Here is my "grand-niece" (that makes me sound old!) sporting one of two Halloween costumes...Serenity is 13 months old and looked lovely as a bumblebee!
The kids were excited to 'hit the road' on Halloween night. We were in Iowa, visiting my family, so they got to trick or treat with 2nd cousin Serenity (this time dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid) and their cousin Joel (dressed as Dracula...with a matching dog!).
This year, being frugal and attempting to be craftsy, I decided to make use of what we had to make costumes for the kids. Juancho had said he wanted to be a dog, and Laura had said she wanted to be a cat. Seemed only fitting that Angie should go as a mouse. Thankfully she embraced the idea! Last year we had Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and...a penguin. The three didn't exactly go together...but this year they did!
Angie, our cute little mouse. She had a gray sweatsuit with a hood, so I found a gray sweatshirt that had seen better days and cut it up to make her ears and tail. I sewed her ears onto the hoodie with a loose stitch so it could be cut out later, and tacked them back with safety pins so they weren't flopping all over. Her tail was safety pin to the inside of the backside of her pants. The costume was topped off with some face paint and pink gloves. She was mistaken for a bunny or a cat on a couple of occasions, but she didn't hesitate to set people straight..."I'm a MOUSE!"
Laura's cat costume was made similarly. We bought a velvety black hoodie at the Salvation Army for $1.50, and I took some old black fabric and sewed cat ears, reinforced inside with cardboard, and detail added outside with fabric from an old pink t-shirt (also used on Angie's mousy ears). Her tail was one of Robert's black socks with no matching pair...I sewed it thinner and stuffed it with stuffing from an old pillow (all the tails were stuffed with that old stuffing...). She had on black tights, black leggings and a cute velvety black skirt (purchased from the Salvation Army for less than a buck). Face paint finished it off, along with $1 black gloves from Target.
Juancho wanted to be a dog, so I bought an oversized brown turtleneck from Salvation Army for a dollar, then found an old lighter brown t-shirt that was going to Goodwill anyway and cut out spots from that. I sewed the spots onto the turtleneck and sewed the ends of the sleeves closed into a paw-style...built in mittens! He wore brown cords I traded some of his old clothes for at Once Upon a Child...free! His doggie ears were made from Robert's old socks, pinned to a stocking cap. His tail was made from the same old t-shirt used to cut the spots, sewed closed, stuffed with pillow stuffing and safety pinned to the back of his pants. He loves this tail so much that he continues to safety pin it to the back of every pair of pajama pants he wears. Reminds me of "Where the Wild Things Are". His face was painted, complete with doggie tongue hanging out! 
Laura's cat costume was made similarly. We bought a velvety black hoodie at the Salvation Army for $1.50, and I took some old black fabric and sewed cat ears, reinforced inside with cardboard, and detail added outside with fabric from an old pink t-shirt (also used on Angie's mousy ears). Her tail was one of Robert's black socks with no matching pair...I sewed it thinner and stuffed it with stuffing from an old pillow (all the tails were stuffed with that old stuffing...). She had on black tights, black leggings and a cute velvety black skirt (purchased from the Salvation Army for less than a buck). Face paint finished it off, along with $1 black gloves from Target.
Juancho wanted to be a dog, so I bought an oversized brown turtleneck from Salvation Army for a dollar, then found an old lighter brown t-shirt that was going to Goodwill anyway and cut out spots from that. I sewed the spots onto the turtleneck and sewed the ends of the sleeves closed into a paw-style...built in mittens! He wore brown cords I traded some of his old clothes for at Once Upon a Child...free! His doggie ears were made from Robert's old socks, pinned to a stocking cap. His tail was made from the same old t-shirt used to cut the spots, sewed closed, stuffed with pillow stuffing and safety pinned to the back of his pants. He loves this tail so much that he continues to safety pin it to the back of every pair of pajama pants he wears. Reminds me of "Where the Wild Things Are". His face was painted, complete with doggie tongue hanging out! 
We had a great Halloween and I was reminded of what I knew as a child...homemade costumes are the best!
50 yard dash went by in a...flash! John crossed the finish line milli-seconds after the winner...so John got his first 2nd place! I wanted to take a picture of him right there on the finish line, but in a split second decision (after he realized that the entire 5th grade population was just feet away from him), he said "no Mom, that's embarrassing!" Later I was able to snap this unsuspecting pic! The red wristbands indicate a 2nd place win, and the white wristband indicates 'participation' (meaning he didn't get 1st or 2nd prize on that event).
The other event he got 2nd in was the ball kick. The competition was to kick a kickball the farthest. John's went off center...if it had been a straight kick I think he would have easily gotten first! (spoken by a true proud mama, huh?)
