Halloween. Angry Bird Costume.

Andrew wanted to be an Angry Bird for Halloween this year. He specifically wanted to be the black bomb bird. I looked at ordering a costume online and the cheapest I found it was $85 - about $40 more than they regularly sell for plus the one he wanted was all out of stock.

Knowing how wonderful the internet can be, I just googled "Angry bird costume tutorial" and found a couple of good blogs that inspired me to make my own. I decided to use fleece since it wears well, can be washed (unlike felt) and is warm in case Halloween was a cold one this year.

We went to Hancock's who happened to be having 50% off fleece and was able to buy all the materials we needed for $23. I just cut out a large half circle when I folded over the fleece. Then I cut out another circle using that one. I used the same large circle to cut out two pieces of white cotton for my lining and again using the large circle I cut two large circles out of batting for the stuffing. I took printer paper and drew the face, cut it out to see how it fit and then used it as a pattern to cut out of fleece. I did end up using fabric glue to glue on most of the face pieces.

I think the total costume construction took maybe two hours. I worked on it two different days. I did work on his hat a separate day - just used scraps to sew a hat with the feather sticking out. I wasn't pleased with the hat but Andrew liked it. It was something that taught me what to do or not do in the future. (Like I know I'm going to be sewing more hats with long things projecting out of them. LOL)

When Andrew had his Halloween party at school he didn't want to wear his costume but did ask me to bring it. He finally decided to put it on when I brought it out and asked if he wanted to wear it. He was happy he did as *all* his friends thought it was cool and was going on about it. It has been quite a while since I have made a Halloween costume but I think it turned out great.

For Andrew's 4th grade class Halloween party I bought the supplies to make a craft I had seen in a recent Family Fun magazine. One thing I goofed on was that I couldn't find any of the off-brand wide-mouthed jars so I had to buy the Ball brand. Well, I didn't think about the word "Ball" that was embossed in the glass and may mess up the effect. We rolled with it though and no one seemed to care or notice.

One of the parents brought a game to play with Jelly Belly jellybeans. The kids would take turns flicking a spinner and whatever color it landed it they would have to pick that color from their pack. The thing was they didn't know if the black color was licorice or skunk spray, if the brown was chocolate pudding or canned dog food, if the green was juicy pear or booger, etc. Isn't that nasty!?!? Here are some funny pictures I caught of the kids (and teacher) during the game.

Soon all the partying at school was over and we were home, had eaten dinner and were ready to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

Jeremiah has gone with the kids for the last few years. He soon arrived to go with us.

Daisy thought she wanted to go with us.

Andrew was over pictures obviously. ;)

It was hard to get clear pictures at this point with the sun almost set but here are a few more. Did I ever mention what a workout we get walking around our neighborhood for Halloween? Lots of steps and hills. :)

We went to Uncle Steve and Aunt Jeanette's afterwards for our traditional after trick-or-treating get together. They always have fun goody bags for the kids and snacks for all of us. Fun day!

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!