Today I looked in my mailbox, and what to my wondering eyes should appear ... the November/December issue of Canticle, three weeks early! (Wow.)
So, in case there are any hyper-efficient souls who will read my column and go looking for the gingerbread house recipe right away, here it is!
Now ... do any of you have clever ideas for "Hero" costumes for parties at the end of THIS month? Blessings...
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A quick, fast, cheap 'hero' costume:
The shiny-dot fabric sold at Walmarts and fabric stores (usually about $6.00/yd) One yard will make two 'chain mail' armor coats.
1) cut the selvege ends off in one long strip. These two strips will serve as belts for swords.
2) fold the fabric in half lengthwise and cut down the middle to make two yard-long pieces.
3) Fold each length over 'top to bottom' (rather than from cut off selvege side to former middle side)
4) Use a Tshirt as a measurement to cut an opening at the top. You do not want this opening to be too big - better to cut it a bit small at first than too big. It should be big enough to slip the child's head in, but not have the 'chain mail' dangle at the shoulders.
It will look like a kind of rectangular poncho. The belt will keep it looking more like armor, and give the child a place to put a sword.
Smaller kids use less fabric, of course. Measure your child from mid thigh in front, to mid thigh in back to get the amount you'll need and trim it to fit.
My kids have used the gold for "kingly" costumes, the silver to be knights, and the bluey-holographic to be elves aka The Lord of the Rings.
If you are feeling real ambitious, buy a little more and make a hood using a sweatshirt jacket hood as a pattern and pin it under the chin. A crown on top of a hood, if left open under the chin, makes it look very kingly.
This fabric doesn't fray, so you don't have to sew the jacket, a hood would be sewn just in the back for the head.
For Saints, you can get: Joan of Arc, St Louis, St Martin & St Michael the Archangel.
We have a number of these around here and the kids play with them all year.
A wooden paint stir, found at hardware shops and basements everywhere, can have a foam rectangle cut out and inserted over the handle (as a hand-guard) and makes a dandy short sword for a little guy.
Thanks Heidi, I am fed up with these crazy people. I had to let it all out, and then I felt better.....Thanks for viewing my blog. I love your ideas.
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