where the wild things are: giant costume heads and puppets

Every year, the parents of Eugene's Parent-Child Preschool put on a theater production to entertain and educate the kids, and help raise funds for the school. This year's production was Where the Wild Things Are. It was an ambitious production, but we made lots of cool stuff! For more info about the school and to look at a gallery of past production posters, you can visit the school's site at www.eugenepreschool.org.

Max's crown; felt + furry felt.

Goat-head wild thing puppet; felt, cardboard, masking tape, hot glue, thread. This is my second-ever performance ready puppet. This is the first: http://nightgardendesign.blogspot.com/2014/03/happy-birthday-dr-seuss.html

Bull-head wild thing head mask, in progress.

Long-haired wild thing head mask, in progress (group project).

This wild thing mask is the one I made for the Mr. for Halloween a couple of years ago. http://nightgardendesign.blogspot.com/2011/11/pinterest-challenge.html. Claire made the bird-head wild thing puppet masterfully (first time!)

Dress rehearsal! The sets were created by Anneka, Lisel, and crew, mostly of recycled cardboard boxes and latex paint.

Finished goat-head puppet, and bull-head wild thing head mask.

Long-haired wild thing head mask and Carole's gorgeous orange-nosed wild thing puppet.

I was lucky to recruit two amazing seamstresses (Claire and Carole) who are also very adept at learning to construct puppets and costume heads from cardboard, felt, and hot glue. Amazing work.

Max's costume, and more amazing backdrops.

library display -- where the wild things are

where the wild things are growing at an incredible rate

The Halloween before my kiddo turned two, he and the mister dressed up like this for Halloween:

Max in his wolf suit and his Wild Thing papa, from Where the Wild Things Are were a big hit at the library's Halloween story time that year. And the little Max costume was so soft and comfy and fun to wear that my kiddo didn't want to stop wearing it. 

That was a year and a half ago. He was Max quite a bit in the months following Halloween . . . and then he got distracted, and wore it less and less frequently.

When I cleaned out his closet six months ago, coincidentally right around this most recent Halloween (we went as Muppets this year; he was Kermie), he excitedly pulled it out and wore it around the backyard like a hooded jacket because his legs wouldn't fit. 

And he kept growing, and the next time he tried to put it on, his arms wouldn't fit either, so he wore it like a hooded cape. And then I wised up and pulled out the leftover fabric and the old pattern (for shape reference) and a shirt one size up (to use as a size reference) and stitched up a hoodie he'll be able to wear for another year or so. Luckily, the tail is a pin-on, and so we just transferred it from the old Max suit to the new Max hoodie.

Because childhood is too short, and Halloweens are too far in between, and because . . . reasons.

*****

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And thanks for reading.

p.s. The original toddler-sized pattern has been removed from the Burda Style website; e-mail me or message in the comments below, and I can send you a PDF of my reworked, resized hoodie pattern (it's a 6-7 I'd estimate). If there's enough interest, I'll just post a tutorial.

halloween costumes, past and present

Halloween 2009—In utero. We didn't know gender yet, and it's hard to get a costume on a fetus anyway, so the kiddo just accessorized my "pregnant lady" costume. It was the laziest costume I could come up with, which was good because I was sleeping all the time when I wasn't working or pumpkin hunting.

Halloween 2010—What a difference a year makes! I knitted my sweetie's sock monkey costume freehand (without a pattern). As I'm a better crocheter than knitter, I always see a ton of flaws, but I still love how it turned out . . . just in time, too. I was still working on this on Halloween Eve.

I used a yarn needle to add this knitted "tattoo" after I finished knitting the sleeves; switching yarn in the middle of a row is not my favorite thing to do when knitting (and I'm not very good at it) so this shortcut was the perfect way for me to get this effect.

Halloween 2011—Max and one of the Wild Things from Where the Wild Things Are. The kiddo's Max costume and the mister's Wild Thing costume were blogged about here. I used a pattern for the Max costume and a Instructables tutorial for the Wild Thing head, both of which are linked in that blog. Two of my favorites ever, these were also a huge hit when we were out and about. It was the first time strangers ever stopped us and asked to take photos.

Halloween 2012—It's all about the Muppets. Here's a sneak peek of a costume in progress:

The sheer cuteness of my kid in a Kermit costume is going to melt your eyeballs, so be warned: a full Kermit post is coming soon!

Thanks for reading! 

p.s. you can make these images larger just by clicking on them, but you probably already knew that.