HIT Halloween costumes

[Laurie Carter <lcarter@ISERVER.WOODSIDE.K12.CA.US>]

I thought of dressing like Miss Frizzle.  At fabric stores
there are a variety of prints that have items like dinosaurs, fish, ect.
and making a simple jumper.  My hair is not frizzy but that could be over
come by using a curling iron.  Linda
(Note- Scholastic Books on Tour bookfairs has a great Miss Frizzle Costume
that they lend out when you have their bookfair)


 You could be Amelia Bedelia.  Wear a black dress with a white apron
with pockets, a hat with an artificial flower.  Have a box of dusting
powder with a powder puff with which to "dust" the furniture.  I've done
this before and everyone liked it.
Nancy Pearson
Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School



At one of my two schools, we do a "book character day" instead of a
Halloween celebration. In most classes, the children are encouraged or
assigned to read a book(even if it is an old favorite) and the day of the
celebration (closest to Halloween if it is on a weekend) everyone dresses
as their character.  I have gone as simple and comfortable (not to
mention cheap)as possible.  Over the years I have done
--the wolf from the true story of the three pigs (your vest and stuff,
with wolf ears and nose added)
--Mrs Whatsit from Wrinkle in time (as you may recall, she wore a bunch
of castoffs in many layers--I raided my hubby's closet for rubber boots,
flannel shirts etc.)
--the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz  (again, my hubby's flannel shirt, his
overvalls, straw, straw hat...overdone stage makeup)
Mrs. Frizzle from the Magic Schoolbus series (I glued fabric fish onto a
bright pink dress that I didn't wear much and put fish on my
shoes--actually, the dress came out cute and still could be worn to
school as a normal outfit if I wanted)(Oh, God, what does that say about
me!!?!)

 Others I have considered for the future:
Mary Poppins (the thrift store should have a black blazer and I have a
black skirt the white blouse--a carpetbag and umbrella should do it)
Amelia Bedelia



You are so clever!  I once went as a Red Rose teabag.  Wish I could say it
was my idea, but it was borrowed.  I wore a red t-shirt and red pants.  I
had someone paint red roses on my cheeks. I then filled two drycleaner bags
with leaves, tied them on either side (at the shoulders) and slipped it over
my head like a sandwich board.  I made a Red Rose tea tag out of posterboard
and attached it with a string.



My *award winning* costume (our PR person at school has a costume contest
for faculty every Halloween) one year had nothing to do with libraries
but it was easy and fun.  I woke up on Halloween that year with a
terrible cold.  All I wanted to do was stay in my nightgown curled up in
bed. So I compromised.  I kept my flannel nightgown on, put on my robe
and slippers, stuffed my pockets with tissues and a hot water bottle, and
topped it off with red dots all over my face, drawn with a makeup
pencil.  No one else was dressed like me that day!
Other ideas I've done, White Castle waitress (do you have White Castles
out there?!), a louse (this was to follow up after a terrible outbreak at
our school all through September and October that year) - I rigged a
white sheet draped around me with Nix combs and boxes and a wig attached.
A teacher in our Lower School dresses at the Cat in the Hat every year
and gets raves: a black body suit, drawn on whiskers, and a commercially
bought red and white hat.

This year I may do a head on a plate:  find a box that will fit over your
shoulders.  Cut a hole in the bottom big enough for your head.  Drape a
small paper table cloth over the box and cut a hole for you head.  Then
*set the table* by glueing a plastic goblet, silverware, salad plate, and
napkin around the hole.  Then take a sturdy paper plate and cut a slit
and hole big enough to go around your neck.  Put the table over your head
and fit the plate collar around your neck, and voila, you are a head on
a plate!  The final touch is a name card at your setting with your name
politely and tastefully inscribed.  It's really very effective and will
get you lots of attention!
As you can tell, I really enjoy Halloween costuming and am always looking
for copiable ideas!  I'd appreciate any good ideas forwarded my way!
Thanks,
Anna Hartle



That was a great idea for a costume. One of my best costumes was a
library card. I bought some heavy white vinyl, used the opaque projector
and enlarged our card using permanent markers. I included the barcode and
any other information both on the front and on
the back and then stitched two straps for my shoulders and it simply hung
over me for the day (that way I could wear any outfit underneath).
Another year I took a white sweatsuit and with a black sharpie permanent
marker, I wrote an entire picture book (Homeplace by Crescent
Dragonwagon) from top to bottom. The year after that, I wore the book
costume again and made a tasselled book mark out of vinyl to hang over my
shoulders. It was about 18 inches wide and had big letters that spelled
READ glued down the center. I made a tassel out of yarn and attached it
to the top. All were a success. I hope you post a HIT on this idea with
enough time for us to use some of the creative ideas you receive. Thanks.


I bought the Folkmanis witch puppet for Halloween week. On Halloween Day, I
plan to dress as a black cat (black pants, black turtleneck, tail, ears,
drawn on whiskers) and carry the puppet so I'll be a witch and her cat.


Miss Frizzle or Viola Swamp are easy and fun


_Miss Nelson is Missing_ is a perennial hit for me and I always read (or
re-read) it to my students in the fall.  So in our school it made perfect
sense for me to appear as Miss Viola Swamp!  I could "act" the part and all
the students can remember the book (yes, I'm including the 8th graders too
:-)  ).

My only purchases were red and white striped socks - which I found as knee
socks, a long wig - parted in the center, and a hair net.  I simply grabbed
any black clothes I had.  The fun part was adding the beauty mark and
giving myself those silly lips!!!  Needlessly, I wore an old cover from a
paper addition of the book around my neck.

Try it.  And those socks will be noticed every time you wear them with your
jeans on winter dress-down days.


 Here's a three person idea: One year I dressed completely in blue, my
aide came in yellow, and my computer aide wore red. We carried around the
book _The Great Blueness_ but actually, everyone thought we were the
primary colors.


Laurie Carter- Librarian                        3195 Woodside Rd.
Woodside Elementary School                      Woodside, CA 94062
                    lcarter@woodside.K12.ca.us
"Minds are like parachutes.  They only function when open."