Ghostbusters Proton Pack DIY

Yes, yes, yes. It has been over 2 years since my last post. I can bore you with all the "I've been really busy" excuses or I can just get on an get blogging again.
Its Halloween in 4 days! Yay!
The Jnr Giggleberrys decided just last Saturday that they would like to dress as the Ghostbusters for Trick or Treating. They asked two of their cousins to join us to make the awesome foursome complete and got a big fat YES in reply. So decision was made now over to me apparently to make that all come together!!
I work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday so haven't had a chance to do much more about the costumes besides a bit of Pinterest hunting until today. Today was the day I got stuck into it.... Starting with the Proton Packs!! You know, those backpack things the ghostbusters all carry to blast/suck up/kill/collect ghosts with?
To make four of them on the cheap took a bit of out of the square thinking but I got there.
I started with 4 empty cardboard boxes. These were all different shapes and sizes but I figure so are the kids so go with it! I then poked black elastic though one side of the box to create backpack 'straps' for the kids arms and taped the boxes shut.

Next up - raid your recycling bin!! Go nuts! Look for smaller containers, yoghurt tubs, bottle lids etc etc. I then rifled through the 'everything draw' in our kitchen. You know the one that has everything in it and is a complete mess?(or is that just my household) in that bottomless pit draw I found bolts, plastic thinga-ma-jiggys and an old spiral bound note book that I stole the spiral from!

Now arrange the bits and pieces on your box until you are happy with the layout then hot glue it all down. I had to make four so tried to make them as similar to each other as possible with the bits and bobs I had gathered.
This is when I decided to add the tube thing on the side that will join to the 'gun' the ghostbusters hold. This was just light plastic tubing I bought from a hardware store. I guess ducting would work too.
I cut a small hole in the side of each box and poked the tubing in. I didn't bother glueing it but you could if you wanted to.

Spray paint them black. I picked Matte Black paint for this.

Then with your hot glue gun again, stick on a few coloured 'wires' I used some craft piping stuff I had lying around. I also stuck on some round red sparkle stickers to look a little like lights.....

I bought 4 super cheap guns from the $2 shop. All black ones. The shop had three of one style so I had to get a forth that is little different. No biggie. Out came the trusty hot glue gun again and I half glued, half jammed the end of the gun into the other end of the tubing until it would not budge. No real trick to this just go nuts.....
Ta Dah!! Four homemade Proton Packs - DONE!

Now I have 3 days to get four outfits made on the cheap..... but thats another blog post!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Book Week!

I love a good excuse to create a costume so Book Week for me can't come around fast enough! I fondly remember the characters I went to school as many years ago and I got rather excited when Little Miss Giggleberry bought home a note a few weeks agao letting us know they too were to dress up as a character from a book.
We had a flick through our book shelves and narrowed costume choices down to either Cruella DeVille (from 101 Dalmatians) or Mary Poppins. (I have to be honest I was hoping and pushing for Grug but had not even the hint of a yes on that one. Maybe Master Giggleberry will say yes to that one in a few years time).
Mary Poppins won the vote and so I got to digging through the cupboards.
One white button up shirt - Check. I just sewed a ruffled ribbon to the front to give it a 'Victorian look'
One black skirt - Check.
Black tights - Check.
Black shoes - Check.
Some red ribbon for the belt and neck tie - Check.
Black Umbrella - Check. You could get a little more creative and make a parrot head to attach to the handle too.
Pattern bag to look like Mary's magic carpet bag - Check.
We were on a roll! I dashed out one late Thursday night and spent the total of $6 buying a white gloves, a black hat, some fake flowers and cherries. My hot glue gun made short work of it all and Mary Poppins was complete!

My little Mary Poppins was very pleased and looked the part, if I do say so myself!

She even won best dressed in Kindergarten at todays Book Week parade!

Princess Dress-Up Aprons!

Just 3 nights ago I had a wave of creativity hit me while sitting at the sewing machine and before I knew it I had a Snow White Dress-Up Apron made for Milla's dress-up box.

I thought it was so cute that I sat right back down and made another... this time Rapunzel

I called it a night and went to bed but my creativity was re-sparked when Milla's saw her new 'dresses' in the morning. She LOVED them and couldn't decide which one to wear first. So with a bit more of a dig through my fabric stash to see what I could rustle up I then made Sleeping Beauty

The Little Mermaid (she was my fav as a little girl)

Belle

And Cinderella (use you imagination for this one it was the only pale blue fabric I had in my cupboard)

I shared these as I went on my Instagram and with family and had such a great response that I have decided to make and sell them for a VERY limited time only.

They are so easy to pull on and off for kids with no full outfit change!!!
The perfect handmade Christmas gift? or a cute Halloween costume? email me now at giggleberrycreations@gmail.com to place your order now.... maybe I haven't got your fav princess made yet? email me and I can see what I can come up with :)