October 31, 2008

Handmade Halloween

Halloween was mostly a handmade affair when TG and BCG were growing up. Here's a trick-or-treat bag I made for TG out of an old sheet. I embroidered lots of scary things on it. I discovered it during my dig, and was saddened not to find at least one measly Tootsie Roll in its further reaches.
I made most of the kid costumes over the years. One of my favorites was Rambo. I purchased a pattern for a muscle shirt and was lucky enough to find some $1 a yard stretchy knit in a flesh color. The shirt had a round neck and long sleeves, and it was fully lined. I stitched around the front in such a way that when I made little slits in the lining I could stuff it to create the look of a really buff guy with big muscles. I believe this technique is called trapunto. TG wore it with camo pants and a bandana around his forehead. I think that's when the trouble started.....
Another year BCG dressed up as a panda in a black and white jumpsuit. It just so happened that her very talented and crafty grandpa was visiting about that time, and he helped her construct a large paper mache panda head.....with curly eyelashes and red lipstick.Then the two of them got older and outgrew their appreciation for mom-made costumes. It was really ok, since mom had outgrown her enthusiasm for doing such things. But there was a time in junior high school when TG decided he wanted to be Static Cling Man. He wore jeans and an old t-shirt--to which I pinned a few socks and some dryer sheets. Then I glued on lots of dryer lint. I didn't have to dig too deep for that..heh...heh...

So Mr. Gadget and I will have a quiet evening at home. He seems fine with my idea for store-bought chicken for dinner, since we'll be jumping up and down to answer the door for the little trick-or-treaters. Last year we had three. Maybe we'll have half a dozen this year. It will be a taxing evening, I'm sure. By the way, that bathroom window bat took off for parts unknown. It's that unknown part that makes me a little anxious....what with this being Halloween and all.



I'll be wearing my special Halloween pin tonight. Maybe I should just leave it on indefinitely......


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Got a pin for me? Happy Halloween!

Anonymous said...

We had two, which is two more than last year! Glad I only bought one big bag of candy at Costco, although I'm now trying to figure out how to get rid of it.