Halloween...Lone Ranger Style!

If you remember from my post a few weeks ago, Grady decided to be the Lone Ranger for Halloween.  (The recent Disney movie version.)  It was a blast putting together this costume & he LOVED it.  After picking him up early from daycare & taking a few photos at a maritime museum downtown, we headed out to do a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  It was chilly & drizzly, but that didn't slow this little guy down at all!

We've taken a picture by the same lamp post every year we've gone trick-or-treating!  I feel like next year he might be as tall as me!

We didn't stray too far from the mood board I created.  (You can click back to this post for details.)

1. Instead of ordering the "official" hat from the Disney Store, I stumbled across a white cowboy hat at a local thrift store for a buck.  Score!

2. For the mask, I bought a sheet of felt at Ben Franklin for something like 45 cents, cut out the mask shape, & sewed an elastic strap on the back.  We had a red bandanna at home to use, & for the Texas Rangers badge, we actually had a random vending machine necklace that was the same shape, so we sprayed it silver & wrote "Texas Rangers" on it in black Sharpie.

3. We did purchase the gun/holster set off Amazon.  It was the "splurge" of the costume for a whopping $17 (free shipping with Amazon Prime).  The gun was heavy duty & looked just like the picture...Grady was convinced it was real.  The holster/belt combo, not so much.  It was fine for the price though. 

4. We found a suede vest & white shirt at Goodwill.  He had a pair of black pants already.  I couldn't find a black suit coat in Grady's size anywhere, so I ended up buying a women's coat, took it apart, cut it down, & put it back together again...this time smaller.  It was an experiment & I wasn't sure it would actually work, but it did!  I almost made it too small, actually.  I rubbed brown chalk on it to give it a trail-worn look as opposed to 90's librarian.  :)  We borrowed the boots from a friend...they were a tad on the big side, but we were able to fit wool socks inside them on a chilly night!

Hope you all had as great a time as we did!

Grady already has his costumes planned out for the next couple of years...a fox next year & Batman the year after that.  :)

Haunted Halloween Doll House

A week or two ago I saw this Haunted Dolls House on the Mr. Printables website & knew that Grady would love it.  I also knew that I wanted to make one & had a ton of ideas on how to tweak & personalize it!

Mr. Printables has a printable (obviously) template to help you cut out the walls & floors, as well as some paper pieces to use in decorating your house.  (I didn't use the paper pieces on mine.)  They also give you some tips on creating spooky peg dolls.  I found inspiration for the rest of the peg dolls by searching on Pinterest, Google, & Etsy.

Meet this motley crew of spooks & ghouls!  Grady & I both love the kitty best.

I even painted a Grady peg doll dressed up in his Lone Ranger Halloween costume & surprised him with it this morning!  He just giggled when he saw it & asked where I got the pumpkin halloween bucket.  (I have a jar of pumpkin potpourri that I painted & glued a felt handle on.)  He's all ready to go trick-or-treating at the haunted house - if he dares!  Good thing he's got his 6-shooter along!

Some creepy monsters waiting by the rope ladder.

I love the ghost peeking through the window!

The pieces of the house slide easily together so you can take it apart making it simple to store!

A few close-up shots of our motley crew!

Some of the things I tweaked:

• I painted the house with chalkboard paint.  (I thought it would be fun to draw different things on the walls & floors & be able to erase them!)
• We made a whole fireplace instead of just a chimney.
• Added a fence around the porch.
• Added a crooked ladder to get upstairs.
• Added a rope from the 1st to 2nd story (Grady's brilliant idea!).

If any of you have created a Halloween haunted doll house or peg dolls, please share them!  I think I've found a new addiction.  I'm just imagining how fun a "Night before Christmas" house would be...or maybe Santa's workshop???

Hi-Yo, Silver!

In honor of the first day of October (seriously...how is it already October?!)...I thought I'd do a quick post about what we're planning for Grady's Halloween costume.

In case you didn't guess after the title of this post, here are some other clues:
Kemosabe
Tonto
"The masked rider"
Armie Hammer
Texas Ranger

No...not Walker Texas Ranger...although that would be hilarious...oh Chuck Norris.  Maybe next year...

Anyway, you guessed it!  This handsome dude is going to be the one & only Lone Ranger (the 2013 Disney version)!!!

Here's my annual Halloween costume mood board.  (You can see last year's Little Lumberjack board and finished costume here.)

Hello, Armie Hammer!  ;)

Sources:
1. The Lone Ranger Hat for Boys @ the Disney Store (on sale now for $5.99)
2. Lone Ranger Costume Accessory Pack $19.99 for similar - I'll make ours!
3. Big Tex Holster Set @ Amazon.com $16.92
4. Assorted clothing found via Google search.

Lumberjacks & Jack-O-Lanterns

How can you not love Halloween?  Especially if you're a parent.  It's seriously the best thing ever watching your child/children have such a great time dressing up, getting free candy (a LOT of it), & seeing friends in their costumes...

Last night was perfect out.  A little chilly, but not so cold that you had to cover up those spooky costumes with winter coats.  I remember a couple of Halloweens when I was little that there was even snow on the ground...brr!

Our little lumberjack had a blast!  Dad had to work late (life of a college coach...sigh), so I took off work early so we could get our costumes on, pick up grandma, & head over to the ECFE Halloween party for a little while before trick-or-treating.  We had fun with the crafts, but I think Grady will probably be too old to attend next year...he just wanted to get to the candy part!

Those little teeth peeking out of the beard kill me...haha!

He's a natural!  Great form, kid!

After the party, we walked a couple of streets in our neighborhood & even found Santa's house...as in the Santa that comes to our mall each year!  He totally commits to the role...year round, real beard & long white hair & all!  It was hilarious to hear all of the kids yelling, "thanks, Santa!" after they got their candy...I think they wanted to make sure he knew that they had good manners!  :)  (Side note: Notice Santa's tattoo...he usually shows up to his mall duty in his biker jacket...did you guys know that Santa rides a Harley?!)

So stoic & manly!

We hope you all had as much fun as we did last night!  :)

Little Lumberjack

After tossing around a few ideas for Grady's Halloween costume this year, I finally committed to my original idea...a lumberjack!  Update: here are some pics of the costume on Halloween night!


Soon, this little long-haired dude...

...will button up the flannel, snap on his suspenders, "grow" a beard, grab his axe, & set off into the forest (err...Elm, Cedar, & Douglas Streets) on his quest for candy.  I cannot wait to put this costume together!

 

1.  Play Axe from Party City
2. "Beard" hat - numerous vendors on Etsy...(I'm having a friend make mine).
3. Suspenders - borrowing from a friend, but she found them on Amazon.
4. Jeans - we'll just use something he already has.
5. Flannel shirt from Herbergers
6. Boys' Mappe Winter Boots at Walmart
7. Awesome satchel to hold all that candy - via Pinterest (we'll probably end up with a thrift store find).