For Halloween this year I discovered a “grape” idea for my granddaughters’ costumes: bunches of grapes. I found the idea at Grandloving, a website with lots of creative ideas for grandparents. The description sounded simple enough with only three items on the supply list:

• 15 purple or green balloons
• 15 small safety pins
• a grape-leaf collar and hat cut from green felt

I sent the description to my daughter who showed it to my two granddaughters, ages 6 and 2. They loved the idea and decided they would like the purple balloons. I agreed to buy all the supplies and bring them on my next visit. My daughter and son-in-law said they would assemble the costumes on Halloween.

As I did more research and looked for photos of the costume, I began to realize there would be some logistical problems. My granddaughters were invited to three different Halloween events and would need to ride in their car seats to these parties. That meant my daughter and son-in-law would have to pin on the balloons after they arrived at the events. I discussed the issue with my daughter who said they’d figure it out.

I took care of my end of the bargain and bought a bag of 70 purple balloons ($6) and 2/3 yard of felt ($2) in two shades of green. I cut out leaves and sewed them onto 3/4-inch elastic for their collars. As Halloween approached, my daughter called to say the costumes were turning out to be more work than they’d bargained for. My son-in-law decided it would be easier to make a purple felt poncho and pin the inflated balloons on that. What a brilliant idea!  They could be assembled beforehand and slipped on when they arrived at their parties.

We returned to the fabric store for a yard of purple felt. ($4) My son-in-law spent several nights designing and sewing the ponchos and “stem” hats from the extra green felt. Somehow he’d gotten roped into doing the final steps after I’d come up with the concept. My granddaughter added her own unique touch by suggesting green felt shoe covers to wear over their sneakers.

Although the idea was not quite as “simple” as we’d initially thought, it was quite the show stopper. When my daughter called to tell me that the girls won first prize in the costume contest and received all the attention at the three Halloween celebrations, my heart burst with pride.

Cost of materials: $12

Time to sew the costume: Three hours for the leaf collars and three hours for the ponchos and stem hats

Seeing my granddaughters as bunches of grapes: Priceless!

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1 Comment »

1. Wow! I’m very impressed. The costumes (and your granddaughters) are adorable. I really enjoyed reading Grandloving as well–see my review–but some of the projects are for someone far “craftier” than I. I see now that you belong in that category!

   Comment by Susan Adcox — November 9, 2009 @ 7:27 pm

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