A Frozen Halloween

We just got back from Trick-or-Treating with the kids. Other than being a bit on the warm side, I think they had a great time, and they loved their costumes. This year I actually purchased patterns for the girls dresses (from Joy2Sew- love this site). I have been way too busy lately for my own good, and these patterns were the closest I saw to what I had in my head.

 The Kristoff costume I free-handed, but I got a lot of my inspiration from here.

 They didn't quite understand "Stand back to back".

 The little Anna LOVES her costume. Not bad considering I decided this afternoon that she needed the cape. I curved the edges of the pattern, and simplified things by just using ric rac for the embellishment, but the results were worth it- Monkey wouldn't take off her cloak. The hat liked to flare up, so I ended up pinning it to her yarn wig (sort of like this one).

 Elsa also loved her costume. I loved that the train was detachable so I could take it off when she wanted to run all around- especially since she wanted it nice and long. The wig tutorial came from here). I used fabric paint to get the arm detail.

 Poor Kristoff- I thought he was going to roast in his costume. We need to move somewhere cooler for next Halloween. Either that or we need to go as surfers or something like that. Even though it was hot, Tiger still liked his costume. You can't see it, but it even had an elbow patch on the sleeve. I didn't make it to lining the top of his boots with fur, but he didn't seem to mind. I had a hard time finding the right colors. His shirt I ended up making from an XL men's shirt- when you have JoAnn's and Walmart to choose from, the fabric selection can get a bit limited. The fur on his collar is actually white and I took an old tooth brush and some black paint to color it- I think it worked out pretty well.

 I liked how the Elsa shoes turned out. I found the jelly shoes at Target- they had some princess bow thing on the front that I clipped off. I then used fabric paint and free-handed and Elsa-esque pattern onto the front and sprinkled it heavily with glitter. 

And this picture is so that I can remember next year how I made the little witch hats for the party we were invited too. Hershey Kisses, Grasshopper cookies, frosting, and some star sprinkles. They were tasty. Inspiration from here.

And just for fun- how they really used their costumes. They are silly:)

Secret Agent Pack Meeting

I hope what you think when you see these pictures is "Gee- she really needs a new camera", and not "Gosh- what a lousy photographer she is". My camera is getting temperamental. The buttons don't always work and it has issues. But until I get a new camera, or find someone else who took pictures last night- here are some pics from my Secret Agent Pack Meeting last night.

The boys entered through the security entrance and had to scan their hands.

The boys picked up their badges and added their thumbprint. On the back was a code individualized to each boy. 

I adapted the CIA Logo to suit my needs. Hope they don't mind.

 These props were left over from VBS that the chartering organization had held within the last year or two.

 This was the Code Breaker station so that the boys could figure out their individual code.

 And if they wanted to do some more fingerprinting, that was available as well.

 Told you I needed a new camera. This was the spot for the boys to put anything they wanted to display.

 My Tactical Tiger Team had to practice their vault breaking into skills to get their awards. The code on the vault matched the code on their badge, and their awards were inside.

 My Strategic Wolf Team had to diffuse some bombs to get their awards.

 The Covert Bear Team blew up some dynamite to get their awards.

 The Elite Webelos Team found their Grappling Hook Gun. When they pulled them over, the hook was attached to a Top Secret manila envelope that contained their awards.

 Back to needing a new camera- here is Tiger with his awards.

And a bonus:

Tiger is now a hockey player (oh the things I will do to help him get his Cub Scout Belt Loops). I finally got him a proper hockey water bottle. Since it looks just like the one most of his team uses, I personalized it with vinyl to make it easier to identify. I also used vinyl to write his name on the other side (in the Star Wars font of course). I think he will like it. Now back to cleaning the house....

Something New

One of my sisters has been reminding me that it has been a few months since I last posted. She is right. I have been busy. So for her- something new to view:

 September 19th is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Since my mother-in-law's "theme" this year is "Life is a Celebration," I decided that we should have a spontaneous Pirate Party. By the time the kids got off the bus I was practically ready for them (and they helped with the finishing touches).

 We dressed up,

 ate some fish,

 and more fish,

 and drank some fish (ice cube tray from the 99Cent Only Store).

 Hot dog pirate ships rounded out our nutritious menu. After dinner we watched Blackbeard's Ghost. The kids had fun. The decorations may still be up. It is close enough to Halloween to get away with such activities.

For a sample of many other things that I have been up to, I recently became the Cubmaster for our son's Pack (he is a new Tiger Cub and LOVING finally being a scout). This week is our first pack meeting, so before the last den meeting I decided to send home little invitations for all the boys. I have 46 boys in my pack, so I was trying to find something that wouldn't take too long, and that I wouldn't have to go to the store for. I have a Secret Agent theme planned for the night, so I made them some top secret mission briefing folders.

 I cut a regular file folder into quarters to make mini folders, and ran them through my printer to get the Top Secret Stamp.

Inside I had the message and secret code. I modified the CIA logo to make it say Cub Scout Intelligence Agency. They turned out well, and the boys liked them. Now to finish getting ready for the rest of pack meeting...

Hogwarts (part 2)

I finally got more of the pictures from the Hogwarts Blue & Gold.

It is always difficult to know what is appropriate to post for the public to view. I tried to find pictures that the boys were either blurry or not showing their faces. If I have posted your child, and you would prefer I didn't, please let me know and I will remove the picture.

My own children I have no problems posting. Just don't mess with Hermione Kitty there. She looks like she knows a few spells and won't hesitate to use them.

 These are the ties that the boys got at Madam Malkin's. They got their pictures taken, and those pictures were printed and posted on the papers you see off to the side there.

 This is the Goblet of Fire. My mother-in-law was the creative genius behind this one. The boys wrote their names on slips of paper in their house colors so that a name could be drawn from each house for each tournament, and so every boy could have a chance to participate.

 The lady who designed the Honeydukes Sweet Shop is a professional graphic designer. She did an amazing job.

    In case you were wondering if I was ever going to post a picture of me as Rita Skeeter, your waiting has come to an end. What you can't see are the fishnet stockings I was wearing. Ludo would not give me an interview (something about being burned by my acid pen years before). Ludo may also be my brother-in-law.

 Professor Trelawney was telling fortunes.

This is what the great hall looked like. The boys were doing their opening flag ceremony. The flag was in the bubbling cauldron in the center there.

 Professor Dumbledore with the Goblet of Fire. Can I just say that I have amazing in-laws?

 The Care of Magical Creatures hunt, in action. Points for every creature picked up, negative points if that creature was a snake.

 Ollivander was passing out wands- the wand chose the wizard (it may have had something to do with which house they were in).

 Tom took the day off at the Leaky Cauldron, but his assistant did an excellent job making sure everyone's thirst was quenched.

 

 Dragon Slaying with javelins. Throw the pool noodle to see how many dragons you can knock over. The pvc on the bottom makes it easy to set them all up again.

 This activity required the boys to catch the golden snitch with their mouths, just like Harry caught his first snitch. The wings are candy melts that have been inserted into vanilla sandwich cookies.

The final results- Gryfindor and Slytherin tied. (I think they did a paper rock scissors contest to determine Slytherin the winner). Behind you can see part of the obstacle course.

Professor Trelawney, Ludo Bagman, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Rita Skeeter.

It was a fun and memorable Pack Meeting. I am glad that I got to participate.