halloween is only 45 days away...

and the boys have their costumes! can you tell that halloween is my all time favorite holiday?

we actually bought bubba's back in august...we were at babies r us and he started yelling "ARGH" but this time it wasn't another customer wearing an eye patch (thankfully!), he saw a pirate costume. so we tried it on him and he loved it. its a little big, he was between sizes but you get the idea:

(please ignore the cell phone pic and the fact that he was picking his nose)

so then i was left to decide what pooks' would be. he's too young to really have a preference, so it was up to me. i started thinking ''well what goes with a pirate?" my first thought was a mermaid but that wouldn't work, LOL. then, i think it was B who suggested a parrot. okay thats cute...now all i had to do was find a parrot costume.

easier said than done. i could find parrot costumes for newborns, and for children and for adults but not for toddlers. i was getting pretty frustrated but finally decided that i would just make one. i consider myself to be pretty crafty but i've never made a costume before. growing up my mom made several of my costumes. off the top of my head i can think of a clown, a bunny, an M&M and a crazy housewife. (yes, i was a crazy housewife....rollers, robe, cold cream...you get the idea). but a parrot? even after consulting her she wasn't quite sure how to make a parrot either.

well when mom doesn't know: google it.

so i did and i found some good ones but they were for babies. the way the feathers were attached, or they used a feather boa---both are out of the question with pooks. he has to be able to move his arms, and he can't pluck/molt all his feathers off before halloween. i went to 2 fabric stores today to get the materials and i made it during the boys nap and then finished it after they went to bed. hopefully i'll get some good pictures of him wearing it tomorrow, but for now:

(the hat looks a bit funny because its on a mini-soccerball)

it's pretty simple really. several layers of colored felt, cut to look like feathers, sewn together. then i safety pinned the wings to the sweatshirt. this way, the sweatshirt and pants are completely useable and feather-free after the holiday.

the hat was the hardest because its sept--not exactly the ideal time to find a red fleece winter hat. so...i made one. i've never made a hat before but i think it turned out okay. i had fun using my sewing machine too. it took about 30 mins and hopefully he'll keep it on! if not my backup plan is face-paint.

so what do you think??