Garden Gnome Boy! Halloween 2009.

Freedom did such a good job playing the role of cutest garden gnome ever! It was a really great Halloween weekend. Freedom got to hang out with a few of his little costumed friends and then went trick or treating for the first time, with his cousins and nana. Mama B went to a few adult costume parties, which were loads of fun. We heart Halloween! Check out the garden gnome and friends in a few wonderful photos.

Creating a Child's Halloween Garden Gnome Costume on a Budget

"Gnomes are those creatures who live in our garden and are known for caring for wildlife."

-Mary Welling-Bonney Suite101.com contributing writer

I found myself a little obsessed with garden gnomes this season, well that & I tend to obsess over Halloween & costumes, because I find it to be so fun! So, I thought up Freedom's Halloween costume all on my own this year. I decided awhile ago that I wanted him to be a garden gnome. Then, I thought perhaps he and I could be yard ornaments together, with him being a gnome & me being his pink flamingo sidekick. Off I went online looking for ideas for his gnome costume, but I had no idea what I was in store for. To my surprise, but then it's the internet, so not really a suprise, I came across a store made gnome costume in a infant/toddler size, that was pretty cute, though it didn't look exactly like a garden gnome, it was adorable. I thought it'd be perfect and knew for sure I wanted him to be a gnome after seeing this lil costume. There are actually some really funny sites & blogs that are totally devoted to garden gnomes. And, I found that the Travelocity gnome costume was popping up quite a bit in searches, so that may be a popular one, especially after being so visible as the little mascot for the show Amazing Race (one of my faves). I actually hadn't expected to find a store made one for a child, but thought I might find an adult one. Well, we were able to try on the costume at a local Halloween shop & it was too tight on Freedom. So, I started to rethink my plan for him and thought maybe I'd be the gnome and he could be my lil mushroom. Lol! Alas, I was so set on him being the garden gnome that I decided I'd at least try to create the costume myself.

Well, after some wonderful, creative inspiration and sewing help from our friend Zshanna (the artist mama that sewed the gnome hat), help from my mom, and a few items from the thrift store, we have the costume completed. Just add pants & we're ready for trick or treating. Oh, and I didn't have time to get my pink flamingo yard ornament costume together to join my boy, so I'm being Rosie the Riveter (a costume I already have). We purposely sewed the beard to his shirt, and put his fluffy eyebrows on the hat, to try and keep them out of his face. Figured a toddler will fuss too much or not even wear things that bother their face for too long. Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that Freedom keeps the costume on long enough to take photos & look adorable! Here's the pic of the costume itself & hopefully more photos coming soon. The details of the costume are:

• Little red cone hat, made with soft stretchy fabric (1/2 yard on sale for $2), since a baby is wearing it, otherwise I suggest using felt to make it stand up better.
• Oversized blue t-shirt from the dollar store, cut & then sewn to be in more of a triangle or tunic shape, he'll also wear a dark colored long sleeved shirt under this
• Little black rubber garden style boots (thrift store find for $2)
• Cut out pretend black belt & gold buckle (spare felt pieces that were given to us)
• Fluffy white fabric eyebrows and beard sewn/glued onto the hat & shirt (spare fabric my mom had)
• Complete with small plastic garden watering pot prop (cheap toy my mom let us borrow) & we will add his brown corduroy pants (that he already has) tucked into the boots on Halloween
  

Finally, you have your easily under $10, along with some donated time from loved ones, adorable Halloween costume 2009.

For giggles & more info on garden gnomes, check out these links below.

Better Gnomes and Garden

Gnome - Wikipedia

Make yourself a garden gnome

Gnome Frenzy

Homegrown Maters!

Mama B grew her first real red, yummy tomatoes ever! We are very proud of the pretty tomatoes, so we had to take pictures of them. They are so cute & tasted yummy too, though Mama B is not the biggest fan of eating raw tomatoes, it was still fun to try growing something of our own!