Birthday Treats and Halloween Sewing

I made cake pops to take to my son's class for his 9th birthday. I had never made them before but we had tasted them and both liked them so I gave it a try. Rather messy mixing and shaping, but they turned out really cute. It is my own design. Some of the kids thought they were "angry birds" which I had never heard of so that isn't what they were intended to be. I told them they were "friendly" birds. The tail and beak are candy corns and the eyes were premade sugar candy eyes. The kids were almost afraid to eat them and some wanted to take them home to show their moms. They all ended up eating them though and they were very well liked.

Once again a costume was required for the now 9-year old son. My usual MO is to search the house for items that can be "adapted" instead of starting from scratch for a costume. This year I laid eyes on the long stuffed tube I had made for my son a number of years ago to wrap into a coil and sit in or lean against. I quickly stitched up a head and tail to stuff and attach to the ends of the already made stuffed tube. I put eyes and a forked tongue (maybe not truly python-like, but a hit with the 9-year old) on it and made a python. I attached the head part to an old adult size t-shirt so it would be positioned over his shoulder and I wouldn't have to pin it every time he put it on. We wrapped the body around him and strapped coils up by wrapping them with ties that went over his shoulders. I put a "safari" hat on him and a pair of toy binoculars and he was transformed into a National Geographic explorer having a bad day! The costume was a hit! It did require a number of gyrations for both of us to get it off and on him each time, but once he had it on there didn't seem to be any problems for him and actually in the trick-or-treating crowds it acted as a sort of bumper protecting him from harm!!

Although I spend a lot of time making sure my art pieces are well made and sturdy, when I make a costume I use large stitches and safety pins, and I don't worry much about raw edges and other imperfections. It is only for a couple of days of wear so for me comfort is the key requirement, not quality. A good idea creatively executed that the kid will wear without complaint is a success!
Here I am helping him put it on at his class party:

And here he is with the complete outfit:

We went to a neighborhood where there must have been hundreds of kids trick-or-treating because most of the houses decorate and prepare for the masses (although we were late getting started and many ran out before we got there and had their lights off already!). One house we went to told my son that his was the best costume she had seen all night and had to bring her son to the door to show him. He had lots of other comments about his costume which wasn't surprising since the crowds are full of ninjas and witches and other purchased costumes so anything homemade is unique. Another successful Halloween and a happy 9-year old trick-or-treater!