All throughout September, and for the first 2 weeks of October, my kids insisted that they wanted to wear last year’s Halloween costumes again this year. Then, kids being kids, when there were only two weeks left until Halloween and I had a dozen other projects to complete they changed their minds. My 6 year old decided that he really wanted to be Baba Yaga’s house for Halloween, and my 9 year old decided she wanted to be Baba Yaga. We had most of the things needed for a Baba Yaga costume in the dress up bin, so I made some salt dough for my daughter to make herself a bone necklace to accessorize her outfit and her costume was done. The 6 year old’s costume was another story.
To make the Baba Yaga’s house costume, I started with the house part. I found a big cardboard box, cut a hole in the bottom for my son’s legs, cut out a door and a window (to see through), and added elastic straps in a square across the top to hold it in place on his shoulders. Then I added some cardboard to the top flaps to make the roof. Once I had the shape right, I broke out the hot glue gun. I painted a bunch of brown cardstock to look more like woodgrain and cut it into strips. Then I glued them, overlapping slightly, to cover the house. I used corn husks for the shingles. Lastly, I added a button doorknob with a handle on the inside so that my so can open and close it.
Next up, chicken legs. I bought a pair of orangish pants from the thrift store and hand painted a scale pattern all over them with yellow acrylic paint (annoyingly none of my fabric paint or pens would show up on the orange). I still needed the feathers at the top of the legs, but my son wanted the pants to stay feather free so he could wear them year round, so I made a loose pair of muslin shorts to go over the top. Then I cut out hundreds of feather shapes and sewed them all on by hand. It took forever. This is the second costume I have made with feathers, and everytime I say “never again”. Maybe this time I’ll listen to myself. Last step, feet. I found some yellowish cotton fabric in my scrap pile, made a Velcro on cuff to go around the ankles , and sewed some toes on. Finished! And just in time.
Thank you everyone! I appreciate all the kind words.
We decided to stay home and hand out treats rather than trick or treating ourselves this year (my kids get overwhelmed by all the crowds of people trick or treating).The kids stood out at the end of our drive and we gave trick or treaters a choice…they could either choose one treat from Baba Yaga’s cauldron, or get a mystery from Baba Yaga’s house. If they chose the mystery (and lots did) my son would open the door and drop a random treat in their hand. We mostly gave out small toys that the kids were done with. It was a huge hit and people were talking about it and bringing friends back to experience the mystery house. Only a few people were familiar with the Baba Yaga stories, but everyone enjoyed the costumes nonetheless.
