A Costume for Charly -- new picture book that introduces the fluidity of gender

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Gender identity is a hard concept for some to understand (and to accept). I know many people in my own generation and the generation before mine that struggle with it. I also imagine it could be a hard thing for young children to truly understand. Today I am sharing a new picture book that features a nonbinary character who is struggling to find a Halloween costume that truly expresses themself. The book is A Costume for Charly by C. K. Malone and illustrated by Alejandra Barajas. It is recommended for ages 4 to 12.

Halloween Costumes from the 1950's Era

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Can you believe fall is already coming? Schools are back in session and the weather is already turning here. I know Halloween always sneaks up on us once school starts. I am always thankful to Oriental Trading for getting our minds focused on what costume Hazel wants. This year she has been into her American Girl dolls and in particular in the Beforever dolls. She loves Maryellen's poodle skirt. She saved her money and bought the doll outfit and crinoline. She does not have Maryellen, but dressed one of her favorite dolls, Chrysanthemum, in it.

Non-Scary Halloween Part 2 -- Non-Scary Costumes

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Yesterday I shared some great products from Oriental Trading for a Peanuts themed Halloween party, non-food treats and a few dress-up accessories. Today I get to share Hazel's costume and some other great costume ideas and fun. Now Hazel spent quite a bit of time going through the available costumes at Oriental Trading. Being the sensitive child she is she does not want anything remotely scary. She got it down between two options the Mystical Genie Girls Halloween Costume and the Southern Belle Girls Halloween Costume. She finally decided on the Mystical Genie Costume. We had just seen Aladdin live at the theatre and the version had a female genie who was dressed pretty similarly. (She did ask for the Southern Belle Costume for Christmas from my mother-in-law and I ordered it for her.)

Non-Scary Halloween Part 1 -- Peanuts Party, Teal Pumpkin & More

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

It is October and this is Hazel's least favorite month. Many of the Halloween decorations and costumes scare her. In fact there are only a few stores she will go into with me this time of year. Yes, just seeing the Halloween displays can give her nightmares. But she does love to dress-up and loves to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood, so I always try to find a friendly way to celebrate Halloween. Last year we did a Christian Halloween party. This year Hazel discovered Snoopy and the Peanuts gang so thanks to Oriental Trading we are hosting a Peanuts themed Halloween party. 

Exploring Purim -- Jewish Holiday

Costume parades in the spring? What is going on? Halloween is in October and not in the spring. Well for many Jewish people costume parades and wearing costumes to synagogue in the spring (usually in March) is common. Why? Well they are celebrating a holiday called Purim. Purim is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month of Adar. The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar so it changes from our days and months each year. It is a joyous holiday with much celebration. Why do they celebrate? To remember how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people in Persia around 500 B.C. Now Esther's story is a book in the Old Testament of our Bible as well and Queen Esther happens to be Hazel's favorite woman in the Bible. We know her story well and really wish we celebrated Purim as well. In fact she dressed up as Queen Esther for our Christian Halloween Party. 

Sharing Saturday 15-42

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! Once again I was blown away by the great ideas shared!!  Remember the features are just a sampling of the things shared so if you did not get a chance to check them all out, go back and be inspired! This week's features' themes are Pumpkins, Day of the Dead and Costumes and Scavenger Hunts and Fairy Races. Also a side note that last week I started another link party on Saturday night for crafts for any age person called Crafty Weekends. Our second party will be tomorrow night. Stop by to share your crafts, patterns, reviews of craft books, etc. And don't forget to share all things pumpkins (crafts, recipes, lessons, etc.) at my Pumpkin Link Party!

Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party -- Book Review & Costume

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me an advance copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you discovered The Princess in Black yet? I wrote about our discovery of this amazing series back in July. Hazel chose The Princess in Black as her prize for finishing the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program. It had been a tough choice, but she was really glad with the outcome!! This became one of her favorite books ever. Then we discovered that a new Princess in Black book was coming out October 13th and from Candlewick Press--one of our favorite publishers. I asked for a review copy and they sent it right away. Can I tell you how excited Hazel was to have the second book in the series months early? Oh, my, she has been telling everyone about it. Anyway, today we are sharing The Princess in Black and The Perfect Princess Party by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 

Ladybug Girl Themed Birthday Party Ideas

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you discovered Ladybug Girl yet? Lulu loves to dress like a ladybug and she turns into Ladybug Girl--a brave girl who can do anything. She and her dog Bingo go on all sorts of adventures and learn many lessons along the way. Ladybug Girl is a series of books written by Jacky Davis and illustrated by David Soman. There are picture books, board books and easy readers as well as a few sticker/activity books and gift sets. We were sent the board book, Ladybug Girl Ready for Snow to review and for inspiration for a birthday party. (Penguin Kids challenged me and anyone else who wants to join to come up with some ideas for book-themed birthday parties and create Pinterest Boards for them.)

 Now I will admit I did receive an apology for being sent this one with all the snow Massachusetts got this year. Hazel however enjoyed the book. It is very simple and perfect for the younger set. I find it hard to believe a mother would let a child wear a tutu over her snowpants let alone wings and antennae, but it is a book, so we will go with it. The book is about Lulu and Bingo going to play in the snow. 

Halloween Round Up

It is hard to believe tomorrow is Halloween. This year is the first year except for Hazel's first Halloween that she will be wearing a costume that I did not sew. She is going to be a kangaroo and where the Kigs Kigurumis Kangaroo Outfit that I reviewed last December. I am not sure if the joey is going to come trick-or-treating or if it will be just Ducky.

Kigs Kigurumis Costume Review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Kigs. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I get to share with you a wonderful product. Rizzi from Kigs asked me if I would be interested in reviewing one of their children's costumes. When I saw how cute they were I knew I had to do it. I showed Hazel the choices of all the kids costumes. I figured for her to get full use; I should let her pick. She decided she liked the kangaroo outfit the best because it comes with the baby kangaroo. I liked the blue owl, but I couldn't persuade her. Her second choice was the pink rabbit--not a big surprise there. 

Hazel could not wait for it to arrive. When it finally came, she was so excited to try it on. She put it right on and did not want to take it off. She was excited to realize Ducky could fit in the pouch with the baby kangaroo. I got her to take it off to eat dinner so she would not get it dirty. The next night however she insisted on wearing it to the Chinese restaurant for dinner. I had to wash it after that since there was some fried rice in the pouch. She discovered the next day the button to keep the baby in the pouch. Sorry I did not get any pictures with it buttoned in. The first night we discovered the zippered pockets. Something Hazel loves!! You can see the zipper in the picture below.

She has loved this costume. I think I have convinced her to be a kangaroo for the next Halloween which will mean no sewing for me!! The costume is made of fleece and is nice and comfortable and warm. They come in one size for children, and they have an adult size as well. The best part of these for Halloween is clothes can be worn underneath them and Hazel could probably even get a jacket if it is cold and have the costume over it. This has been one of the dress up items she has worn the most and kept on the longest. 

A few days later we went to the zoo to see what they call Zoo Lights, and she wanted to wear her kangaroo costume. I let her, but with the snow and mud (since the snow was melting) she got it all dirty, so I washed it again. The tag says to handwash and not to tumble dry, but since it was fleece, I threw it into the washer (without checking the tag) and the drier on low and had no problems either time. It came out beautifully.

Baby Kangaroo is inside the jacket staying warm!

With the ease of wearing it and the obvious comfort since she keeps it on and puts it on herself, I can highly recommend this product. Hazel absolutely loves hers. So stop by and check out Kigs, and you can purchase the children's costumes for $54.99 with free shipping in the U.S. here. 

I would love to know which ones you prefer!! Enjoy!!

Minnie Mouse

Today we went to a Minnie Mouse birthday party. The party was for the daughter of Hazel's godparents. She turned two and LOVES Minnie. I figured Hazel should have the right clothes for it. I saw on A Girl and a Glue Gun this adorable shirt and on Disney Family the tutorial for the Minnie ears (and Mickey ears).

We had a red child's t-shirt, so I made the Minnie face black. I took the pattern for this Mickey tote bag and blew it up until it was the size I wanted it. I used my machine and zig zagged it on without worrying about finishing the edges and then added a red polka dot bow. She wore her red tutu since I didn't get around to making her a skirt like I had planned.

Then the ears are very easy. They provide you a pattern and you make them with a headband, glue and felt. I added some cardboard to try to stiffen them a bit more. They still need some more stiffening, but they worked for the short time she wore them. The party was outside so she had her Minnie Mouse sunhat on most of the time. Needless to say her outfit was a hit at the party. Oh she also had on her Minnie shoes that her grandmother bought for her at Target to finish off the outfit. Here are some other ears I made as well.

Another Turkey & Winners!

First some announcements:

The winner of the Best Halloween Costume is: Sarah from Happy Lil Lamont with her daughter's beautiful flamingo costume!

The winner of the Melissa & Doug Big Rig Building Truck Play Set is Shannon F. Congratulations, Shannon!! You have three days to email me your address! Please check out Melissa & Doug's Terrific 20 List! Melissa & Doug are giving away a toy from this list every day on their Facebook page!! Plus some of the other blog's contests are still going on. There is a list at the bottom of my contest post of the other ones.

Today I thank God for not having to be in Hazel's picture with Santa Claus this year! (She even had a conversation with him on her own!!)

The other day I was poking around Pinterest and found this great turkey suncatcher from Learn Create Love. Learn Create Love even provides the printable for the turkey. I did mine a bit different however. I used contact paper and put the sticky side up over the pattern and had Hazel stick on fall colors of tissue paper squares over the pattern. Then I cut out a body from brown construction paper. We sealed the tissue paper by folding the contact paper over it. Then I cut out the tail part of the pattern from it. I glued the head/body on and added the face details.

A very easy, quick Thanksgiving craft.

Best Halloween Costume Contest

Ok, so I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun to share our kids' (or our own) Halloween costumes and pick our favorites. So here it is!

Button Code:

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/2012/10/best-halloween-costume-contest.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/resizedHalloweencontest.jpg" border="0" alt="resized Halloween contest"width="125" /></a>

All you have to do is link up the costume you want to enter. If you do not have a blog or a post with the picture you can use either your blog address or Crafty Moms Share for the address and then upload a picture from your computer! You can enter more than one (and they can be from the same post). Enter each costume separately. Then display the button on your blog either in the post or somewhere else and ask people to come vote for their favorite costume. The winner will get a homemade felt bat. We will follow my Giveaway Rules, however this is open internationally. A winner will be announced on November 15th!