Project: Batman Costume

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Too bad it's only one day. You spend so much money on a costume and you only get to use it for a few hours. Sometimes, you'd rather just spend a little less and make your own. It's way more fun and rewarding anyways.



Kind of cute. But, kind of silly. I couldn't let Jaden go out like that. SooOOOooooo..... I had to make one for him!

Starts out with excersise mats. $8 for 4 sheets. I ended up using half a sheet. That means this costume would only be $1!

Dremel Tool drilled out the foam.

A heat gun to soften the foam, shape and hold.


I used a ball to shape some more foam to make the shoulder pads.

Super Glue the parts together.


In the end, I glued the breastplate and shoulder pads onto a small black t-shirt. And added a utility belt too. Cut a piece of black fabric for the cape. Sewed an elastic band around the neck of the cape. $3 mask from Walmart.

Now, Jaden is BUFF! He can literally take a punch in the gut and won't even feel it. BONUS: He won't look like the other 30 batmans out there!


Belt in pic. Missing is the arm guards. To be made soon.. for halloween!

Project: Batgirl Costume

At the department store checking out what to get for Halloween this year for Persephanie. Batgirl was the one since Jaden was Batman. It only made sense. Upon closer inspection though, this $30 costume was pretty cheaply made. IMHO, not worth the $30. Then a "Hey, I can do that for cheap, but BETTER!" moment rang in.

Challenge was set.

We had to go with the 1966's version of Batgirl (one with Yvonne Craig). No way we were going with Alicia Silverstone version.. Batman and Robin SUCKED. You can't go wrong with classics.



Here's how we did it:
$10 Fabric (Fabricana)
$7 hat (Michael's)
$2 mask (Diaso)
$3 yellow foam sheets (Michael's)

Started with paper templates. Pinning template down onto fabric in preparation for the sewing machine.

Broke out the sewing machine. Both Lina and I are truely amateur sewists (is that even a word?) We learn as we go.



Of course there's the infamous utility belt. The store-bought version had this cloth "belt" that pretty much had all the goods printed on it! So cheap. I KNOW we could do better. And have fun making one.

From Left to Right: Batarang, Utility pocket (it holds her change of outfit. There's her "Barbara Gordon" librarian uniform in there), Smoke pellets for that fast get-away, Bat-belt buckle, a vile of universal anitidote (bubbles from a candy store), Bat-Shurikens, Bat-cuffs.

The mask. Was a tricky one. Originally started out by making a wireframe of Sephie's head then paper mache it over. Got complicated.. then trashed that idea. Went out and found a nice felt cap from Michael's. Still had to cut to fit her head. The mask part was from a full mask. A generic one found at Daiso for a couple of bucks. Cut and glued together. Spray glued the same colored fabric over the entire mask. Then for some detail, added ears and white foam sheets behind the eyes to make them pop out a bit more.

The boots were a hand-me-down. Perfect color! Same purple/yellow scheme we were going for! Just need to add a touch of Batgirl-ness to it. And we're done!

Finish off the ensemble with batgirl arm guards/spikes. Made from more yellow foam sheets and glue. Velcro for belt, cape and shirt.


The obligatory Hero pose!


Before vs. After

Sephie's Birthday tradtions

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving

The "not so" Great Pumpkin Patch

Gone back to our usual "Great Pumpkin Patch" that we had visited every fall with Persephanie. This year's harvest looked bleek. So sad.


So.. we hopped over to the farmer's market down the street.

Father's Day/Birthday cup: Finished product

Happy 35th month Birthday, Ms. Cricket!

Still milking this...but, as you can see.. the quality is dwindling. Well.. next month is a big one! So, I'm sure it'll be all made up. Actually, Sephie never even enjoyed this "cake" as she was having a hissy fit and was banned from the 'party'. Last month for her "terrible two's", right?

Birthday/Father's Day Cup

A sequel to Mother's Day/Lina's birthday cup.. we have yet another ceramic cup to paint. Pickup is this Thursday! Can't wait..

Summer Reading Club 2010

At the start of the summer...

Names posted on windows at the library. Took me 1/2 hour to find her tag!! There were thousands to look through!

Graduation day!! Finished off the summer with a nice award ceremony. (I still feel like Lina and I earned this award... as we were the ones that read to her everyday.)

Pancakes served up by the local fire department. Big band, RCMP, clowns. Games, rainbow parachute with balls, and bubbles were part of the event. Big turnout.