Too Darn Cute

Friday, October 3, 2014

A Pinocchio Halloween


I love Halloween! It's my favorite holiday. I usually feel slightly guilty for saying that because it's obviously not as meaningful as Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving. It doesn't have a rich, patriotic history like Independence Day. It doesn't even cause you to reflect and set new goals like New Year's Day. But I can't help it. It's my favorite. There's just something about pumpkin cookies and spooky decorations that gets me really excited. And the costumes! I love a good reason to get creative and dress up. Halloween is the perfect time to dress up and play pretend all day long. And if you've got kids, you can dress them up HOWEVER YOU WANT! I've decided I really need to maximize on the years when I get to choose my children's costumes.

See? Halloween decorations are SO CUTE!

Last year I spent WAY too long browsing blogs and Pinterest for costume ideas but finally settled on a Pinocchio theme. It was just way too cute. It turned out to be quite the project to make his little costume, but it turned out so great. My two main inspirations came from For the Good Days (who breaks down each part of the costume) and Crafting Zuzzy (who helped me make the killer shorts and suspenders).

I'm glad he was as excited about his costume as I was

I like to call this my Goldilocks costume because the shorts took me three tries. I used her free pattern and the first pair were way too small. I tried to adapt the pattern on my own and the second pair came out way too big. I adjusted the pattern again and the third pair came out just right. It was a lot of work, y'all! She has updated her blog and you can now purchase some updated patterns and it might really be worth it!


I added some cool ribbon to the sides of the shorts to make them a bit more like Pinocchio's shorts and loved that it made them more authentic. A couple of large wooden buttons really completed the look.


I used an old white shirt for the collar and followed For the Good Days' DIY description. It took a little fiddling to get the sizing just right, but was pretty simple to sew. I've made lots of little boy bow ties and for the Pinocchio costume, I just made an extra large bow tie. I added some snaps to the collar and tie so I could just snap it on or slip it over his head. I found the yellow onesie for a few bucks at H&M.


The hat was definitely a little tricky. I looked at lots of pictures and costumes before drawing up my own pattern on some yellow felt and playing around with it until I came up with a shape I was happy with. I added some blue ribbon with hot glue and stuck in a single red feather.


I love a good theme so of course we had to play along. Jacob was a good trooper and let me dress him as Jiminy Cricket and I went as the Blue Fairy.


"I dub you Pinocchio's conscience, lord high keeper of the knowledge of right and wrong, counselor in moments of high temptation, and guide along the straight and narrow path. Arise, Sir Jiminy Cricket." It seemed appropriate that Pinocchio's father should be Jiminy.

"Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy."
-The Blue Fairy

Our costumes were pretty easy. I had made Jacob's pants a couple years ago for a 20's costume party and he already owned the socks, shirt, tie, and sweater. I sewed a very basic yellow vest (since it wouldn't show much) and hot glued some yellow ribbon on a blue top hat I bought at a Halloween store. I still had this amazing blue dress that I found at DI for a 70's party years ago. I knew it would come in handy again and I'm sure glad I held onto it. I bought the wings on clearance at Joann Fabrics and just added a blue headband.

"What are conscience! I'll tell ya! A conscience is that still, small voice that people
won't listen to. That's just the trouble with the world today..." -Jiminy Cricket

Everything came together so well! Pinocchio is a classic character, but not done very often. And it sure made a cute costume for my happy little guy!


Curious to know what we're doing for Halloween this year? I've got something great up my sleeve, so stay tuned to find out what happens!

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