matril

With one week left before I reveal our 2016 Halloween costumes, it's time for one final batch of past costumes.

2015 was the year for Calvin and Hobbes.

We came up with this idea early enough that I decided I was going to be ambitious and knit a tiger costume. It was very time-consuming, but honestly it's just the sort of activity I enjoy - not requiring too much concentration, very predictable rows of oranges and blacks. It was also fun coming up with my own pattern and having it turn out not disastrously! I tried to match the color patterns as precisely as possible, even including a tail, though I don't think I have any pictures from the back to show it. People were impressed but not always certain who I was supposed to be, even when I was standing right beside Mark. Not Tigger. Never Tigger. If we did Winnie-the-Pooh characters, I would be Piglet, no question. And anyway, Tigger's coloring is different. His stomach is yellowish and his nose is pink. Come on.

Mark's costume was far less labor-intensive, though it took some searching online to find the right kind of shirt and wig. When he wore it at school, he brought Luke's stuffed tiger.

Luke's Superman costume was nice and simple - just the T-shirt and cape (reused from my Supergirl costume). You could say he was in the middle of changing into his super suit, hence the jeans. ;) Emma wanted to be Athena, so to go along with her sword from the costume store, I made her a simple dress and duct tape helmet. When Ryan said he wanted to be Darth Vader, we were a little leery of spending tons of money on the helmet and such, knowing those aren't the sort of things you can easily make yourself. But the last thing I'd want to do is discourage my kids from Star Wars-theme costumes! Happily, the Vader hooded sweatshirt was enough to make him happy, particularly with the lightsaber. Another successful year.