Saturday, October 18, 2008

Owl


Allison had been reading the Guardians of Ga'hoole series, so was very into owls. Not only did she want to be an owl for Halloween, but she came to me with a drawing of exactly what she wanted, obviously having more faith in my creative abilities than is strictly warranted. She had fairly detailed specs for the wings, so we went shopping for the right fabric, and I did my best to reproduce what she wanted, stuffing them with the last of the batting. I actually thought they came out rather well. I added elastic to hold them to the forearms, and just safety-pinned them at the shoulders. The brown sweatshirt is one I've had for years and hardly ever worn, but kept because I felt sure it could be turned into a Halloween costume one day, so I was very excited to be able to use it finally! I twisted wire from a coat hanger into a heart shape, and threaded it through the space for the hood tie, so the owl could have a heart-shaped face like a barn owl. I thought this was a brilliant touch, but sadly it was overly subtle and lost on most people! I found the pair of big yellow socks at a yard sale and cut the ends off so they could become legs. Do owls have yellow legs? Well, probably not, but that's what I found. The beak was orange felt glued onto cardboard, but Allison didn't like it and ended up ditching it. I admit, she wasn't immediately recognizable as an owl. At school, someone asked her if she was a turkey. Oh well, I did my best.


I dressed as a witch to accompany the kids. The only thing hand-made about my costume was the broomstick, but at least everything I wore was something I already owned.

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