Tag: diy

Read Across America Week (Dr. Seuss DIY Character Costumes)

Hey guys! We’re a little late posting about this but we were definitely not late celebrating! Who are we celebrating? Dr. Seuss, of course! Our school, as did many around the country, celebrated Dr. Seuss and his birthday (March 1st) during Read Across America week, last week. We had lots of fun dressing up for different days. Mom even got involved on the last day, more on that later.

Why do we celebrate Dr. Seuss? Well, unless you’ve been living in the woods without coming into civilization at all for the last 80-ish years, you probably know why. Dr. Seuss is the author and illustrator of some 60 beloved children’s books, which have encouraged a love of reading in children for generations. And The Jones Family especially LOVES all things Dr. Seuss.

Here’s a few of our get-ups for the week.

Wacky Wednesday! We basically just threw on every layer in a different color that we owned. And of course, mismatched shoes!

Hat Day Thursday! We may have argued a little over who got to wear the kitten hat.

Dr. Seuss Character Friday! This one is always our favorite, and Mom tries to come up with as many cheap or free DIY ideas as she can.

As we all know, a good Cindy Lou Who costume relies almost solely on the HAIR! For Peyton’s super-tall bun, I hid a mini soda bottle inside her pony tail. We had some reddish-pink ribbon, so, we tied a bow at the top. She chose to wear a little blush, and all pink clothes to complete her look.

Fox in Socks was a super easy one. I would have preferred it if we would have had an all red outfit of clothes but we did not. Red pants are apparently not even a thing in our house. We made it work with a Dollar Tree Cat-Ear headband, some folded red paper (re-purposed a Valentine’s gift bag) glued together and taped to the headband, and some toe socks on both hands and feet)!

Presenting, Cindy Lou Who and Fox in Socks!

Did we tell you that Mom got involved on the last day? This “Cat in the Hat” hat is a leftover from last year. Last year, for character day, Mom crocheted all of our costume pieces for the day. See that post here: https://livingthejoneslife.com/2019/03/04/crocheted-diy-dr-seuss-character-costumes-2018/

That hat must have been a lucky hat for Mom because on the day she wore it, she wound up with a NEW car! More on that here:
https://livingthejoneslife.com/2019/03/04/new-car-wheres-our-car-whose-car-is-this/

Thanks for everything, Dr. Seuss!

Crochet DIY Dr. Seuss Character Costumes (2018)

I’m posting this now but these are actually last year’s Dr. Seuss Character day costumes for Read Across America week. When it comes to just about anything, I dislike purchasing something from the store if I can make it myself. Luckily, when Aidan was a baby, I took the time to learn to crochet with the help of good ol’ YouTube. Having that as a skill, really opens up the possibilities of what you can do, especially when it comes to school dress-up days and costumes.

Aidan chose to dress up as Mac the Turtle (from Yertle the Turtle). She has always been her own person and quick to come up with her own ideas for things like this. But where on earth would I buy a turtle costume in the correct colors, or even close? I did search online briefly but was unable to find anything. Crochet to the rescue! I made a turtle backpack, using colors I had on hand and also made a simple beanie but chose to add a triangular shaped bill for the turtle’s “mouth” shape. I added a few little sprigs of yarn on the top (to make our Mac look more like the drawings from the book), and some backstitching to make a face. Aidan threw on some different shades of gray for her clothes, just working with pieces we had in the closet. Cost to me for this project: NOTHING, because all supplies were items we already owned.

I loosely based the turtle shell backpack off of a free pattern for a baby turtle shell, which you can get here: https://stitch11.com/turtle-love/

Peyton wanted to go a more original route and be The Cat in the Hat. Fitting for her, because she always, “knows a lot about that.” For this one, I just found a simple crochet hat pattern and kept working the rounds, interchanging my colors to make it taller. I then stuffed the inside and crocheted a round circular piece to hold the stuffing in the hat and stitched it on the inside. I also made a simple belt shaped piece, using only double crochet to make her “bow-tie.” If you’ll notice, I was completely out of true-white yarn, but I used some speckled off-white yarn for the hat, instead, and it still totally worked. Again, no cost to me because the yarn came out of my stash. Apparently, there are some upsides to hoarding! Ha ha

I had fun again this year, creating new costumes for Dr. Seuss character day. This time I went much simpler, but both girls were very pleased. See that post here: https://livingthejoneslife.com/2019/03/04/read-across-america-week-dr-seuss-diy-character-costumes/

We hope you enjoyed these costumes and decide to give them a try yourself!

Thanks for reading! -Erin