Halloween Day? More like Halloween Week... + a DIY Tinker Bell Costume Tutorial

I feel like Halloween has already come and gone... oh wait, nope it's this Friday. We've already dressed up 3 times in the past week. I hosted a Halloween themed pack meeting last Thursday (I'm the Cub Scout master for my ward/church) complete with spooky decor, costumes, and holiday themed games. We of course showed up sporting our costumes, and I stayed up until 3 AM two nights in a row teaching myself to sew so I could make Klair's Tinker Bell costume in time. I'll be honest, the Costco Tinker Bell was looking really tempting... but I'm glad I stuck with it. I'm actually quite proud of the results. Klair loved it, which is most important. I would spend another 10 hours on it just to see her smile the way she did. Plus, I have a lot more confidence sewing now!

Homemade Tinker Bell Costume

Bodice:
Here is a link to the tutorial I used for the bodice (sewing machine necessary): Tinker Bell Bodice Tutorial

Tutu
Here is a tutorial I made for an easy no-sew tutu like the one for her costume: Easy No-Sew Tutu Tutorial
(*note: I wanted her tutu to be less full and slightly jagged to make it more Tinker Bell-esque, but you can make it more full by adding more tulle)

No Sewing Option
Here is a link to an adorable no-sew Tinker Bell costume option if you want to forego the whole sewing of the bodice thing (this was my plan b): No-Sew Tinker Bell Costume Tutorial

Shoes
I searched high and low for a pair of Tinker Bell shoes that would fit her, and the only ones I found were $30 or more plus shipping. I simply went to our local thrift store, found some shoes for $2, and spray painted them a sparkly green (Well, Sam did the spray painting--I try to avoid the fumes for the sake of pregnancy). Then I hot glued white pom poms on them. She was more excited about her Tinker Bell shoes than anything else, so I consider them a nicely priced win.

Wings
For the wings I was too lazy to make them, so I bought them at a Halloween store. If you're feeling more ambitious, here is a homemade tutorial: DIY Fairy Wings

Wendy & Peter Pan
Our costumes were comparatively easy. I simply wore a blue night gown that I borrowed from a friend, and made a bow for my hair (you can see my Easy DIY Bow Tutorial here). Then for Sam's costume we were lucky enough to borrow his hat, shirt, belt and dagger from our brother-in-law. I'm sure you could find a similar costume at any costume store. He opted not to wear the tights, and instead wore khakis and some brown boots. And, voila! We had a cute little family themed costume ensemble to compliment Klair's Tinker Bell get up.

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Halloween Party 

On Friday we teamed up with some friends hosted a Halloween party at our house. We had a chili bar and an assortment of treats and appetizers. We also played some fun games--most of which I stole from my experience with the cub scouts... some games are just fun no matter how old you are! Cheesy, but fun :) I'll post them with links to instructions in case you're looking for something for your own holiday get together. Look back for that. Oh and we had a photo booth, the results of which you can see below:

Then, on Saturday we finished our Halloween themed weekend at our ward party (a ward is essentially a Mormon congregation--they're the people we meet with every week for church).  They had a carnival theme, and since Sam teaches the 9 year olds in primary he was in charge of one of the game rooms. It was fun to see him interact with the kids, and Klair loved showing her costume to anyone who would look.

It was all so fun, but I'm glad to have a bit of a break before Halloween itself. I attempted to explain trick-or-treating to Klair, and now she'll tell you "knock on door, get candy!" She's so excited, and I'm thinking we may have a hard time teaching her it only works on Halloween...