This Year's Costumes

I wanted to get an early jump on Halloween costumes this year.  So, around the first part of September I started racking my brain for ideas on what I could have my girls be this year.  Because we live in Utah and our temperatures towards the end of the month can be on the chilly side, costumes need to be flexible to those conditions.  Otherwise they just get covered up with a winter coat.  Which, to be honest, will probably happen anyway.
So, with that in mind I started hitting up the thrift stores in hopes of finding a decent costume.  Lucky for me I found the perfect little cheerleaders outfit for my youngest girl.  And, it was only $3.50.....SCORE!!!  (I found the pom poms at Hobby Lobby for $1.00 and I made the little mega phone which will double has her candy bucket.  See the tutorial below.)

It's a heavy polyester fabric so it's already on the warmer side and I love that the top has longer sleeves and a slight turtle neck.  Plus, it will be easy to layer with a long sleeve shirt and some thick tights.

For my oldest daughter I was leaning towards some type of princess outfit.  However, they are ridiculously overpriced and can be a little on the skimpy side.  Not conducive for cold weather.  Since my oldest is obsessed with dresses right now I decided she had to be dressed up in something that used a dress.  So, instead of a princess I went a little more on the traditional side and made her a little Dorothy outfit.

I think all the fabric for this cost me $7.00 and the wicker basket I got at a local thrift store for $1.50.  Not bad for something that was thrown together.  She had the little black dog (it was a gift from her birthmom) and a friend of mine might have some red shoes she can borrow.  If not, I'll be making her a pair.

I actually didn't use a pattern for this costume.  My little girl doesn't hold still long enough to allow me to take measurements, so I used another dress that she has to create this look.  For the shirt I simply followed this tutorial.  I also made it on the larger side so it can worn again next year, if needed.

Like I mentioned above I wanted the girls to have a Halloween bucket that coincided with their costumes.  So, it was only fitting that Dorothy had a wicker basket and that a cheerleader had a little mega phone.  (Karena came up with that one!)  Here is how I threw that together.

Supplies:  Crafting Foam, Glitter Paper, Sequins, Scissors, Mod Podge, Staples, and Hot Glue.

First, I determined what size I wanted the mega phone to be.  I didn't want it to be too big for my little girl to carry, but I wanted it big enough to hold plenty of candy.  Then, I cut out this basic shape.

For the letters, I simply printed them from the computer, cut them out, and then traced them onto the back of the glitter paper.  Make sure that when you trace your letters that they are backwards.

Once the letters were cut out I glued them onto the crafting foam with some Mod Podge.  It takes awhile for the Mod Podge to adhere, so you need to be patient and continue to press all the edges down.

Once the letters were done drying I stapled a "handle" onto the edge of the foam, rolled it up, and used hot glue to stick my edges together.  I also added a single staple to the top...just in case.

I didn't want any candy falling out of the bottom and I wanted a clean look for the "mouthpiece", so, I used a PVC end cap that we had on hand and simply hot glued it to the end of the foam.

For the finishing touches I hot glued on some sequin stars to help give it a little pop and hole punched some holes to attache a ribbon handle tied  for my little girl to use.  Simple and easy, but exactly what I wanted.