what a hoot halloween owl costume

Does looking at kid's in Halloween costumes ever get old? Well, for some it does, but not for me. Especially when your kid loves wearing the costume you began planning a month before Halloween. 

The nice thing about planning and making your own costume is that your two year old learns about Halloween costumes and tells everyone what he is dressing up as. Owen also practiced a convincing 'hoot, hoot' over the last couple weeks. This costume was the brain-child of Parenting Magazine, but without templates and their ever-so-brief instructions, we ended up having to somehow 'make it work' without having any costume-making skills. 

This was constructed out of an old turtle neck of mine and a hacked up taupe men's shirt for the layered feathers. The wings are felt with the cuffs of the men's shirt reattached. The hood are the arms of my old turtle neck reconstructed. The eyes are layered white fur trim, copper scouring pads and buttons Nuno made at work. The beak a finger from a black dish glove. Most of the work on this costume was my wonderful and talented husband who can visualize anything and bring it to life.

This entire costume is no-sew and believe it or not, fabric glue held this all together for a Halloween Party with friends Sunday afternoon, 

a day at day care with a costume parade,

and the final trick-or-treat around the neighbourhood. 

He didn't poop (as in tire :) or chicken out to trick-or-treat at this creepy grim reaper's house. Yep, Owen loves Halloween just as much as his parents.

halloween 2010

I never felt like Halloween was exclusively for kids since Nuno and I, for the past 11 years, have always dressed up together. We typically have costumes which relate to each other and now with Owen in the mix we are taking advantage of the time we are able to actually choose his costume for him. We also chose to take him to a party way past his bed time in Toronto - Aunt Katie & Awn's Halloween Party. It was awesome! Here is a shot of Nuno, Owen and myself.

Sock, Sock Monkey and Monkey. Our dog Hot Tot was a banana.

On Sunday I treated everyone to an impromptu batch of Pumpkin Waffles. Owen's waffles were these mini Sanrio ones.

I'm wondering when the time will come that he protests to eating Hello Kitty waffles and will only eat the bear ones.  

 

In the evening we did a quick Trick or Treat run around my parents neighbourhood in Welland. Owen wasn't too sure about dressing up for a fourth time, but I think this final round proved to be worth it. We went from house to house and everyone made such a big deal about him, which got him pretty pumped, that he started waving frantically to everyone. He may have thought he was a celebrity with how he was being paraded around and fawned over. His final stop was to the home of a neighbour who never had children herself. I think that explains why she handed out cans of cream soda.

halloween lollipop cookies

Owen started day care this week and it's going very well for him. Me on the other hand... well, I just have to keep busy or I find myself missing the little guy like crazy. Luckily the daycare was fundraising this week so I got to participate in my first bake sale!! I wanted something festive and as well as something parents could buy for their kids, so I made Lollipop Cookies. 

They took quite a bit of time (all afternoon) but the I made out with 35 cookies, 25 which went to the bake sale and 10 which went to Owen's first halloween party with all of his baby friends. 

I had to share a pic! He wasn't too impressed to be dressed up.

One of the many things that makes me feel so comfortable with Owen at daycare is their focus on nutrition and healthy eating. There is a staff who provides all the snacks and lunch for the children at the facility. It's all based on Canada's Nutrition Guide and the on site cook prepares all the food and shares the menu plan a month in advance. We are given a copy of this menu at the beginning of the month where we are able to note changes, omissions and modifications. Since attending daycare he's already had minestrone soup & sandwiches, ham & hashbrowns, meatloaf & dollar chips and tons of fresh fruits and veggies.

Halloween 2008

Halloween is over and this one was just as memorable as previous years. It started with the time spent gluing a bald-cap to Nuno's head. This was very labour intensive but turned out amazing.Our theme this year was the movie Taxi Driver. I'm Iris (Easy), Nuno is Travis Bickel and Hot Tot is a NYC Checker Taxi cab.
Believe it or not Nuno and I almost abandoned Tot's costume several times, but as soon as one of us got fed up, the other one would dream up a solution to complete the costume. I'm not sure we will ever try and create a dog costume this involved in the future.

Shaun and Leslie had the most festive and creative Halloween party this past Friday night. Check out this spread!
It was tons of fun with a crowd of somewhat obscure costumes. Like, the new, as of yet to be officially released Green Lantern character universe.

The Halloween fun continued Saturday at Pug-O-Ween. Pug-a-lug Rescue put on a fundraiser as well as costume contest at the leash free dog park. What a turn out they had! And oh my gosh, the costumes. Here are some of my favourites:


this group was the Wizard of Oz.

There was a black pug dressed as Aunt Jemima but we never quite got a photo of her as she wouldn't stop zooming around the park for a photo.

The most memorable moment of this years Halloween was when they called Hot Tot to claim first prize! Yep, she won!!!

What a proud pug mama I am.

glittered spiders

Now that Halloween is in full gear I'm finding it hard finding time to blog about it. The costumes are really taking shape and the house is all decked out in Halloween. I held back with the decor this year as we aren't holding any parties. Just the usual holiday decor of candles, mums, gourds and pumpkins.
When not working on costumes I've been spreading a new Halloween fashion trend - glittered spider rings. I made black, orange and silver rings and they seemed to get a lot of notice. So I've started a cottage industry and made some for family, co-worker and co-workers daughters.

Halloween

About a month ago we started shopping for our Halloween costumes. Nuno and I go all out for Halloween and we quite often go together as a theme (this also includes our pug, Hot Tot). We have tons of fun with it. I'd love to spill the beans on our costumes, but I think I'll hold back until the day.

While shopping at thrift stores for costume pieces I've stumbled upon some amazing deals!
Like these shoes - Steve Madden's hardly worn (b/c the label on the soul was in pristine condition). OK, shoes, I know, kinda gross to pick up used, but between the spray Lysol and Lysol wipes, I feel pretty good that they were alright to wear. I all but stopped shopping at thrift stores past the 90's, but I'm now going nuts finding great items.

This month's Martha Stewart Living is the Halloween issue. Every year her Halloween issue is my favourite. Her ideas are just killer, this issue is no exception. As well, this month's issue of Everyday Food is probably the best they've ever produced. I swear they have a window into our kitchen as we have so many favourite recipes from Everyday Food's back issues. Basically, our favourite recipes have been reinvented into new and delicious ideas. She has the most creative and inspired people working for her, regardless if your a fan or not, you have to admire her crew.