So I’ve already purchased costumed for the kids this year, but that didn’t stop me from accepting this “DIY Halloween Challenge”! I love a good challenge…especially when it involves costumes, and this was a great way to get the girl’s involved in some Halloween fun & crafting!

Since the kiddos are doing a theme group costume this year (probably the last year I’ll be able to pull that off, bc…”opinions”) I decided to let them chose their own costumes for this challenge. The only guidelines I gave them was to have it be a character from a book. (I figured since they have “book character” day at school, I could actually use these costumes again. I’m resourceful sometimes.)  So, off they ran to the library and started joyously pouring through books amidst cheerful giggles.

…just kidding.  They pushed and shoved each other off the library step stool and fought over who had which book first, who “stoled” a book from who, and “who copied whose” idea. After the mayhem, and after explaining numerous times that mommy does not, in fact, SEW… we had two very easy, very different book characters! I then let them choose Max’s…

Q- “Cindy Lou Who” from the book How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Materials:

• hot glue (had)
• hot glue gun (had)
• light pink felt ($)
• light pink elastic (had)
• pink nightgown (had)
• red bows (had)
• headband (had)
• black pipe cleaners ($)
• large red ornament (had)
• grinch stuffed animal, for bonus points (had)
• scissors (had)

Cost: under $5

This one was easy because Q hardly ever takes off her pink nightgown from Plain Jane. We added some elastic around the legs to give it that bubble-look and I cut a little scalloped collar out of pink felt for around her neck. I then grabbed two red bows from our massive collection and popped some black pipe cleaners onto a headband. Then I found this giant red Christmas ornament in the attic. This costume cost approximately however much a sheet of pink felt and a pack of pipe cleaners costs. Perfection!If she were actually trick-or-treating in this costume, I’d probably buy her some cute pink slippers, like these.

Cub- “Mouse” from the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Materials:

• hot glue (had)
• hot glue gun (had)
• overalls (had)
• grey shirt (had)
• sneakers (had)
• sheet of grey foam ($)
• pink felt ($)
• grey curtain tie back ($)
• sheets of dark and light brown foam($)
• scissors (had)

Cost: under $10

Cub really wanted to be an animal and this was was a no brainer because it involves basically overalls and mouse ears! I shopped in her closet for the main part of the outfit and shoes. Then for the ears and the cookie I literally bought sheets of that foam stuff from Hobby Lobby. I cut out two circles from the grey foam for ears and cut out pink centers for the ears from the leftover felt from Q’s collar. I glued the ears right onto a plastic headband. For the tail, I found a grey curtain tie-back at Hobby Lobby and pinned it onto the belt loop on the back of the overalls. For the giant cookie, I used the foam again. A light brown for the cookie and then I cut out sloppy circles for the chocolate chips from a darker brown foam sheet. Voila- we gave the mouse a cookie.

Max- “Max” from the book Where the Wild Things Are

Materials:

• hot glue (had)
• hot glue gun (had)
• cream hoodie romper from Kickee Pants (had)
• white socks (had)
• sheet of yellow foam ($)
• brown fur trim ($)
• white fur trim ($)
• light brown foam (had from Cuc’s costume)
• black pipe cleaners (had from Q’s costume)
• scissors (had)

Cost: under $10

The girls picked this solely because they thought it was cool that the character’s name was Max. This was probably the most difficult of the three costumes to put together, but still pretty easy. I started by cutting out the crown in the yellow foam sheet, measured it to Max’s head so it would be a little bit big and then glued the brown fur trim to the bottom. I then gathered up the white fur trim and safety pinned it to the butt. Then since I had extra brown felt from Cub’s costume, I cut out round buttons and pinned them onto the front of the romper. It would’ve been easier (and much safer) to just glue them onto the romper fabric, but I’m trying to salvage the outfit here. Next I wanted to add some claws to the feet of the romper but again, didn’t want to glue them onto the fabric, so I improvised: I grabbed some old white socks, glued the claws on and slipped the socks right over the footie part of the outfit. Lastly for the whiskers, I just folded the pipe cleaner into the hood and used some fabric tape to keep them in place on the inside. If I were going trick-or-treating or using this as his actual costume for any extended period of time aside from a quick picture for an Instagram challenge, I would’ve cut tiny holes in the hood and glued the whiskers in place. Loose parts on a baby are NEVER a good idea, as they can pose a choking hazzard, so please keep that in mind.

If you flip through some books and your kid’s closets it’s easier than I thought it would be to come up with cute costume ideas. Here are a few other book characters I thought of:

Fern, Charlotte’s Web: overalls, pigtails, converse and a stuffed pig. maybe add a cute spider headband?

Pete the Cate: blue romper, cat ears, maybe pin some big colorful buttons on, and of course, some converse sneaks!

Alice the Fairy: Cute dress, wings, wand, some crazy curly hair!

Angelina Ballerina: neutral leotard, mouse ears, mouse tail, tutu

Man in the Yellow Hat, Curious George: yellow romper, felt tie, yellow hat, carry stuffed monkey

Skippy John Jones: neutral romper, giant ears, cute black eye mask, maybe a cape! ay chihuahua!!

Madeline: blue dress, make white felt color, red ribbon tie, yellow hat, mary janes and knee highs

Happy Crafting!!