Halloween Costume: Garden Gnome

A read a little history on gnomes and was quite intrigued by these tiny under-dwellers who hold great powers, helping plants grow. It was said that they only came out at night and if they were caught out in daylight they turned to stone, thus the statues.  They are known for their willingness to help in the garden which seemed quite fitting for my little farm hands. With a little inspiration courtesy of my sister via Pintrest we set out to make their costumes. 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Lynch Homestead! May your day be spooky, your treat bag full and your nose and toes stay warm!

Halloween Costumes: Rooster and Sunshine

When it came time to talk costumes this year the husband and I had some pretty good ideas as to what we wanted to dress the girls up as. We came up with some pretty elaborate, family coordinated options and presented them to the girls only to have them shot down. Amelia had plans of her own.

If it were Barbie, Disney princess, or any other licensed character I think I would have cried and tried to get her to change her mind but this idea she had was pretty great. I had not heard of nor seen such costumes on anyone in the previous years trick-or-treating so how could I say "no" to such an original, creative idea?

So I set out to create the costumes she so wanted to wear.

A rooster and a sunshine.

Fall Traditions: Costume Making

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love watching everything change color and give way to the stillness in preparation for the coming spring. Cool weather brings layers upon layers of warm, cozy clothes and warm drinks to wash away the chill. The air of change is refreshing to me and I love getting caught up in it all.

There are many things I love doing this time of year; trips to the pumpkin patch, photo shoots in the leaves, hayrides, pumpkin drinks..pumpkin foods...pumpkin everything, apple picking and, of course, costume making.

I've never been big on Halloween, it's just not my thing. I find it strange to send your kids door to door asking for candy under the cover of darkness. As much of a scrooge as I can be about the holiday there is one things that I can get into and that is the costumes.

I have made every costume my girls have worn and I hope to continue the tradition until they outgrow the need for them.

Little Bo Peep and Her Sheep

Little Bo Peep lost her sheep and didn't know where to find her....

Just leave her alone and she will come home, bringing her tail behind her

I must say, I am quite pleased with the costumes I made for the girls this year for Halloween. Inspired in part by Amelia's obession with Toy Story 3 earlier this summer and by the classic nursery rhyme I came up with the idea of making Amelia a shepherdess and Marinn her sheep. As is apparent by Amelia's first two costumes(a baby bird and a pig), I love seeing babies dressed as animals. You can only get away with doing it for so long so I figured I needed to take advantage!

I made both cosutmes with no patterns, using their exsisting clothing as templates.  Bo Peep's outfit consists of a dress, pantaloons, and a bonnet (that were made by myself) as well as tights, boots, and a shepherds hook. I added the tutu I made for St. Patrick's Day to give the dress some volume. The sheep costume is a onesie style, fuzzy outfit that I made over top of black tights and a black shirt topped off with a headband complete with ears that I made from a pair or mens dress socks.

Marinn was less than pleased about painting her nose, but has done surprisingly well keeping her ears on. Amelia loves being Bo Peep and has been haming it up while in costume, eliciting many 'awes' over the pair.