants to be SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!
His favorite color is BLUE and he believes himself to be the FASTEST runner ever. I am frequently told that NO ONE can run faster than him. Do you think Usein Bolt would let a 4 year old beat him???

His brother wants to be KNUCKLES

Because his favorite color is RED and 

he has to be like his brother! 

It makes sense then, if two kids match the third needs to follow the theme as well, So the baby at almost 1 year old will be TAILS! He doesn't have a favorite color yet, but his older brothers are pushing Yellow.




THE PLAN: 
Maybe I am optimistic, but I think these will be relatively easy costumes.  I intend to use a basic sleeper pattern for each child, but I will skip the ribbing around the neck and make a slight alteration that will put the zipper in the back. Each sleeper will be made from anti pill fleece (I am really hoping that Hancock Fabrics has a sale on fleece again this year, last year their sale saved me at least 50%!!) I will also not put feet on the sleepers, but will put ribbing around the ankles, this will allow tennis shoes to be worn and then covered to match the correct characters. Large gloves will be added to keep hands warm and finish off the look.

I will also make head pieces using the pattern base that I used for Bowser's head last year, with a few alterations and stuffing I should be able to achieve the right look for each of their heads. I have my work cut out for me!

I hope you are getting as excited for Halloween as I am!!

* I am still really hoping to have a Halloween Picture Parade of past costumes you all have made.  If you would like to participate, please email your submissions to me at cynspiration[at]gmail[dot]com.

Halloween 2010 Part 1

Halloween you say? Yes, that's right.  A bit early I know, but with three boys to please (and a Husband who expects me to sew the moon for them) I like HAVE to start early.  Gone are the days the boys in this house would accept something from the store-last year I surely ruined that-but it was worth it. The joy on my boys faces when they got to have the costume they wanted was worth the hours of sewing while 38 weeks pregnant.  But really, the reason to continue is a selfish one.  I enjoyed myself, I really had a good time.

The first step is to know your SUBJECT.  This should be the easiest part. In all probability you are making a costume for you or your child.  

The second step is to FIND THE CHARACTER. This one may take some guiding or you too may end up trying to make a Bowser costume.  Also, keep in mind the weather your area experiences when designing the costume.  For me, it means thermals under fleece.

Third- Use GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH and get in your head an idea of what you want the finished project to look like.  Remember though, that as you go things may change and your initial vision may be different. Last year I made a lot of changes to my plan before I was ready to start in with fabric.

Four- Find a pattern as close to possible to your vision and then alter it to meet your needs.  OR if you are daring, you can make your own pattern. But we'll have to learn that one together, I haven't tackled that yet.  

My initial images last year were far from the finished product, but all the time and effort made all the difference.  

Meet Bowser: 

And Mario with more of Bowser from behind:

I am a sucker for themed costumes, so when my oldest wanted to be Bowser(and would not be swayed), it seemed natural to convince his younger brother to be Mario.

This year, the boys want to go as Sonic and Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog. I think I may have to do some serious pattern creating to pull this one off.  But what should boy number 3 be? I don't know how to tie him into the theme or if I should. He will be just shy of his 1st birthday.

**Start Brainstorming so we can build our costumes together! 


** I am really hoping to have a Halloween Picture Parade of past costumes you all have made.  If you would like to participate, please email your submissions to me at cynspiration[at]gmail[dot]com.