the sheltiechick blog

Pumpkins and Halloween Costumes

Halloween was a bit tricky this year. For so long I had planned costumes with Auggie involved. Even though I knew there was a possibility Auggie wouldn’t be with us at Halloween, I was still sort of thinking about a group costume with Auggie. When it arrived, I just didn’t feel like really planning anything.
Thankfully, PetSmart came to the rescue…

But first! Hay bales and pumpkins!

Two bros on hay bales.


Payton, somehow covered in all kinds of stuff.


I mean he’s still cute though.


And this cute Kaner!


Georgie came over to play along too. Stormie also, but Stormie wouldn’t sit and take any cute photos…


If you’re wondering why Georgie looks so annoyed, it’s probably because, like baby brothers, baby sisters ruin everything.

Now costume time!

These went mega clearance before Halloween. Like $3. And they are stupid cute for as simple as they are.


They do need some slight modification though – they don’t really stay on well, which meant a lot of running around every twenty seconds adjusting costumes. And Payton being told “don’t move” once his was on and then he refused to actually get on the hay bale, because I said “don’t move.”


Kane had to sit on the hay bale first, get dressed, and then stay.


But, I mean. He’s already a monster anyway, even without the costume.


Halloween 2015 – The Force Awakens

This year was a bit of a challenge to decide on Halloween costumes. Last year was a huge success with the Justice League. I originally wanted to do The Avengers, but in most iterations, there are more Avengers than I have dogs. If last year is any indication, the comic book geek in me has serious problems with not being able to do something RIGHT… so I took a pass on Avengers. But what should we do, then? I kicked around a few ideas, like Peter Pan, featuring Captain Hook and Tic-Toc Croc, but ultimately wasn’t in love with anything.
It was then I realized, when in doubt, you should always go back to your roots.
And use the Force.
I decided almost immediately I wanted to be Han Solo, which meant Payton was my Chewbacca. Georgie was Leia, being the girl. I then had to convince my mom to be Luke Skywalker, which she tried to get out of multiple times, but I presented her with that fact that you simply cannot show up as a Star Wars posse and not have a Luke. I mean, you just can’t.
Certainly we could have cheated and gone to purchase any of the number of costumes out in the mass market, but we all know that’s not how I roll. NOPE. My sewing machine would have been so disappointed in me.

Han and my best buddy Chewie.

It took us a long time to get the footstall trick down. Many times I almost gave up on Payton ever learning it. And now we’re doing footstalls in costumes.


Big bad Chewbacca back home.

This fur was actually a trick to find. I wanted something just right and went to four places to find it. Lots of short fur and light brown but difficult to snag something that looked really Chewbacca-like.

I did purchase a blaster from the Halloween store – it was pretty close to being accurate and way better than anything I could have cobbled together on my own. But it was white and orange from the store, which is just ridiculous. No worries, though – I took care of that little problem with a can of spray paint and some acrylics to help it looked more used-by-a-space-smuggler and realistic.

Georgie might have preferred we went to buy faux hair buns instead of making some for her, but all the ones on the market were pitiful and WAY too small to be movie accurate, so No Thank You. We made the hair buns also.

The hair buns did not survive multiple costume changes, however. Also, she basically hated them… so I didn’t ask her to wear them more than when for the costume contest.

Auggie did not attend with us this year, but if he had, he would have been Yoda. Once we returned home, I looked at what I had in terms of existing costumes.
Turns out Auggie is not Yoda, he is actually Darth Vader.

Typical.


Sheltie Halloween 2014

So I entered an agility trial over Halloween. They were having a Halloween costume and one of the categories was best duo (or group, in my case.) I decided to go as The Justice League. This lead to many many nights working on costumes for the dogs, myself, and my mom who was attending with Georgie. Lots of looking up comic book covers and artwork and trying to decide “which version of Supergirl do I want to do?” Back and forth to make sure I was creating accurate costumes, even though my mom pointed out “No one will know.” I WILL KNOW.

Auggie, of course, was The Flash.

Auggie first of course.


Because he is the bestest.


I actually have some Flash underwear I bought years ago and I wanted to use that, but I couldn’t find any matching GL underwear so I axed that entire idea. It doesn’t really “go” with the actual Flash costume, anyway.

I went back and forth on Payton a little bit as far as who he would be (technically he is supposed to be Kid Flash because he’s Auggie’s sidekick), but I felt the most logical choice was Green Lantern, since Barry Allen-Flash and Hal Jordan-GL were great friends.


I have to admit that Payton’s is actually my favourite costume. I love the way the mask fits on his face, I love the lantern “ring” on his wrist, I just love how I worked this one out. Way better than anything I could have possibly bought.


The only thing I might have changed is to bring the nose bridge further down his nose, but I think that would have ultimately given it a weird silhouette, so I’m pretty happy with it as I made it.


The mask creeped up while we were in the costume contest and I was like “OH GOD NO, THEY’LL FIND OUT YOUR SECRET IDENTITY.”

Pepper did not go to the show with us, not being a competitor, so she didn’t get a costume of her own. But I didn’t want her let out when we took photos back at home, and I happened to have this Wonder Woman costume that I bought her many years ago, so…

Drizzy is soooo regal.


Oh wait no nevermind


I really need to make a far better lasso of truth for this costume though. That one is pathetic.


I also didn’t make her tiara, I bought that at Target a year or two ago, along with the Flash one for Auggie. It also technically needs wrist bands… (my mom’s costume totally had wrist bands. But I forgot about the lasso of truth. I literally sat in bed after we won the costume contest and went OH MY GOD, I FORGOT THE LASSO OF TRUTH. Obviously nobody else cared but DANG IT)

Miss Georgie next. I could have done a few different things with her, but Wonder Woman didn’t suit her, and I was stealing the Superman slot to be Supergirl – so Georgie got to be Batgirl. Basically we went Slightly Alternate Justice League by swapping a few male characters for female counterparts, but otherwise, pretty solid.

I would have done her bat ears a little differently I think… maybe a bit more upright… but I liked the overall shape and wasn’t sure if I could get the bat ears upright and still have the shape look correct, so I let it go.


I DID make her a cape, but I didn’t like how it turned out, so I ultimately didn’t use it. I really wish it had turned out better, or I’d had more time to work on it and make a better one…


Group photo! I have no idea what’s going on with Georgie’s mask. My mom was having malfunction issues with it trying to put it on her.


My Justice League!


All winners. Except Payton. Payton sucks.

I should note that if I HAD gotten a puppy earlier this year, he would have been Aquaman. Poor guy. So it’s a good thing I didn’t get a puppy. Because who wants Aquaman on their Justice League? I mean really.

THE END and I have no idea how I will ever top this. Avengers???


Halloween Costumes


I was trying to decide what Pepper should be when I browsed PetSmart’s website and saw this. Then I went there and they had one in her size and it was 75% off.
PAYTON GET OUT OF THE SHOT. STOP TRYING TO EAT THE PUMPKIN STEMS.


She’s supposed to be Wonder Woman anyway. Since all my dogs get superhero alter egos. But I could totally fashion a better Lasso of Truth for her…


Look, I don’t know what Auggie is, okay? I just saw those pirate socks and they were cute, and also that shark fin was like two bucks. He’s a pirate eating shark. Or maybe he’s a pirate ship in disguise.


Look it really doesn’t matter because he’s Auggie and he’s awesome and adorable so who cares.


I have cuffs that I intended to put on him too… somewhere. I have no idea where they are. =< So he just gets to wear his tie.
The idea is that it goes with his registered name and all. Y’know. Sharp Dressed Man? Silk suit… black tie… don’t need a reason why…


Yes, Payton. We all know. Thank you.

Georgie has a sock monkey hoodie, by the way. We bought it at Old Navy. It’s adorable. No pics because she’s annoying (I’ll get some later.)


The sheltie boys do Halloween


I broke out Auggie’s shark costume from last year again. Shark + Pirate? Yes plz.


Payton isn’t totally sold on his pirate hat though…


Ahhhhh the shark is coming to get me!! And the pirate just lets it…

Okay, these next few require some explanation… my idea was to have Auggie lay down and then Payton stand over him. This was fine except before I could scoot back into my position to take a photo, Auggie decided he didn’t really like having Payton stand over him. So… he stood up.

and took Payton with him.


And I mean he literally took Payton with him. And I’m sorry these are blurry but I started laughing so hard I was crying. There was no way I was going to get a clear shot off. But I had to post them even though they’re blurry. My mom had to come in to help because I was literally crumpled on the floor laughing and crying and trying to get a photo and I couldn’t move to go help poor Payton.


And then the pirate vanquished the shark! I actually had Payton stand ON Auggie for this one. For some reason Auggie was fine with being stood on, just not stood over. =P


Better pose but blurry. =<

And that's how we do Halloween here, LOL.


Auggie is a shark


*JAWS music*


This look of Utter Contempt brought to you by… Pepper! Or the flash on the camera. Either or.


I don’t think you can see the tail in any of these. It didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted but I don’t have the knitting knowledge to have shaped it the way I really wanted. I took him to a costume contest yesterday (it was billed as a “parade” so I thought we’d all get to go on a little walkie parade with our dogs, but all they did was hold a contest and we left… bo-ring!) and people knew he was a shark at least. Though one woman said “Shark. Right? No, dolphin?” No, you were right the first time!

Apparently Auggie preferred being a dinosaur. Or I need to get some better pics of the costume. Perhaps both.


Auggie Halloween 2009

Last year after I knit his dinosaur costume, I figured I would knit up a bumblebee for 2009. Well, I never really got around to feeling like I wanted to knit… so I didn’t. I have one of those ridiculous hot dog costumes I got at Target last year for 75% off and figured I would just put that on him. And then I couldn’t find it! So I dug around trying to find some other goodies, and located… well…


This little vampire cloak that I also got at Target (YES I LOVE TARGET) last year for $1. I also attempted a pumpkin costume that I got for $1, but he was having none of that… none. of. that. This, however, he was quite happy to wear, so he got to be a vampire this year.


While taking Halloween photos in the living room, I somehow failed to notice until editing the photos that night the record sitting in the front of the record box in the background is… Thriller.


Which is funny considering when I carved my pumpkin, I decided to go with a theme of… Thriller.


Distracted by squirrels behind me. My mom’s pumpkin of ghosts and monsters is on the left; mine is of course the Thriller pumpkin on the right.


Regal vampire puppy is regal. The other pumpkin and gourd are decorated with these little stick-in things my mom bought. I think her plan with the gourd was to carve it into a dragon… it turned out way cooler this way, I think!


Pondering sucking someone’s blood!

Plan for 2010 is a shark. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll get around to the bumblebee.


Auggiesaurus

I like knitting – so I decided to knit Auggie’s Halloween costume. I decided on a dinosaur.

So… Auggiesaurus!!