Halloween 2014- The Year of the Sushi Roll

Presenting: the sushi roll, Kikkoman soy sauce packet, and sushi chef:

It was really hard to convince my family that this theme was a good idea. I figure we can do Disney themes and more classic costumes in future years, but if I want to do something unique and cool, I better do it this year!  I did feel a little bit bad when Tatum saw a million Elsas and other princesses out and about on Halloween, so maybe I'll let her dress up like a regular girl next year.  I mean, lobster, oompa loompa, and sushi roll... the girl has quite the record!

My budget for Halloween costumes is a strict $20.  And I spent $15!!  Here is the breakdown of supplies:

Sushi: 

-Cardboard backing (dumpster recycling bin = free)

-2 nu-foam bumper pads (leftover = free) around the body and as rice.  These take forever + 1/2 to cut out.

-Thin batting + paint + poly fill (craft box = free -- turns out i have a lot of supplies on hand...) I cut and drew each of these first, then painted, then sewed them, stuffed them with filling and sewing the opening shut.  Hot glue all rice and center fish/veggies on.  Ideally, I'd liked to have had a brighter green for the avacado, but it wasn't worth the commute to Michaels just for one paint bottle... Also, I wasn't initially going to include salmon, but it is a dead giveaway fish and I didn't want confusion about what the costume is.

-duct tape-- $3.80  This worked perfectly because it has full coverage, and has the striations that a sushi wrapper has!  I sewed 2 bumper pads perpendicularly to the batting on top of the cardboard.  Then  cut out the head and arm holes, then tape everything really well.  

-Felt for hat and wasabi candy bag- $.66.  Pretty cheap.

Scott's costume is kind of why I decided to go with this theme in general.  We bought this chef coat for the lobster costume 2 years ago, and I wanted to reuse it.  So I paid $3.04 for half a yard of this "I am Ninja" print by Robert Kauffman. Scott said he wouldn't wear Chinese characters he didn't know the meaning of out into the streets of Manhattan, so luckily a few Chinese friends from school texted back quickly assuring him that his headband does say "Ninja." This was an easy, warm-ish costume that kept Scott comfortable and happy all night!

Kikkoman Soy Sauce Packet:

Originally I ordered 2 yards black felt to make a soy sauce bottle costume.  Once I got it, I realized I needed a punchier color and that the packet shape would be a lot easier to wear.  So with fabric.coms free shipping/free returns policy, I emailed in to return the fabric and the store basically said it wasn't worth it for them to pay to ship back, so they refunded me the $10.40 and told me to keep the fabric anyway, or "donate it to a local sewing guild."  So then I ordered 1.5 yards of red felt for $7.80 and just sewed up the sides and cut pointed on the ends.  Easy peasy.  The answer to easy Halloween costumes is to use felt because you don't have to hem anything, just cut!!  I found a high-res logo online, and blew that up even more, going over it in black sharpie to even out the pixels.  The label is just good black ink on regular printer paper, taped and cut into place.  I ended up mounting it on some back felt since I had it on hand ;) 

Scott's favorite part was jabbing the chopsticks in my bun on the train.  

Chopsticks were free courtesy of King's Wok Chinese Take Out!

People loved our costumes.  We probably had 15 people stop us for pictures, and by the end of the night, Tatum was so used to getting compliments that even if someone said "excuse me?" she would turn around saying "Thank you!" 

We also had our friend Dianne come trick or treating with us, her costume did not disappoint! Well done Dianne!  A crowd pleaser for sure!!

We love going to Trinity Church on Wall Street for Trick or Treating in the graveyard.  There is apple cider and snacks, a photo booth, and a historical questionnaire to fill out as you walk through the graveyard.  This year was even better than last because in addition to the questionnaire, they had 2-3 drama club members at various headstones, acting out a 1-2 minute drama that answered each question.  At the end of their performance they'd hand out the candy.  Tatum loved their theatrics and it made it interesting for us too! This is an exceptionally private candy stop, but the graveyard really isn't too crowded which is really nice and refreshing for NYC!

After that we headed in the church and saw a bit of Phantom of the Opera (silent movie) with the organist practicing in the background. Verrry Halloweeny! Tatum can't really sit in her costume, or pick up candy or basically do anything besides walk... poor thing!  I made her an alternate lady bug costume for her kid game party earlier Halloween morning in Central park, and her stroller-treating activity earlier that week.  She loved both her costumes and was overwhelmed by "LOTSA COSTUMES MAMA!!!"

If I lived out of town, I would really consider visiting NYC for Halloween.  This is the best activity for toddlers!!

We were still having fun after the cemetery, so we hopped off the subway on the Upper West Side and trick or treated some shops along Broadway (The New York way) like Banana Republic, a home decor store, this nail salon and places of the like.  This lady at the nail salon LOVED Tatum and Scott guesses she gave T about 15 pieces of candy.  She adored the sushi roll!  T would just take a candy, turn around and show us with glee and then go back and back for more!

Then we hit a few brownstones, but they were so crowded it was hard to navigate. But it was elaborate and unique and fun to do for a little bit.

And this girl got unlimited candy on Halloween.  The days since have been a great trial with rationed candy, but she sure had fun loading up when she could!

We came home and had a few more friends join us for a "Party Night."  Tatum asks us every night if we can have a Party Night, so Friday she was really thrilled to have a true party.  She carried in all the snacks to the living room, greeted each guest at the door, handed out glow sticks and turned out the lights and even busted a few dance moves.  She is such a gem and so fun to party with!  We watched Hocus Pocus and had some good laughs with some good friends.  

And now it is November and 40 degrees.  

Happy Halloween!!