Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Help Needed!!

So I am in desperate need of a creative idea. Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday. We go all out on costumes for ALL of us. We stick to a theme. Needless to say, we are running out of ideas. Here is what we have been in years past:

  • different bugs and John and I were exterminators
  • different animals and John and I were farmers
  • classic monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, wolf man, mummy, bride of Frankenstein, witch
  • toy story
  • scooby-doo (one of my favorites!)
  • wizard of oz
  • Tarzan
  • little red riding hood
  • last year we were all zombies and John was Michael Jackson
  • cruella de vil and Dalmatians

So, I am stuck on what to do for this year. And with eight costumes, I need to get busy!!! I have a wonderful friend, Lisa, who helps me with the costumes. But, her daughter is getting married close to Halloween, so I really need to get planning! Here are my thoughts for this year:

  • snow white and the seven dwarfs
  • Brady bunch
  • Addams family (but, this is close to the classic monster theme)
  • fruit of the loom guys
  • super hero's

But nothing is feeling right. So, here is my challenge: help me come up with a theme for us for this years Halloween. Leave a comment and give me your best idea. Yes, this means even the stalkers!! If I end up using your idea, I will let you know and I will make sure you are adequately praised. (and rewarded!) Here is our dynamics: Husband, Wife, Daughter - 13, Son - 11, Son - 9, Daughter - 6, Son - 4, Daughter - 2. (Just in case you didn't know) And YES we all dress up. John is a good sport and goes along.

EDIT: So I have decided to make this so more people want to participate, I will give away a free apron to whomever's idea I use. This is not your ordinary apron.....It is homemade and darling! I will post a photo soon. However, the ideas need to be posted by Sunday night at midnight. Monday I will choose the winner. Be sure to participate PLEASE!! I need creative ideas.

51 comments:

Cammee said...

Hmmmm....I want a prize if I win. Like a baby quilt :)

The Wright's said...

I was totally thinking of Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs but here is my list. lol Star Wars, Bee's from the Bee Movie, referees and football players or coach, ref & players, Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elfs. You and John as cops and the kids, jail birds, katsup-mustard-mayo-miracle whip-pickles-A1-BarBQue Sauce-Heinz 57, The Flinstones, Pirates, Action Heros OK I AM DONE NOW!!! lol that was pretty fun to think of. I love Halloween too and it has made me think of doing a theme with my kids since this will be the last year that they are both in Elementary and have the little parade.

Jessica said...

How about Willy Wonka characters?

Jessica said...

or monkeys with you or/and John giant bananas, Napoleon Dynamite and friends, or rednecks.

Anonymous said...

I thought about 6 little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and broke his head. You and Jon could be the mom and the doctor. I also thought about athletes, cheerleaders and coaches. But I love the ketchup, mustard, the whole sandwich items.

Bristy said...

ok, so I'm thinking of the Santa Clause movie. You know the one with Father Time, Mother Nature, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Cupid, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, and I don't know maybe you could throw in a Leprachaun.

Anonymous said...

My suggestion is way out there, but here it is (I suggested this when you said you need 8 costumes): SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. Choose from the Ancient World, Modern, Industrial, etc. They're all listed here.

It would be great if you pick one rather than mixing or matching. And I was thinking, for the 8th wonder, you can pick a local one that's within your town/city/state and maybe make your youngest child dress up as that :) Just a personal "wonder" choice.

Janelle said...

Found your site through Tip Junkie. I like the Fruit of the Loom idea -- that would be fun, but I'm not sure you could all fit in a minivan.

You could all go as "Not a happy camper." If you all were mostly the same thing, it would help with preparation. For this, you each wear camping type clothes, but in not great condition -- you want to look like you've really been through the worst of it. Plastic spiders in the hair, burnt marshmallow smeared on an arm, branches sticking out of sleeves, fake blood on a pant leg. You get the idea.

Or you could all go as "cereal killers." Make sandwich board type signs out of cereal boxes (a different flavor for each person), with plastic knives stuck through. That may be a little too morbid for some. It was a fun costume, though.

Loralee said...

My idea is old-fashion Halloween, but fun. Have all the girls be devils (head-to-toe red with cute horns and pitchforks) and all the boys be angels (head-to-toe white with wings and halos)! That's what I'm doing for my family this year!!! It would be adorable for your family!

Jingle said...

I love Halloween! How about if you guys are a Happy Meal! One "grown up" can be the burger, the other can be the Coke and the kids can be FRENCH FRIES!!!! How stinking amazingly fun would that be?! You could even do a ketchup packet to go with it! Just don't forget the pickles!

Kirsten said...

Okay, I NEVER post on blogs that I don't know, but I saw this on Tip Junkie and had to come by. Halloween is my absolute favorite as well, so I thought I'd give some of the ideas I've had.

Ghostbusters (with maybe some ghosts too- Slimer, Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, etc)

Candy Land Characters or Candy Land kids who have eaten too much candy- green faces . . . and sickly expressions

"It's a Small World" and all dress from different countries

Disney Villians (everyone picks their fav)

Dress all the kids as royalty and you and the husband go as overworked servants

Okay, that's my two cents. I'm going to keep lurking this post for ideas for myself as well. ;)

Trish said...

Hmm, you got me thinking on this one! I just figured out what my daughter is going to be for Halloween, so now I have to figure out for me. What about characters from Enchanted? You and your hubby could be the princess and the main guy, with one of your daughters being the little girl and the rest being other characters, such as her animal friends (birds, squirrels, even rats or roaches) or the giant, the wicked step mother, the mouse, etc.

Or how about the catch of the day- You and your hubby dress up like fishermen with the kids being the fish, maybe a worm or two.

Or the cast of Gilligan- the Skipper, Gilligan, the professor, Mary Ann, the Howells, Ginger, and the SS Minnow!

Or how about the Circus! You could all be circus performers: The Ring master, the lions, elephants, clowns, acrobats, etc.

Or what about the Wizard of Oz: Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Wicked Witch, Wizard, Glinda, Munchkins. Oh wait, you said you did that. Oops!

Or what about Harry Potter characters?

Or a Jungle Safari: Some dress up like the animals, and other dress if safari outfits.

Or an aerobics class! With everyone dressed up in 80's leotards and sweat bands. Well, you probably won't be able to get your boys to go for that, so nevermind!

What about candy bowl? A hershey's kiss, different candy bars, m&m's, a peppermint, candy corn, licorice, a jolly rancher, & butterscotch. (Or one person could be a bowl, and then all the different types of candy)

What about a centepede, with everone tied together. You could each have a big circle on, and then walk bent over, with the person in front walking upright wearing antenna thingys.

Or you could all be Smurfs! Everyone in blue, with white hats! That would be so cute!

Or what about a pack of gum, with one person being the pack, and the rest sticks of gum.

Or Monopoly Game tokens: flatiron, car, thimble, dog, shoe, top hat, wheelbarrow, horse

Where's Waldo: Everyone dresses in similar clothing, but with different colors and different accessories. Have one person dress completely like Waldo with the hat, scarf, glasses, shirt, etc.

Or Alice in Wonderland chracters(choose from):Alice, Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts, Duchess, Mad Hatter, March Hare, Dormouse, Caterpillar

Little Bo Peep with all her sheep

The Peanuts Gang: Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Pigpen, The Little Red Headed Girl, Snoopy, Woodstock

Winnie the Pooh: Winnie, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Christopher Robin, Kanga.

Monsters Inc. characters.

Candy Land Characters: Choose from:King Kandy, Queen Frostine, Princess Lolly, Mr. Mint, Gloppy, Lord Licorice, Plumpy, Jolly, Gramma Nutt, and the Gingerbread Men.

Mario Brothers and the gang: Mario and Luigi Mario, Toad, Princess Peach Toadstool, Yoshi, Princess Daisy, Bowser

Different Street Signs

The Crayon Box- Everyone is a crayon, with maybe one person as the box

Cereal Box characters (choose from):Everyone dresses up like different characters from cereal boxes. Examples: Toucan Sam, Cheerios Bee, Sugar Smacks Frog, Tony the Tiger, Trix Rabbit, Lucky Charms Leprechaun, Cocoa Krispies Monkey, Fruity Pebbles Flintstones, Rice Krispies Snap/Crackle/Pop, a Wheaties athlete, etc. Wear pieces of the cereal boxes on your body too.

The Misfit Toys from "Rudolf, the Red Nosed Reindeer." Each person is one of the misfit toys: Rudolf, Clarice, The Bumble, Hermie, Charlie in the Box, Spotted Elephant, Dolly, and one person be Santa

OK, I think that's enough for me! I did a google search and came up with a lot of these through there. Hope you figure something out! BTW- you should check out the pick I have of my daughter in her Halloween costume from last year. She was Raggedy Anne http://sweetnsassygirls.blogspot.com

Trish said...

Oops, that was supposed to be picture, not pick of my daughter! It's been a long day!

natalie said...

Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinker bell, Hook, Alligator, Lost Boy or one of wendy's brothers (can't remember their names!)

I wish my husband would go along for a theme for halloween!

Nik said...

How about the munchkin ballerinas and the lollipop guild from Wizard of Oz?

Ashley said...

I came from tip junkie. One year some of my friends and I went as smores. Two of us were the graham crackers, some marshmellows and chocolate. It was fun when we all smashed together!

Serendipity said...

What about a family of gypsies (or pirates)?
Box of crayons?
Zoo keepers and animals?
Grease - the guys dressed as thunderbirds, and the gals the pink ladies?

Good luck...sounds like fun!

Just Lisa said...

My three girlfriends and I dressed up as the fruit of the loom guys a couple years ago and we were a big hit!

Here are some ideas for you:

* The simpsons (plus a few of the supporting cast)
* Divo
* The many phases of Madonna (the guys could be back up dancers)
* Blue Man Group
* Cinderella-- with the prince, some mice, the godmother, a stepsister or two
* A hamburger-- each person can dress as a bun, the patty, lettuce, tomato, etc

That's all I've got for now. I'll be back if I think of more!

Jill said...

There are so many great ideas.
You all could be the characters from The Gingerbread Man book, You and your husband could be the old man and old woman. Your children could be the butcher, black and white cow, the muddy old sow, the fox, and someone could be the gingerbread man!! Oops,I think there are 8 in your family so someone could be the book cover!!

twinkle twinkle baby, twinkle twinkle said...

you guys could all be different candy bars, playing cards (full house)tetris shapes, old people, or sport heros.

Tam said...

wow you have some creative ideas here:

mine are

the potato head family: mr and mrs and kids, giant glasses ears, different mouths and noses etc.

Popcorn and dad could be the popcorn box

a family of M&M's some plain some p-nut

the nuthouse : one house and a bunch of nuts

a garden of vegetables

beach theme: beach ball, towel, bucket sandcastle, sunscreen

a picnic: ants, food, basket

keebler elves and cookies, treehouse

peter pan: capn hook, tinker bell, wendy, lost boys, etc.

a birthday train: everyone is a car with an engine and a caboose

Sweets: candy, cupcakes, donut, tootsie roll, cake, sundae: cute red hat for a cherry, I can see great fun colors and soft costumes for this.

how about a scrapbook page: everyone is a different element, picture, flower,

a pizza party: crust, pepperoni, olives, mushrooms

fairies, sprites, toadstools, butterflies,

checkers

bingo

jelly bellies each a different flavor

whack a mole: a hammer, moles,

cookies and milk

a barrel of monkeys

a chinese dragon

hope you get an idea you like, I must say that I'd love a new apron. I arrived here from tip junkie.

Unknown said...

My kids decided that they were going to be pirates-the Dollar Store has pirate stuff right now. So my son is going to be a mummy pirate. I he was a mummy a few years ago and was the hit of all the parties. My daughter is going to be a princess pirate. But my girlfriend always has her kids dress in a theme and a few years ago it was a rooster, a hen and baby chicks. It was really cute! She used feather boas to make the costumes!

Kathleen W. said...

You could go as something timely for this year, like Olympic athletes (either US athletes or everyone could be from a different country in the same sport...I envision some races around the neighborhood). Or you could do something around the upcoming elections, like everyone is dressed as a candidate.

Anonymous said...

What about a bee theme. You have bees, flowers, and you would also need a beekeeper or two.

Doty Family said...

How are you ever going to pick? Lot's of great ideas!!

Just a few from me.

Harry Potter characters. I keep trying to get my family to do this, but my husband is a party pooper. You could have Dumbledore, Professor McGonagell and then Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, and Neville or mix it up to fit your family.

Most of my others have been written down. But this is my personal favorite.

Willy Wonka and a bunch of little oompa loompa's!!! How cute would all those little faces be when they were green and had orange hair?

And one more. What about a fruit salad? Just an after thought, but love the oompa loompa one!!

Jake and Rachelle said...

Okay here's what I came up with:
-The Brady Bunch
-Very Hungary Caterpillar with everyone else as food
-circus performers etc
-cavemen etc
-wizard of oz
-alice in wonderland characters
-peter pan characters
-different colored m & m's
-olympians from this years games (swimmers, gymnasts, runners etc, with a torch)
-pirates of the caribbean
-Star Wars, I love little yoda costumes
-Grease (the movie)
-Dr. Seuss (I love thing 1 and thing 2 costumes)

I hope that helps and can't wait to see what you decide!

amber:) said...

hey i found your blog from tip junkie. There are so many ideas here, I hope that mine are not repeats. My kids LOVE Phineas and Ferb on Disney channel, I would love to see a pic of someone dressed as Perry the Platypus. or the Mickey Mouse clubhouse gang: Mickey, minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Clarabelle, and Pete. Or the kids from High School Musical. Can you tell we like Disney Channel at our house? Good luck!

Positively Creative! said...

There are soo many to choose from but what about something easy like Toy Soldiers..Army men, Football (feild, goaly, cheerleader, football, player etc.), Computer (nerd, screen, mouse, keyboard, pad, Windows logo), House full of babies, Casino (money, dice, card,slotmachine) Robots, Finding Nemo (bowl, fish, seaweed)
Thanks for all the ideas from the other comments!

Kaycee said...

Hi! I'm coming from Tip Junkie.

My ideas..

Palm tree with Coconuts

Superheros (Batman, Catwoman, Ivy? Robin, the Joker, Spiderman, Superman, and Incredible Hulk)

J said...

What about from the movie Annie? You could be Mrs. Hannigan. Your husband can be Daddy Warbucks and then there has to be an Annie and a bunch of orphans.

Also, if you have a dog, it could be Sandy.

Lissete said...

I got here via Tip Junkie too!
All my ideas have been mentioned and my first thought was Scooby Doo. The only one that I don't see mentioned is Sleeping Beauty.

Aurora & Prince Philip
Flora, Fauna & Merriwether (3 girls)

Malificent as a Dragon & Malificent' goons (3 boys)

Or you can go with less labor intensive costumes and go as Flower Children (Hippies)

I can't wait to see pictures of you all! Do you have pics posted from previous Halloweens?

The Cascio Whirlwind said...

Black eyed peas are soooo easy and cute to do. White shirts with a black letter P painted on them. Then each person has black paint around and under their eyes!!! Everyone loves this costume. Super cheap and easy!

Clara said...

I am here from Tip Junkie too...

I love the idea of super heros but not just your everyday hero-- you come up with super powers -- someone might want the super strength and then create a costume that represents that....

what about dressing up like a bunch of missionaries with tags in different languages or

or the planets...

Good Luck! I have two sons and we are going to be the sun, moon and stars..

Holly said...

I think SHREK would be a good one. Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots, Prince Charming, The Dragon, The Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio.

Tiffany said...

Okay I can't say How many great ideas you already have on here, but here are a few....

1) You could do star wars, with darth vadar, princess laya, chewy,yoda, luke skywalker ect

2)How about a deck of cards with the king and queen and so on....

3) The Addams family.....

4) HOw about " Going Green" being all organic vegtables or fruit

5) Cowboys and Indians

6) What about traffic signs...I saw this once and it was AWESOME, someone was a stop sign ( cute from heavy duty cardboard and painted ), yeild sign, speed sign ect and then a traffic control guy/police man

I hope this helps, I am sure you are going to have more ideas that you wanted. Good luck.

Stuart and Kimber said...

I was totally going to suggest Peter Pan, Wendy, mermaid - 6 year old (or the indian princess), tinkerbell for the 2 year old, the two brothers or a lost boy.

But someone beat me to it! So my second choice is this: Go as the Pac Man game. You and your husband are Mr. & Mrs. Pacman (do the costumes with hula hoops) and the kids are ghosts (3-4 different colors) and the last two are the bonus things that came on the game what a cherry and a star or something like that.

Very cute.

James and Monica said...

Darn! There's a few that wrote down my idea. I was going to say Peter Pan. Our family did it and it was absolutely CUTE!!! Also, 101 Dalmations....kids probably wouldn't enjoy as much. I have ideas that your kids may not enjoy as much, but what about Twilight characters!! That'd be perfect. Whatever it is. Post pictures!

Shynea @ Penny Pinching Diva said...

The best idea that I came up with is having your family be rock stars. Since you have kids that are older in age, I didn't want to pick something too cartoony. You and your husband could be the band managers. Dress in black with the big sunglasses and the sleek hair, and the kids could be the "members of the band". Lead singer, guitar player, keyboard player, back up singers, back up dancers, etc... Everything would be flashy with lots of sequins, teased hair, big glasses, glitter, makeup, fake tattoos, etc... It would be too cute.

Anonymous said...

How about a jigsaw puzzle with a message underneath? Think about it - with so many of you it could be so fun! Half could crouch in front of the others, andd your outfits could all match up into maybe a haunted house or something? It'sabit out there, but would be awesome if you could get it happening!

Faith said...

1) Smurfs (& Gargamel & Azrael)

2) Pac man/Miss Pac Man & dots & ghosts

3) the old woman who lived in a shoe & had so many children she didn't know what to do (children, old woman & shoe)

4) mother goose & characters (everyone can pick their favorite)

5) alice, white rabbit, tweedle dee & tweedle dum, queen of hearts, mad hatter, march hare,cheshire cat

~Wyatt~Brittney~Brecken~Oliver~ said...

I think Flinstones characters are always fun but I think you have a few to many characters to fill all the spots. . .so what about Finding Nemo? or what about going as pilgrims or swing kids (what fun costumes!) or even whinne the phoo characters

Small town country girl... said...

How about a twist on "Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs"? I'm thinking "snow White and the seven dorks" - you know, the kids get to dress up in their "nerd" clothes. Right down to the stripped socks.

By the way, found you through Tip Junkie. Good luck.

Jennifer said...

How about characters from the Wizard of Oz?

Jake and Rachelle said...

Okay, I have another idea. What about Prince Charming and Cinderella and mice, cat etc.

H. Slaton said...

Please go as "cat in the hat" characters...like the cat, thing 1, thing 2, etc. that would be cute!

Valerie Chandler said...

I can't believe that you have 45 comments here... amazing.

Cammee said...

You throw a prize out there and all of a sudden you're Miss America!!

I love the circus idea. Jon could be the ringmaster, you could be the bearded lady....

Liz said...

I found your dilema through tip junky and before I read how many people are in your family I thought of the jackson 5 with super dark make up on your hands and faces, great afro wigs and super shiny sequine outfits... Or the village people. You know, YMCA! I am not sure if you can make either of these work but I thought it was worth a try!

Laura said...

I found you via tip junkie too, and it's before midnight in Seattle... :)

I'm thinking famous stars of the 40s/50s/60s. James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, John Wayne, etc.

Or, you and your husband could be Beauty and the Beast, and the rest of the kids could be the cabinets and silverware/candlestick that come to life.

Third idea would be to go as Divo, the singing group. But that may be too old for the kids to get into.

I LOVE the hamburger/coke and kids as french fry idea! Fruit of the loom would also be cute. Great ideas listed!! I'm going to keep these for our future costumes too!!

Anonymous said...

You could all go as M&M's. A different color for each family member. SUPER easy costumes to make...I have 4 kids (3 boys, 1 girl). Since we live in Spokane and it's freezing on Halloween, I had the kids wear a sweatshirt and matching sweatpants with the same color T-shirt over it all. We stuffed a BIG pillow inside the shirt, and put a felt letter M on the front. The kids were warm and toasty! The best part was that they could still use the sweats later!

rebecca said...

I know the contest is over, but I was thinking something like "Mixed Veggies" and everyone goes as a different veggie. Then I saw your idea for the fruit of the loom guys and its much better.

What about an 8 pack of crayons?