So, I made him a purple car.
The kids were at school, and I had the house to myself. I lit a candle and put on classical music (Handel's Water Music).
I got out the poster board I bought at Target (54 cents each)...
...and the pack of ribbons ($1).
I put the two boards on top of each other and cut out a car shape. Then I covered the front of each with the Bed, Bath & Beyond purple shopping bag, taping and stapling it on.
I rolled out a steering wheel from aluminum foil and covered that with purple shopping bag, too.
Then I went to cut the ribbon, so I could hang the car cut-outs on his shoulders like a sandwich board. And I had the epiphany that when you buy six spools of ribbon for $1, you do not get a whole lot of ribbon. Just look at the amount of shopping bag Bed, Bath & Beyond gives you! And it's free!
Saved by my bag o' ribbon.
By then, I had a mess of stuff lying all over the kitchen table, and a piece of bag too close to the candle caught fire. That was interesting.
Then the costume was done. But I just wasn't sure about it. I mean, it pretty much looked like...a shopping bag costume. Of indeterminate costume. Then Max came home and I got all excited and couldn't wait till Halloween, I had to present it to him right away.
Max wasn't sure what to make of it, at first. But he sure did love the steering wheel.
The front bent, so that you couldn't quite tell it was a car. It looked like, maybe, a big piece of a purple puzzle.
The back didn't look half bad.
Then Max's occupational therapist, Nafeesa, came by. I decided to test her. "Nafeesa, can you tell what Max is?" I asked.
She stared at him. "Well, he's purple!" she said, enthusiastically. A minute later, it dawned on her. "He's a car!" she declared. "Wow, where did you get that shopping bag?"
So I guess two things are clear: 1) There's no doubt Max is walking around in a costume made out of a shopping bag, and 2) This is an interpretive costume. Some people might look at it and see a purple fruit. Of indeterminate fruit. Some people might see a purple can. Some people might see the color purple. Some people might see Oprah.
No matter. Because Max is a purple car, and Max is happy.
So, how are your kids dressing up this weekend?
cute love the custome I can not wait fo Halloween pics
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
ReplyDeleteThose Target ribbon spools are so deceptive...I had the same epiphany not too long ago.
At least you didn't burn down the house!
Noah is Lightning McQueen and Addison is a cat. I think. It could be a rabbit, but I think it's a cat, based soley on the tail.
Well, it may be a vagur costume, but you had a blast making it and he'll have a blast wearing it. To me it looks like Skywarp, an obscure old school Transformer. :)
ReplyDeleteHe's happy, which means it was a wild success. I love your creativity!
ReplyDeleteLove it love it love it. Hurray for creativity!
ReplyDeleteWe don't dress up now, but we dress up for the Jewish holiday of Purim in March. Lately, I see all these store-bought costumes, which can work OK if your kid will wear whatever you got them at the last-minute and post-Halloween sales. :)
But I like homemade. When I was a kid, my brother was the only Superman whose cape was a towel. My son was a magician last year, buying just the hat and the wand, which can be used year-round.
cute! I made Zach a ming ming cape, and our neighbors girls are going to be the other two wonderpets. Kennedy is a princess, hand me down costume, with her other princess attire she got from her princess make a wish party.
ReplyDeleteLOL I love the idea. Very creative, and Max loves it and that is ALL that counts.
ReplyDeleteDaniel (if he is feeling better) will be his favorite food. Spaghetti and meatballs!!
If he's happy, that's all that matters. He looks great.
ReplyDeleteMine are a skeleton, a jaguar, another jaguar, and Igor.
Sooooo cute! Charlie will be a pirate--just like last year because he only wore the costume for half an hour last year. This year, I'm hoping for a couple of hours.
ReplyDeleteOh my, I love his costume!
ReplyDeleteI think homemade costumes are the best. Once I went to a costume party as "leftovers." I dressed in black, then wrapped myself in aluminum foil and wore tupperware on my head. Yes, people didn't know what I was by looking at me, but it got quite a lot of laughs when they found out. So fun!
Oh, and I'm really glad you didn't burn down your house!
you can still see A LOT of his clothes. Are you going to dress him in a purple shirt?
ReplyDeletehahaha, love it!!!
ReplyDeleteLove it!! What is Sabrina?
ReplyDeleteBen is a male ladybug -- check out my post today.
Enjoy! Louise
When people see Max tonight they will think, "Look at how much his mommy loves him to make him that excellent purple costume!
ReplyDeleteAnd,t hat is what Max will remember too.
Kudo to you
Very creative! Of course, he looks really cute in his costume. So glad Max is happy with it - that makes it worth the effort!
ReplyDeleteReally you are doing a great service to the people in your town - no mindless costumes here - you are getting people to think and be creative. They should thank you for that!
A few years ago I tried to be a little creative (or lazy since it was a last minute thing) with a costume. I put a big P on my shirt and used eye makeup to blacken my eye. Only one person guessed what I was - a black-eyed pea. Most people thought I was dressed as an abused woman. I tried very hard not to be insulted that people would think I have that sick kind of sense of humor (who in their right mind thinks it would be fun to dress as an abused woman?). Hopefully people in your area have a little more sense to figure out what Max is wearing.
That is a wonderful costume! All the love and care you put into it is better than any costume bought in the store.
ReplyDeleteMax looks great in it too!
HA HA!! Wonderful!! A purple CAR! What's not to love? Way to GO! Next thing ya know, though, he's gonna want a REAL one! If you decide to paint an older car to get a few more years out of it, I think you know what to do!
ReplyDeleteGlenda the Good Witch in a fat girl's old prom dress will be accompanying (recycled hand me down store bought) Spiderman and half store-bought, half home made Dracula!
Very crafty Ellen! Though the whole thing sort of reminds me of last Halloween when I dropped Kasia off at daycare and a little girl wearing a witch costume looked down her nose at me and said, "Myyyyyy Mommy MADE my costume." Hpumph! It seems that you have joined the ranks of Those Mommys!!
ReplyDeleteVery cute though. I actually love the costume and all the effort you put into it.
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Excellent costume. So glad Max is thrilled...what a sweetie!! Thumbs up to Mommy for her creativty! Don't think I could have pulled that off with just a purple bag! Emma is dressing as a Native American Indian girl. The costume was handcrafted by Cherokee Indians. She likes to dress up, so... hopefully she will wear it more than just once. She is recovering from a cold, so I hope she gets to go out for just a bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome costume! A purple car - that sounds like it's right up Max's alley.
ReplyDeleteDaniel dressed up as Harry Potter this year. I am in not artistic in any way, shape, or form, so I had to buy his costume. He still looked pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.
So I assume Max was a big hit on halloween? Lotsa candy?! This was the first year Daniel actually loved going out. I love when the kids get over the 'fears' that they have.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the purple car!!!
check out my "craft blog post" LOL
http://danieljohnmaxwellspranger.blogspot.com/2009/10/spaghetti-and-meatballs-anyone.html
Gotta love the homemade costumes!
I loved it. My Jack would have loved it for the steering wheel alone!
ReplyDeleteWe went store bought--Jack was a train engineer and I was Thomas the Train (an old costume that I bought for Jack that my husband did not like so Jack never wore it). It worked.