Super simple Lorax costume with Truffula trees

I often find myself wondering how our parents survived our early school years without Pinterest.  For example, let's say they were to find out about Dr. Seuss week theme days with hours notice.  How did they come up with ideas, or help shepherd those ideas to reality?

I know that my mom spent a ton of time driving my brothers and I around to libraries or book stores to look through books for ideas.  And, I have good memories of those times.  That said, I'm so thankful for the abundant resources at our fingertips, and for the people who share their creativity.

Let's go back to that Dr. Seuss example.  It is Dr. Seuss week at school and dress as your favorite character day is one of the theme days.  Luckily my son knew he wanted to dress up as The Lorax.  A starting point is always good!

Because of the time crunch, we perused the internet and Pinterest for quick ideas.  And, we found some good ones!  We decided to start with this clever but easy idea for a Lorax mask.  We also thought making Truffula trees to hold as an accessory could be fun, too.  No tutorial necessary there, we considered materials and made it up as we went.

A few quick pictures of what we put together -

Supplies used:

Mask -

• Cheep sunglasses
• Yellow sheet of foam
• Scrap paper to make a template to trace the mustache and eyebrows onto the foam (it's much easier to fold paper to make symmetric pieces, if that's important to you)
• Scissors
• Tacky glue

Truffula Trees -

• Wooden dowel
• Foam sphere
• Pipe cleaners
• Cheep feather boas
• Tacky glue

Orange t-shirt or sweatshirt.

We picked almost everything up at Hobby Lobby.  If you frequent Hobby Lobby, you should get their app... they almost always have a coupon for 40% off one item.  Anyway, several of the supplies, including the orange t-shirt, are less expensive via Amazon Prime (if you have time to plan ahead ;) ).

Hope this helps one more mom or dad pull an idea together.  Good luck!

[03.01.17] Update - the Truffula Trees were a huge hit with the kids at school and the teachers.  If you were to throw a Dr. Seuss party, you could consider making them as a decoration or even a party favor.

Toddler E.T. Costume (with a tricycle)

I love the movie E.T.!  I must have watched it a thousand times growing up.  The bike scene was my inspiration for my little guys' costume this year.

Not much to it, all you need is:

• An E.T. stuffed toy
• a tricycle (or bicycle)
• a basket (found this Sterlite one at Walmart)
• zip ties (or some other means of attaching the basket to the trike)
• a small white blanket or pillowcase to wrap around the E.T.
• A red hooded sweatshirt
• jeans (optional)

Luckily, I was able to snap a few shots.  Shortly after this, E.T. became too interesting to leave in the basket.

Happy Halloween everyone!