halloween '15

I loooooove dressing up. And dressing up my kiddos is one of my favorite "selfish perks" of having children (along with baby showers and knowing you can always leave uncomfortable social gatherings "because of the kids" - I mean, just kidding...).

And even though I couldn't get out the sewing machine to whip up anything fancy this year (Fiona's Pack 'n Play is taking up residence where my sewing table used to be) we dove into dress up season hard. The first was for a little photo shoot for my sister's birthday.

 Little Harry!

 Little Hermione!

James and Lily Potter in the Mirror of Erised!

This was super fun and took me just a few minutes to pull together. The only thing I made was the Gryffindor tie for Hermione that I also draped over Fiona's neck to be Harry's scarf. The robe for both Harry and Hermione is just my black turtleneck draped over their shoulders, but it looks pretty good! Happy Birthday, Aunt Beka!

Next was Hanover's official trick-or-treat night which is almost always way before Halloween. We were a Lumberjack and his woodland creatures. ;)

I made crochet fox and bear hats for Jaina and Fiona (the pattern is no longer available online). And I made fox and raccoon tails for Jaina and me. Did you know you can make these realistic tails with just regular yarn and a wire pet brush? Pretty nifty. I have nasty scars down my arm from the brush slipping out of my hands and scratching me, though.

Just these few pieces were totally doable - even with a colicky baby and a precocious 3-year-old underfoot. The nice thing about crochet is that if the conditions are just right you can actually work on it with a baby sleeping on you.

Look at that cute little bear cub. Last minute I realized I needed mittens for her, so I stuffed her little fists into socks. Her hat fit really well, Daddy just didn't have it pushed down all the way. ;)

Lastly, we did a daytime trick-or-treat at a local shopping center. Just for fun, I dug out last year's Red Riding Hood and wolf costumes and made Fiona the little old granny. Too cute!

I have my hair up, hence the cone head.

Jaina is having the time of her life organizing and rearranging all of her candy. Not even eating it, just putting it in piles, telling me how many of each kind she has, and explaining which 10 are her "favorite". She really doesn't grasp the concept of favorite meaning one right now, and it weirdly (and irrationally) drives me crazy. ;) So all hope of "sharing" some of her candy after she goes to bed or throwing out the really yucky stuff has gone out the window since she's taken a very careful inventory. She's one smart cookie.

If you want to see our other family costumes you can check out The Flintstones and the original Red Riding Hood crew.

Trick-or-Treat!

jaina's mary poppins birthday party

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.

You find the fun, and SNAP, the job's a game!"

The job truly was a game, throwing this Mary Poppins party for my little girl. She has fallen head over heals for "Poppy" over the past few months, and it was so fun to surprise her with all her favorite characters.

I can not believe she actually wore her whole outfit! That hat is an Easter hat from the Dollar Store that I spray painted black and added daises and cherries to, and the scarf is crocheted. I found the top, skirt, and shoes at the thrift store. The umbrella was from Amazon, and the "carpet bag" is actually one of my grandma's purses!

Somewhere just after "Super-" you realize this word is 34 letters long...

Also, we fit that hat stand in my Pontiac Grand Prix. ; )

I made these simple cupcake wrappers using this pattern. So easy, and it really finished them off. Never setting naked cupcakes out again!

 Notice the "tuppence", Jane and Michael's picture, and snowglobe I made with just a picture of St. Paul's Cathedral!

  

Babybel Cheese Umbrellas! These are becoming one of my favorites. You just pull the center tab off of the wax as normal and cut them in half. Then you cut bendy straws off right after the ridges, and stick them in the cheese. I make these the day ahead of time and just keep them sealed well in the fridge. 

If you ever need an old-fashioned medicine bottle, just pick up a teeny bottle of Jager. ; )

The Spoonful of Sugars were Pink Velvet cakeballs dipped in white chocolate. The secret is to dip the chilled cakeballs in a little bit of the melted chocolate and stick them to the spoons. Once that's hardened it's much easier to dip the whole spoon in the chocolate without the cakeball falling off.

These were actual mini caramel apples! I used a melon baller to scoop out the apples. After tossing them in lemon juice I squeezed each apple-ball multiple times with paper towels to make sure they were as dry as possible. Then I used Wilton's Salted Caramel Candy Melts (which must've been some sort of limited edition, cause I can't find them anywhere online) to dip them just like cakeballs. From the sound of the chatter on Pinterest, dipping them in traditional caramel doesn't work, so the candy melts were my solution. They turned out great!

The penguin waiter scene is one of Jaina's favorite parts, so I dressed up this little guy with some felt to serve the food. Also, over the penguin's shoulder you can just barely see the Mary Poppins outline I drew on the mirror with a whiteboard marker. "Cheeky." ; )

There's one key piece missing from the dessert table, and that's the awesome vintage wallpaper backdrop that I spent hours on. If I had known I wouldn't have my backdrop I would've used a lot more color in the linens. The wallpaper was mounted onto a three-paneled piece of cardboard, and the strong winds that day just turned it into a sail. It would've knocked the entire table over if I had left it. So that bummed me out for about two seconds, but I got over it. If anyone wants to rent a backdrop or photo booth for a Victorian tea party, let me know!

I'm pretty proud of this chalkboard. I have horrible handwriting and am not very good at drawing,

so this is a big win for me. And those are carnations like the one Mr. Banks and all the rest of the men at the bank wear in their lapels. (Extra points for anyone who can tell me the name of the bank in the movie without looking up the lyrics. I have listened to the soundtrack - quite literally - hundreds of times, and I still can not tell what they're saying.)

The Chimney Sweep Brushes were Rice Krispy Treats dipped in chocolate!

I thought it would be fun to have real roasted chestnuts at the party. Turns out no one else remembered Bert saying this line, not even Zach. I guess that's what happens when you've seen the movie 15 odd times.

That's what Jane, Michael, and Mary Poppins say after they each take their medicine.

The drinks were really limeade, pink lemonade, and iced tea. ; )

Lemonade is one of her favorite treats. Or, "Sowry!", as she calls it. (sour)

She looooves her Daddy.

The favors were mini chalkboards and chalk in "carpetbags" that I sewed up.

The line on the card is what Bert says before they jump in the chalk picture.

This horse has been at my grandma's house for ages.

It's gone through children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren!

 

 

 

Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped out! Jaina had a wonderful day. Especially once she kicked her shoes off and found some sticks. ; )

 

Two years old is gonna be a lot of fun!

Party Credits
Party Styling: Kara Hallead of Kara's Domestic Life
Photography: Faith Scheuerman
Costume: Vintage, Thrifted, Amazon, A.C. Moore, and Dollar Tree
Chocolate Coins, Silver Spoons: Party City
Paper Straws: Kikkerland
Mini Chalkboards: Hobby Lobby
Decor & Linens: Vintage