other people's projects, part 2

Remember me mentioning a young mom who had questions about the firetruck costume? Well, Lora created her own version and has graciously allowed me to share her photos. I love what she's done and am including her notes here knowing they will be of use to someone at a future Halloween.

We used felt, cardboard box and cut outs.

Headlights are Starbucks frappucino lids wrapped in foil with electric tea lights.

Siren has buttons for flashing lights and fire engine sounds.  It's a Bruder truck attachment my husband found.  It's got a built in battery pack so we just wedged it into the top, worked like a charm and of course is the highlight of the costume.

Did you catch that? This firetruck has a flashing lights and fire engine sounds! And I love the ingenuity of using tea lights and coffee cup lids.

But wait—there's more:

Penelope (3.5) and Maceo (2)

Lora made both these costumes from scratch, continuing her mother's tradition of creating Halloween costumes every year for five children. How lucky are her kids?

I know my friend Jen is also making a firetruck this year and am looking forward to seeing her adaptation, as well. In this our first year without Jack O'Lanterns or scarecrows at the porch, it's truly a treat (bad pun—sorry) to see everyone else's projects and costumes.

Happy Halloween!

other people's projects

I guess it was inevitable, and all signs have been pointing this way for awhile: S is not interested in Halloween this year.

Pumpkin patch? No, he doesn't think so. Costume? "Don't you think I'm getting too old, Mom?" Party...? Corn maze...? All politely but firmly declined.

Given his entry into the school system and the amount of work he has each week, it's probably just as well. I have no idea how we'd get around to all the things we used to have time for, anyway. And yes, typing that sentence made me sad.

The irony is that one of this blog's most popular posts has consistently been the one about S's homemade Halloween costume. Recently I had a brief email correspondence with a young mom who had seen the truck costume and asked for construction details.

A few days later, I received a note from Gonzalo in Spain, mentioning that he and his wife were planning to make iPhone costumes for a birthday party. I love how theirs turned out—the accompanying Steve-Jobs-with-iPad is a nice touch!

image courtesy of Gonzalo Aragues Rioja

In this same period, my sister and niece created their own interpretation of a project from the blog, the sun jars (themselves a version of many other people's work). Be sure and check it out—the colored paint and marker-drawn faces are the perfect adaptation for doing this with a small child.

These emails, photos and blog posts came at just the right time. We are going through a lot of change right now: the kids not only are giving up Halloween, they are both in school and very, very busy. Our days are newly scheduled and in trying to rebalance to all this, I haven't been doing much that seems worth blogging about. So I'm grateful to hear from those who are, or who take the time to ask a question, say hello, or connect in any way. Thank you, all.