Tag Archives: halloween

Mickey Mouse – A Simple Halloween Costume

Julia has always come up with fun ideas for what she wants to be for Halloween.  Over the years, she has dressed up as Wednesday Addams, a devil, a ladybug, and a bat to name a few. This year she decided to dress up as Mickey Mouse.  She is long past the age of trick-or-treating but her high school has an annual Halloween Dance and they all dress up for that.

Did you know that Mickey Mouse was developed by Walt Disney and the very talented Ub Iwerks in 1928? He is the official mascot of the Walt Disney Company and has been making people smile for years.

“I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.”

— Walt Disney, Disneyland; October 27, 1954

Simple Mickey Mouse shorts!

Let me tell you, Mickey Mouse was such an easy costume to put together.  Julia had black leggings and a black t-shirt to use so the main task was to make the red shorts and the Mickey ears.  For the shorts, we dashed out to Ben Franklin and bought a 1/2 yard of red fleece.  I used a pattern I had for pajama pants and did a few alterations to the pattern pieces before cutting them out.  I had to make the waist sit a bit lower, shorten the inseam quite a bit and add a pocket to the right side. (Pockets are a must-have on all clothing so she can keep her phone nearby!) Between cutting, fitting, adjusting, and sewing them — the shorts took about an hour or so to make.  Julia cut two white ovals out of felt and I lightly tacked them to the shorts. She plans to use them as pj shorts so it will be easy to take the buttons off when she is through being Mickey.

The only challenge (and it wasn’t a huge deal) was making the Mickey Mouse ears.  I had a remnant of black vinyl on hand and we cut circles out of that.  But the vinyl proved to heavy and the ears constantly flopped over.  Browsing ideas on Pinterest, we found a great alternative using black poster board and a head band. This called for another trip to Ben Franklin!  I was extremely proud of my self control when I was able to go into the shop, grab the head band and poster board and not even wander through the fabric department.  Didn’t even go near it!  This is probably the first time I have achieved this feat and may well be the last! While I did go get the supplies, I didn’t actually make the ears.  Julia and Ray took care of that.  Here is a link to the site they used if you need inspiration.

It would appear Mickey is tiring of this photo shoot!

We couldn’t think of an easy way to achieve yellow shoes so she skipped it.  But really, she looked so cute – Seemed like they all had fun at the dance too.  Living out in the country, we don’t really get trick-or-treaters so Halloween night is usually quiet for us.  I hope you all have more treats than tricks tonight!

 

A Very Quick Friday Finish

This afternoon I was checking out some of the blogs I follow.  One of which is Kati’s blog, www.fromthebluechair.com. Her latest post talks about making some autumn decorations for her house.  I liked the idea of the little Halloween bunting she made up.  It was so cute and clearly a quick project to whip up. I bought some Halloween fat quarters for 50% off last year after the holiday was over. (I will almost always grab some novelty fat quarters after each holiday. They are always a bargain at that point. That way I have some if I need – read want – them.) Already having a bunting template from the holiday banners I made, it was a breeze to cut these little flags out.

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I stitched the flags wrong sides together and then just encased them with a piece of double fold black seam binding that I had in the sewing junk drawer – where you will find a plethora of old ribbon, hem tape, seam binding and elastic.  Never know when it will come in handy, like today. (The door with the ‘DANGER’ sign and the ‘Sorry we’re CLOSED sign’ is my 13 year old daughter’s.  Need I say more?)

20141009_1802The points curled after I sewed the two sides together. I starched the heck out of them which helps a bit.

I am not big fan of orange but it’s October.  October is all about orange.  Last year I made this little flag.  I love it.  I intended to give credit to the website that I copied it from but I can’t remember where I found it. I know it was through Pinterest but somehow it is not on any of my boards any longer. So, whomever had this posted, you get the credit. I certainly didn’t make this one up. I like it though – even if the rick rack isn’t as straight as it could be between the two “o’s”. I had made this days before Halloween last year so it was only hung for a couple of days. Halloween decorations are usually taken down by about November 2nd.  They aren’t my favorites.  😉

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Except for the pumpkins.  I do love the pumpkins.  We grew these out in the garden this year.

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Linking to:  Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF, Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict – all of these wonderful sites have links posted at the top of this page, under Link Ups.