Becoming Glinda The Good Witch - Homemade Halloween Costumes

I can't remember the last time I dressed in ALL pink. I'm guessing it's been at least 30 years, maybe longer. There are only a handful of people who could get me in all pink, luckily Molly is one of those people.

When Molly approached me about going as characters from the play Wicked this Halloween, I immediately knew who I'd pick - Elphaba. Unfortunately, the acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree and when Molly assigned the roles mine was as Glinda the Good Witch, or "Galinda, with a Ga" for those who have seen the musical. 

We had two versions of Galinda to work with, so we decided to combine them.

Galinda in the play primarily wears pink in the beginning then transitions to blue in the later acts. She is the Good Witch of the North afterall with blue representing winter! (Image Courtesy of Today's Tix)

Molly and I decided that if I wore blue too many people would think I was the tooth fairy or even trying to be Elsa from Frozen. Molly and I also had a debate about whether or not Glinda has wings (I am firmly in the camp of her not having wings since she travels by bubble) and these would make me seem like the toothfairy or the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio, so we skipped them. (Image Courtesy of Vocal Media)

The basis for my crown was this tutorial here 

The supplies I used were two sheets of square glitter scrapbook paper ($1.99 a sheet at Michaels Craft Store). I managed to get stick on velcro to adjust my crown from the dollar store as well for $1.50, and uses a stapler to connect my sheets of paper. My gemstone stickers were $3.00 total so I could get sheets in pink and clear. The adhesive from the stickers alone were not enough to stick to the gritty, sandpaperish texture of the sparkle paper, so I secured them on using a glue gun. 

Using the velcro to adjust the crown to him my head really helps keep it in place!

I purchased my wand for from Value Village for $2.99. My necklace and earrings are my own. For my bodysuit, I got it on sale from Ardene for $13.93, during a 30 percent off sale. The most work intensive part of my costume was making a floor length tutus. I spent some time searching thrift shops for a cost effective skirt or dress I could layer, but didn't have any luck. Any grown-up sized tutus I found were quite short and didn't fit the bill. I used this tutorial to create my tutu. Even though I had a 30 percent discount from Michaels, I still ended up spending roughly $35 on pink tulle.In retrospect I should have probably bought a crinoline underskirt instead and simply dyed it pink, but I can reuse my tutu for other projects down the road. I am wearing a pair of light coloured leggings under my long tutu to keep warm and avoid any potential see-through costume issues. 

All together my costume cost just over $60. I will wear the bodysuit again as a layering piece in my fall/winter wardrobe.

Happy Halloween from these two witches! To view my How To Wicked Witch of the West Costume Click here.

Becoming "Wicked" - Homemade Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba) Costume

The summer before lockdown I took Molly to see the play Wicked, presented by Mirvish as the main part of her birthday gift. Instantly she was in love with the other side of the story surrounding The Wizard of Oz.

This year when she told me she wanted to be Elphaba AKA the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween, I knew we'd have fun with it.

Image Courtesy of Wicked Wiki

First we looked for a black dress. When we couldn't find one that would work, we spotted this pink one from Value Village for $4.99. Next we dyed it with some fabric dye which I bought for $3.99, by soaking it for two hours. We also have enough fabric dye left over to use for a future project. 

We opted for a larger sized dress so it would be longer on Molly

While the Wicked Witch of the West isn't known to wear the Ruby Slippers or the striped socks (they belong to her sister), Molly and I felt they were iconic enough to the story of The Wizard of Oz that we wanted to include them in her costume. We found the cosy socks from Dollarama for $1.50. We bought the red slip on shoes for $6.99 from Value Village and spent an additional $2.00 on sticky gems to affix to them to make them really sparkle.

These slippers will be great for Molly to wear post Halloween too.

After Molly and I attached the gems.

Look complete - Magic Ruby Slippers & Iconic Black and White Socks

Next we bought a witch hat from Dollarama for $1.50, as well as some green gloves for $1.50 and I painted on black nails with some black nail polish we had on hand. We were able to get a broom from Spirit Halloween for $5.99, and some green face make-up from Dollarama for $2.99. I added some of my own lipstick to make Molly's lips stand out once I applied the green makeup.

Molly was feeling "Wicked" once we put her look together.

The total cost of the costume was roughly $31.45 plus tax and included several items (shoes, dress, and socks) that will get reused aside from dress-up wear. Added bonus,

Molly & Jack together before their class Halloween party

What are you and your family dressing up as for Halloween this year?

Becoming Wallace & Gromit - Maker Parent Handmade Halloween Costumes

Last year, about a week before Halloween, Jack announced that he knew what he wanted to be for Halloween 2021. This isn't unusual for my kids, they both pick their costumes well in advance, but I make them wait until May before we begin talking about costumes for the following fall, particularly with growth spurts and changed interests in mind.

Jack is really into claymation, and as such he's a big fan of the British cartoon Wallace and Gromit he decided this is who he wanted to be. We talked a great deal about whether he'd want this to be a group costume (as in would one person dress up as Wallace and the other as Gromit), but he was insistant that he alone wanted to be both.

Image Courtesy of Pinterest

This is how we made his Wallace and Gromit costume and how much it cost.

This summer I began scouring thrift stores, closets, and our dress up box for an outfit to transform Jack into Wallace. We decided that Gromit would likely be a stuffed animal that he carried.

From our supplies we found a dress shirt, black pants, and a bright red tie. The shirt and pants were hand me downs from a cousin, and the red tie came from something Chris used to wear with a black suit about 15 years ago, so that cost us nothing! The major problem was finding a green vest. After searching thrift shops since July I decied in early October that the green vest wasn't going to happen. Instead I purchased a sized small women's V-neck green shirt for $4.99 from Value Village and cut the sleeves off.

Outfit Complete

Once that was settled we needed to find our Gromit. Since it is a British series that was most popular 25 years ago our pickings were slim. We managed to find a Gromit Puppet perfect for the job on Ebay for $20 Canadian plus shipping from a seller who specialized in vintage toys. 

Next we picked up a wig net from Dollarama for $1.50, a plain white mask from Spirit Halloween for $2.49, and a bald cap from Spirit Halloween for $8.99.

The big problem we had with our mask was that it wasn't  even close to matching the shape of Wallace's face

Since I am better at costume construction than I am at mask painting, I outsourced Jack's mask to my niece A (the same person who painted Jack's amazing Pennywise masks from last year). She used light weight clay from the Dollarama to glue on a prosthetic nose and teeth to create a profile that matches Wallaces. She mixed paints she already had on hand to match his skin tone to the bald cap.

Wallace Face

This afternoon we put it all together for a dry run to see how it would look.  Below is the grand reveal....Enjoy!

Wallae and Gromit can't wait to go Trick or Treating this year!

The total cost of the costume, costume supplies, and shipping was roughly $45, plus Jack has a Gromit puppet he adores as a Halloween keepsake for years to come.What are your kids going as for Halloween this year? Happy Crafting! Happy Halloweening!

10 Ways to Add Scary Movies To Your Family Movie Night, Without Terrifying Your Kids

Each October we come up with a list of scary movies and Halloween content to watch to get us in the mood for one of our favourite holidays. Some of it we watch as a family, some just the grown-ups, and other specials and movies just Molly and Jack watch.

As we worked on our list for this year Jack mentioned that he's ready to go to the next level of scary movies. As a fan of Jaws, a genre he calls "sharksploitation", and anything monster related we figured he is ready for some more intense movies. This also allows us to up our rotation of Halloween movies which has gotten a bit stale as of late.

Image Courtesy of Den of Geek

What Scares You, Probably Isn't the Same as What Scares Your Kid

I am afraid of what real people are capable of, think cults, demon worship, things like that. I know that's not what keeps my kids up at night, however creeping around and jumps scares do. So keep this in mind when exploring scary movies with your kids.

Screen Movies in Advance

If you haven't seen the movie and are unsure, watch it in advance. This way, even if you do go ahead and watch it you know when to pause for warnings, cuddles, ad more. If you've watched the movie a long time ago, check out other parental reviews for potential pitfalls.

Ask Your Kids If They Want Spoilers

Molly is much more likely to watch a movie that she's on the fence about if I let her know that there is a happy ending, or that all deaths are bad guys. If I answer the question surrounding whatever is stressing her about the film, so long as she doesn't provide spoilers for others we're all set.

Image via Amino Apps

Use Online Resources

Sites like Common Sense Media provide a good picture of what to look out for in a movie to see if it's a deal breaker for you or your kids depending on the content. I find the reviews for kids, by kids, most helpful when deciding whether or not to let my kids watch.

Rating Systems Exist for a Reason

If a movie is R, it's usually for a reason. Find out why and make an informed decision. 

Have Them Read the Book or Graphic Novel First

They'll know what to expect and it gets them reading! Win Win.

Image Courtesy of The Crow Fandom

Often the Older the Movie, the Less Scary It Is

If old special effects don't hold up well, odds are your kid won't be as scared as you were when you originally watched the content when you were knee high to a grasshopper. That being said, some horror movies are timeless and remain scary decades later.

Turn it off on Request

If they have had enough, turn it off. Same goes for if they want to leave the room for a particularly intense scene and return when it's done.

Ask Other Parents

I know that my kids are up for more intense content than some of their peers. I always get excited when another parent mentions their kid watched something that I thought might be too scary for my kids because it gives me assurance that my kids can handle it.

Take Notes and Learn Limits

If something doesn't work this year you can return to it in a couple of years. If one kid is really into something you can let them watch it while the other kid gets to watch something else. We've just had to remember to ban Jack from talking about something he watched that may scare Molly.

At the end of the day it's all trial and error. The other night we watched Ghost with resounding success (Molly loves comeuppance). Later this week we're going to try The Sixth Sense. 

What movies have you let your big kids/tweens/teens watch this Halloween and how did it go?