joannqn Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have two issues I need help with. 1) We attend our church's harvest festival each year. My kids wanted to go as two of the cats from the Warriors books. One of the cats is a sandy colored cat and the other is an orange tabby. I have minimal sewing skills and time, and money is an issue. I was thinking cheap sweats with an extra pair of pants being cut up to create a tail and ears, but where would I find cheap sweats in tan and tabby-cat orange? Any ideas of how we could put together these costumes? 2) We go to the harvest festival primarily to get away from Halloween. Because our church has Saturday services, the harvest festival is being held on Friday night which defeats our primary purpose. Anyone have ideas of how to avoid Halloween and the scary/violent/inappropriate costumes that come with it? We've tried going out to dinner but waitstaff or customers are often dressed up (have had children terrified of the waiter before). We've tried window shopping and ran into the same problem. We've tried turning off the exterior and interior lights of our home and putting up signs, but they knock anyway. It gets tiresome to repeatedly open the door just to tell someone we don't participate in Halloween. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) I have two issues I need help with. 1) We attend our church's harvest festival each year. My kids wanted to go as two of the cats from the Warriors books. One of the cats is a sandy colored cat and the other is an orange tabby. I have minimal sewing skills and time, and money is an issue. I was thinking cheap sweats with an extra pair of pants being cut up to create a tail and ears, but where would I find cheap sweats in tan and tabby-cat orange? Any ideas of how we could put together these costumes? Dd (a huge Warriors fan) suggested you must be talking about Sandstorm and Firestar? If so, she thought maybe buying some fabric paints (cheap at Hobby Lobby or some such craft place) to paint the stripes on the sweats. The sweats you can find at your local WalMart for around $3-$5 each piece. Unrolling some cardboard tubes (used for wrapping paper) and painting those and pinning them to the suit somehow. For the ears, she thought making the ears out of construction paper and hot gluing them to a headband. Makeup for the face. HTH!! PS. Dd would also like to see a pic of the finished product :-) Edited October 19, 2009 by LauraGB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Maybe you could hang a sign on the door telling people that you aren't participating? We do participate in Halloween, but I imagine it must be very frustrating to not be able to get away from it if you wanted to. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) 2) We go to the harvest festival primarily to get away from Halloween. Because our church has Saturday services, the harvest festival is being held on Friday night which defeats our primary purpose. Anyone have ideas of how to avoid Halloween and the scary/violent/inappropriate costumes that come with it? We've tried going out to dinner but waitstaff or customers are often dressed up (have had children terrified of the waiter before). We've tried window shopping and ran into the same problem. We've tried turning off the exterior and interior lights of our home and putting up signs, but they knock anyway. It gets tiresome to repeatedly open the door just to tell someone we don't participate in Halloween. Thanks! We have a local historal place that does an Old Fashioned Halloween that is more educational and really interesting than Halloweenish. They do candlelight readings from Edgar Allen Poe and make popcorn balls in the old kitchens (where the stove is a glorified fireplace) and such. I'd really like to get my kids out of Trick or Treating and go there, but I'm afraid the tradition is instilled. You might check around your local history museums to see what they have scheduled. PS. Your new picture does look really nice :-) Love the hair! Edited October 19, 2009 by LauraGB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchycons Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We are having the same problem, our church actually isn't having their Fall Festival this year at all to focus on other ministries. So... I am left with the same dilema. My dh gave me some ideas and I think we are going to the YMCA for a family swim, I think they are open until 6:00pm so by that time trick or treating should be over. In the past, when our church did not hold the harvest party, we went to a local pizza and then toy store. The pizza place was mostly take out so we didn't have to deal with waitstaff as it was a serve yourself and the cooks didn't dress up- maybe try and think of places that few people eat there? I was thinking about Chuch E Cheese as an option this year (but to call ahead to see if they have a scary theme). I also thought about a small "harvest party" with friends but I haven't thought much into it. We are even considering visiting MIL out of town that evening. I have seen a book called "redeeming Haloween" but I haven't read it yet. Best wishes to you on that night, this is a tough one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in PA Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have two issues I need help with. 1) We attend our church's harvest festival each year. My kids wanted to go as two of the cats from the Warriors books. One of the cats is a sandy colored cat and the other is an orange tabby. I have minimal sewing skills and time, and money is an issue. I was thinking cheap sweats with an extra pair of pants being cut up to create a tail and ears, but where would I find cheap sweats in tan and tabby-cat orange? Any ideas of how we could put together these costumes? 2) We go to the harvest festival primarily to get away from Halloween. Because our church has Saturday services, the harvest festival is being held on Friday night which defeats our primary purpose. Anyone have ideas of how to avoid Halloween and the scary/violent/inappropriate costumes that come with it? We've tried going out to dinner but waitstaff or customers are often dressed up (have had children terrified of the waiter before). We've tried window shopping and ran into the same problem. We've tried turning off the exterior and interior lights of our home and putting up signs, but they knock anyway. It gets tiresome to repeatedly open the door just to tell someone we don't participate in Halloween. Thanks! How about going to the church Saturday evening service? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 For number 2, we stay home, don't answer the door, draw the drapes, and have fun playing a game or watching a favorite movie with the sound turned up. We have found that if you answer the door, the other kids think you gave candy away and they keep coming for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We have found that if you answer the door, the other kids think you gave candy away and they keep coming for that reason. That's true. If no one answers the door, the trick-or-treaters are usually pretty good about passing on the info that no one is home, so that others won't try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Dd (a huge Warriors fan) suggested you must be talking about Sandstorm and Firestar? PS. Dd would also like to see a pic of the finished product :-) Tell your dd thank you and I'll post some pictures on my blog and PM you with the link. Maybe you could hang a sign on the door telling people that you aren't participating? We do participate in Halloween, but I imagine it must be very frustrating to not be able to get away from it if you wanted to. :( We've done signs before. They get ignored so we end up with people knocking on the door as late as 9pm or so. It's not that I'm totally against Halloween...it's just the scary and violent stuff. I tried to convince Dh to participate, or at least let me give our candy rather than turning everyone away. The year I got him to agree I was pregnant with my oldest child. As I was walking to the local drug store to get the candy,I saw someone had hung (as in from a noose) one of those dolls that look like toddlers standing in a time out corner. I just couldn't handle the fact that someone had chosen to use decorations that looked like a murdered child. I haven't participated in Halloween since...other than the harvest fest in an effort to get away from it. How about going to the church Saturday evening service? :lol: Duh! That idea hadn't even occurred to me. I think that's what we'll be doing...we'll probably go eat first. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 As I was walking to the local drug store to get the candy,I saw someone had hung (as in from a noose) one of those dolls that look like toddlers standing in a time out corner. That's pretty sick. I'm sorry that you had to see that. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Disconnect your doorbell and don't open if someone knocks. I agree with the above poster that if kids see the door open once, they'll flock to you. Do you have a room to watch a movie that the lights won't shine out? If I were not doing Halloween, I'd pile the kids into my bed and we'd snuggle, watch a movie & eat (eating is strictly forbidden in bedrooms, so that would be a real treat!). I just saw cat ears & tails at Wal-mart...I saw black and I think orange - but didn't see the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom3tn Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I just saw cat ears & tails at Wal-mart...I saw black and I think orange - but didn't see the price. They have these at Target, too. You get a head band with ears and a tail on some sort of belt. I think it's $4.99, $5.99, something like that. One of my girls used this for Halloween a few years ago. They were in ballet that year, so she wore it with one of her black leotards and black tights. It was the cheapest costume we ever had, LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Unfortunately, the only TV we own is in the front room so we can't escape it looking like we're home. I'll have to stop by Walmart (20-25 minutes away) for sweats, ears, and tails. I didn't see any of the three at Target when I was there yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We haven't done Halloween the past 2 years, due to D's corn sensitivity (there is NO candy out there that she can have.) Last year, we went over to another family's house. (They weren't keen on all of the candy the dc collect, so we decided to get together instead.) We had homemade snacks, the kids dressed up and played together, and the adults had a chance to relax a bit. It was fun! Do you have any friends that might be willing to do something like this with you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Unfortunately, the only TV we own is in the front room so we can't escape it looking like we're home. Ours is as well, which is why I draw the drapes so I don't have little ones looking in. Still, you don't have to necessarily make it look as if no one is home, just obvious that you will not be answering the door. At the most, we only get two knocks at the door each year since we started doing it this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Link to photo I was asked to post a photo once I got the kids' costumes done. We took the easy way out and used sweats in available colors and choosing different Warrior cats characters to be. Mika was Mistyfoot, Sam was Stormfur, and Josh was Bramblepaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 How cute! Hey what's happening for Thanksgiving this year? I seem to recall inviting you to my house a few hours south last year. Of course, you didn't take me up on it, but we did have a lot of extra food. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Very cute! Cute costumes and cute kids. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 How cute! Hey what's happening for Thanksgiving this year? I seem to recall inviting you to my house a few hours south last year. Of course, you didn't take me up on it, but we did have a lot of extra food. :D Does anyone take up a complete stranger's invite to a holiday meal? LOL DH says that if you are serious, he's up for the adventure. Do you know how to make a dairy free Thanksgiving? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 They turned out totally cute!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 They turned out totally cute!!!! You are no longer LauraGB, btw. I now refer to you as Mrs. Weasley. :lol: We ended up buying sweats at Wallmart for $5 each piece. Then I found a solid gray t-shirt for $3.50. I cut tails from the bottom hem up to the shoulder, sewed them up, stuffed them with some leftover batting I had, and stitched them to the inside of the pants waist so that they flopped over the top of the waist band. The ears were cut from a cereal box. Then I cut two pieces of thin cotton batting that I had laying around for each ear and glued those to either side of the cardboard. Then I cut two pieces of t-shirt for each ear and sewed those together, sliding the batting-covered cardboard inside. I used a flannel baby blanket I had lying around for the pink parts. The brown cat's ears and tail material came from one of DD's old t-shirts. Then I sewed the ears onto $1 store headbands. DS didn't want a headband so I painted an old, too-small baseball cap with acrylic paint I already had and attached his ears to it. I cut slits around the edge of the hat to help it fit a little better. All three cats cost about $32. The shirts are all wearable as normal wear, except the brown shirt which is way too big right now. The pants are also wearable once I remove the tails. Not bad for three costumes that turn back into three outfits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Does anyone take up a complete stranger's invite to a holiday meal? LOL DH says that if you are serious, he's up for the adventure. Do you know how to make a dairy free Thanksgiving? Well so far we have no plans. As for dairy free. Does it all have to be dairy free or can it be that there are special dairy free dishes. I really like dairy! :tongue_smilie:(of course I had briefly mentioned it to dh last year, I don't remember his response now, lol, but I guess I am a bit trusting as I don't necessarily consider you a complete stranger anymore. I went through your pregnancy with you and all sorts of things.:D) I do remember being really bothered by your situation last year and thinking it wasn't fair for your family. Cannot remember what it was now. So I am not completely in jest. I would consider it. Am I crazy? It would be at least a 5 hour drive I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Well so far we have no plans. As for dairy free. Does it all have to be dairy free or can it be that there are special dairy free dishes. I really like dairy! :tongue_smilie:(of course I had briefly mentioned it to dh last year, I don't remember his response now, lol, but I guess I am a bit trusting as I don't necessarily consider you a complete stranger anymore. I went through your pregnancy with you and all sorts of things.:D) I do remember being really bothered by your situation last year and thinking it wasn't fair for your family. Cannot remember what it was now. So I am not completely in jest. I would consider it. Am I crazy? It would be at least a 5 hour drive I think. I tried finding the old posts from last year but they are too far back for a search to pull up. I can't remember what was going on but I remember offers. Was it just that I hate all that cooking effort for just my immediate family and our extended family is too far away and/or dysfunctional to be around? Since when did a "few" turn into 5+? LOL Yes, you are crazy but only about as much as I am. Meeting people IRL that I knew online first isn't anything new to me. In fact, DH and I met online back in 1996 before it was more common and accepted like it is now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.