Last Minute Costumes 2008

So it's pretty much 5 years to the day that I was driving down the street with my 4.5 year old in the back seat. He was going on and on about how excited he was that he was going to be Captain Rex for Halloween. He just couldn't wait. Then he said "Momma, what is Sprinkles going to be?" 

I was 9 months pregnant with my second child. My oldest had named him "Sprinkles" when we discovered we were having another boy.

It was about mid-October and I was scheduled to have Sprinkles on October 22. That would mean he'd only be a measly 9 days old on Halloween. Honestly, I hadn't really considered taking him out for trick-or-treating. But I decided to humor my 4 year old and said "Oh, I don't know, maybe a bumblebee?"

"Noooo!" he responded.

"How about a pea-in-a-pod?" I suggested.

"Noooo!" he said again.

"Well, I don't know, Sweetie, he's only going to be a week old. Costume options are kind of limited."

"I know what he can be," he announced from the backseat. "Baby Stinky!!"

"Baby Stinky" aka Rotta the Huttlet was Jabba the Hutt's son. The Clone Wars movie had just come out that summer, and my oldest became a huge fan of all-things-Clone Wars, including "Baby Stinky".

I guess the "creative" gene runs strong in my family, because my little boy had come up with a FABULOUS idea! Baby Stinky is just a little slug. What better to dress a new-born infant as. All I had to do was make him a little "snuggie" that looked like a baby Hutt. Sure I could do that!

Sprinkles was born on October 22nd, as scheduled. 4 days in the hospital and we were back home as a new Family-of-4 on the 26th of the month…5 days before Halloween.

Being as we were preparing for a new baby, and I was HUGELY pregnant, I hadn't spent any time working on the Baby Hutt costume prior to giving birth. So there we were, a few days before Halloween and we weren't in the house 6 hours when my oldest asked "Momma, when are you going to make Sprinkles costume?"

4 days after having an 8lb 15oz baby via C-section, and my 4 year old is asking me to MAKE something. Really? But I had pretty-much promised him that Sprinkles would be Baby Stinky, and I really didn't want to let him down.

I took a few days to recuperate and settle in with a new new-born and then we headed out to the fabric store and picked up some tan fleece. It was 7 days post-delivery, and I was on the floor of my living room, laying my 1 week old son on the floor and drawing a "slug shape" around him.

Luckily it was really a simple thing to do. Basically it was a simplified "papoose" with eyes and little "muppet" hands.

Papoose picture borrowed from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_S._Curtis_Collection_People_007.jpg

I stuffed the arms with some stuffing material I had around the house. And the eyes I made from a pair of knee highs that I had in my dresser. I put a bit of stuffing in those, made them into little balls, and then painted them with some craft paint to look like Baby Stinky's eyes.

I made all the wrinkles by just pinching the fabric and hot gluing it together (I love hot glue!).

Finished Baby Stinky aka Rotta infant costume. Made from fleece and nylon stockings.

And there you have it, "Sprinkles" first Halloween costume—Baby Stinky! I can't wait to put this one up in a slide show on his wedding day.

Sprinkles first Halloween costume - 9 days old

And just in case you've never seen "Baby Stinky" before, here is what he looks like from the movie:

Baby Stinky aka Rotta The Huttlet

=========================================

Oh, of course my oldest couldn't be happy with just his baby brother having a costume. He wanted Momma to have one too. And who did he want ME to be? Ahsoka Tano! Yes, he wanted me, a 37 year old woman who had just given birth to a nearly 9 pound baby to dress up as a young teen alien who wears a tube top and a skirt.

The things I do for my kids, I tell you!

I pulled this one together ON Halloween, and thought I proud of my last-minute creativity to make it happen, I'm not going to say that I was that "pretty" of an Ahsoka. But you know what, my son LOVED it. He thought I looked awesome. And THAT made me feel great!

Me, 9 days post-delivery dressed as Ahsoka Tano with Son #2 as Baby Stinky

Ahsoka Costume: I wore an orange, long sleeve, turtle-neck (fairly easy to find right before Halloween). Made the tube top and skirt out of some maroon fabric I found at the store and glued the top to the orange shirt. The head piece was just made flat, attaching white felt to some cardboard and painting the stripes of the head tails. A pair of white leggings, brown boots, and some face paint, and my 4 year old thought I looked like a brave Padawan from a galaxy far, far away.

May the Force be with you, as well as the creative juices!

-- Lori