A couple of months ago I started getting emails advertising Halloween costumes. I looked at the options online, and had a hard time justifying the cost of the available costumes. It would be a little different if Zoe was six, obsessed with Moana, and would play dress up in her costume for the next year.
Jack was almost two and had just become obsessed with Elmo. Elmo’s best friend is Zoe, and it was just too perfect for our Zoe to be dressed as Zoe. (Apparently I have a thing for matching names. Last year Jack was Jack-Jack from the Incredibles.)
While Elmo costumes are available commercially, I was not going to put my 2-year-old in a fur costume in Texas. He doesn’t understand the concept of dressing up for Halloween, I wasn’t sure he would even recognize the fur costume as “Melmo,” and it would be very uncomfortable.
Instead, I decided to knit/crochet hats for them and fill out the rest of their costumes with clothes from their closet. They would give the impression of the characters while still being comfortable.
For Jack, I made his hat. Can’t knit or crochet? You can buy an Elmo hat on Amazon or Etsy. I added a solid red Elmo t-shirt and jeans. He could still run around being himself, and he had “Melmo” on his clothes, which was pretty cool. At a party we attended this weekend, another toddler was following him around calling him Elmo, so I call that a success.
I also made Zoe’s hat. If you can’t knit or crochet, Zoe hats are a little harder to come by, but are still available on Etsy. Because Zoe (the character) loves to dance and often wears a ballet costume, we put our Zoe in a solid pink onesie and leggings with a tutu she wore during her newborn pictures and socks made to look like pointe shoes.
