Halloween Night, 2010
So, Halloween night! A lot of work led up to this evening, so if this sounds a little self-congratulatory, I apologize. There’s certainly a little pride showing through. If you click here you can see an image from a little bit ago, when Ian was peeling apples. In the foreground is a plastic package that contains a food Nina eats called “puffs.”
I traced out lines using a stack of books and a marker, then used scissors to cut the puff containers to size. See this image larger.
I grabbed an LED “road flare” style flashlight and pressed it through loops that I cut into one of the puff containers… this made an almost complete “laser” armband for Buzz’s right arm. For his left I took the other puff container and put it inside of yet another. I cut open a door and added some shiny stickers for Buzz’s left armband, where he has a communicator. When I found neon lime-green duct tape, I knew we were pretty much there. I ended up putting two “bracelets” of bubble wrap on each arm so that the armbands easily fit his skinny forearms. See this image larger.
Seeing as I had plenty of duct tape to spare, I added some highlights to Ian’s ordinary sneakers. I did this quietly downstairs in my office and when I was done put them by the front door without any of the other bits I had created. I knew something went right there as well as soon as I heard Ian exclaim “BUZZ LIGHTYEAR SHOES!!!” from halfway across the house. See this image larger.
Ian’s inflatable wings looked great, but I thought they needed something a little more… a couple LED lights on watch batteries stuffed into water resistant gumball machine toy capsules did the trick. (I kept the dinosaur toy for myself until it is less of a choking hazard for Nina.) Add a little velcro and boom, done.
All I need now for Buzz Lightyear to be complete is a cute kid in his cousin’s costume. See this image larger.
And where’s my other cute kid? Hey! Halloween for creepy, no for sleepy! See this image larger.
The full costume! Hard to get a good pic, unfortunately… See this image larger.
Perhaps it would be best to include a brief video! See this image larger.
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BONUS VIDEO!!!! – Click here to see a brief video of Ian in his Buzz Lightyear costume!!!
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Alright, everybody have costumes on? Look at that cute little kitty back there! See this image larger.
Ian was very proud of his costume, and I was proud to tell anybody who gave me a chance how the armbands were made… the range of comments went from “Good Dad!” to “Sounds like you’ve got too much time on your hands!” See this image larger.
We discovered very quickly that our new neighborhood was just too popular for us to be able to trick or treat as a family. Melissa was kind enough to man the door and bowl back at home while I paraded Ian around. Next year I promise to realize that I’m being selfish, and trade spots… sorry! See this image larger.
Back at home from a long walk, everybody was pretty exhausted. Buzz took off his wings and was pretty much ready for a treat and bedtime — I pushed for one more picture, thus I have this one of two miserable kids. Which reminds me, we actually ran out of treats! Next year we’ll be more prepared! Happy Halloween everybody! See this image larger.
From my notes:
Ian – Where is the book the one with the cars not the real cars but the one with the wheels that don’t go round and round.