It's been a while! I know that it's past Halloween, but I figured I'd post this year's Halloween costumes because I am really proud of them, and people may be inspired for future costumes. 

This year Molly and Jack helped me out a lot more with planning out their costumes, which was amazing! 

Becoming the Queen of Hearts

Most retail, store bought Queen of Hearts costumes ran for around $40-$100 depending on quality and detail. I enjoy making the costumes, and usually can do so for a little less money.  

Here's how we did it.

First, we found the dress. Ours was a used Flower Girl Dress that we bought from Value Village for $5.99

Next, we went to Michaels and bought some black fabric dye for $6.99 with a 40% off coupon, which came to $2.80. Because of the sheen of the dress, we ended up having to dye the dress twice, as the first time it was grey, and we wanted it darker. The iron on patches we used for various parts of the costume (dress included) were $13.99 at Amazon for 24 iron on patches. 

The pashmina we found in the dress up bin at Nana and Papa's, the red gloves we purchased from Dollarama for $1.25 and the boots we got at Value Village for $4.99. Each item was decorated with the remaining iron on patches.

To make the card crown and collar, I purchased two headbands from Dollarama. The small collar one was $1.25 and the bigger one for her head had a small Halloween hat on it was $2.49. I also bought two decks of cards from Dollarama at $1.50 each. I went online and found a tutorial to show me how to mature and build the hat and collar, using a glue gun and staples to secure everything. The heart and feathers and gems were left over from Valentine's Crafts.

To make the scepter, we used my old Glinda wand from last year and repurposed it by gluing on an old Valentine's decoration from Nana and Papa's and some leftover playing cards.

This is the costume all together. Molly also found a red sash that she thought popped, so we added that. The costume received all sorts of compliments on Halloween, and I think it's one of my all-time best. Because it rained on Halloween, Molly carried a red umbrella to keep herself and her cards dry. Overall, a costume I'm really proud of. The total cost was roughly $36 plus tax. All of the costume has gone into our dress up bin, save for the boots which Molly will likely rip the patches off and wear any time.

Photos of Molly and her costume shared with her permission.

Make your own Anne of Green Gables Halloween Costume

I don't like to buy pre-packaged Halloween costumes from the store.  Somehow it feels like cheating.  Halloween costumes are one of the few 'crafty' things I do as a mom and I love to figure out the best ways to help my kids make their costume visions come to life.

This summer Molly and I began watching the CBC re-imagination of the classic Lucy Maude Montgomery Series Anne of Green Gables.  It's darker, grittier, and probably a little more mature than the version I grew up with, but Molly instantly fell in love with it, watching together and talking about big themes like bullying, loneliness, sexism, and racism thanks to the show.

When Molly told me she wanted to be Anne of Green Gables for Halloween I knew that she was a kindred spirit to my childhood self, so we got working on it in the summer.


The Anne Hat - Straw hat purchased at Dollarama for $2.  Fabric Sunflowers also from Dollarama for $1.25 and secured on with a glue gun.

Anne Hat

The apron was made by purchasing an old white flower girl dress from Value Village and cutting out the back to make it into an apron for $5.99.  The prairie dress was the toughest item to get, since they aren't exactly in fashion for little girls right now and you could either order them online for $40-$50 or try and figure something else out.  Finally we went to the women's section of Value Village and found this traditional Anne style baby doll blouse that is so sensible that even Marilla Cuthbert would approve - purchased for $7.99!  Although it's a little big on Molly the apron works to keep everything together (along with some stitches to keep the straps of her 'apron' in place.

Sideview Anne

To make things authentically Anne, we're using eyeliner to give Molly darker freckles, that I placed over her own freckles.  We also purchased a bottle of red hair spray from Value Village for $4.99 to spray her red braids on Halloween.

To keep Molly warm on Halloween she'll be wearing black leotards with black shoes and her light pink ballet body suit underneath the costume.  For added authenticity Molly will be carrying a brown woven basket to collect her candy (like the one Anne uses to carry her lunch to school).

Total costume cost: Just over $25 tax included!

Authentically Anne!

To see my Wreck it Ralph & Princess Vanelope Costume from last Halloween click here and here.

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