I have vivid Halloween memories of my brother dressed as the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, sprinting from house to house, losing straw from his stuffed arms and legs with every step. Not learning his lesson, the next year he opted for the Tin Man, and as I watched my mom wrap his appendages in Reynolds Wrap, I knew the local streets would soon be lined with aluminum foil.
The tradition of homemade costumes continued with my children, but I stepped it up and learned to sew. My girls were Renaissance princesses, brides, kitty cats and witches, all of which I crafted from scratch. My son always challenged me with his costume requests such as Poliwrath from Pokémon, a loaf of Wonder bread and the ultimate challenge of a severed head on a picnic table.
The fun stages include figuring out the design and construction with your family members and shopping for the necessary parts at craft stores or Goodwill. And, of course, the joy of assembling all the pieces for the debut on Halloween week is amazing.
I connected with some people in the City to see what costumes and stories they had made with their families over the years.
A good and bad witch
Sarah Metzger took her girls to see “Wicked” when they were 8 and 10, and they loved it! Metzger adores Halloween and loves creating homemade costumes so she was thrilled when they agreed to go as the Witches of Oz.
“I’m not a seamstress but I can pull things together with thread and hot glue adequately enough,” says Metzger.
She added cotton fabric to a pink hand-me-down dress they owned and added tulle for the puffy sleeves and skirt. The crown was constructed out of mesh plastic canvas, silver tulle and iridescent gems for sparkle.
“I love the crown so much that I can’t bring myself to get rid of it!” Metzger says.
Elphaba’s outfit consisted of a black shirt with ruffle details and a skirt from Goodwill. Her candy bucket was a witch’s cauldron, while Glinda’s was a plastic fish bowl with silver tulle for a handle.
Metzger recommends using green eyeshadow applied with makeup sponges for a smooth, evenly toned green complexion, and you will be ‘popular.’
Buckeye buddies
The Spillman family members are all big Buckeye fans, so helping their son, Mitchell, transform into Brutus was a fun project. Mom, Anne, remembers making paper mache masks when she was a child so they utilized that concept for the mascot head.
“We used a large, round, punching balloon and applied several layers of paper and the watery-flour mixture,” she says.
The Mannings, another family making a Buckeye costume, used pillows and a kid-sized football helmet inside their Brutus head for fifth grader, Dean.
“I used white duct tape to make the 33 and two double zeros on the jersey,” says mom, Monica. “You can’t find a Brutus head anywhere to purchase.”
Feathered friend
Katy Brown’s daughter, Emily, was obsessed with flamingos in fifth grade. After searching the internet for costumes, she decided to make one herself.
“I bought a glue gun and over 300 feathers from Amazon, and watched TV while hot gluing feathers onto a pink shirt.”
The tutu consists of tulle wrapped around a belt and Emily borrowed sunglasses from someone she knew.
“It was worth every feather because Emily loved that outfit,” Brown says.
Barbie girl
Heather Koch’s family has had a tradition of using toys as inspiration for their daughter, Lillian’s, costumes.
In 2020, they made it relevant to the times by creating Quarantine Barbie. Lillian wore her canceled dance recital costume and a mask. Inside the box they included a roll of toilet paper and sanitizer. She won first place in Dublin’s costume contest that year!
Dynamic duo
The Bukey family love the movie Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Their son and his friend wanted to be the main characters from the movie for Halloween.
Chad Bukey decided to get creative and make the van using wood, wheels and carpet remnants.
“It wasn’t really school appropriate but all of the neighbors and kids had a great time with it while trick-or-treating,” says Jackie Bukey.
Colleen D’Angelo is a Dublin Life columnist and freelance writer. She and her husband, Tony, raised three children in Dublin over the last 25 years. Colleen enjoys playing and teaching pickleball; walking her pup, Mason; and travelling internationally. You can reach her at colleendangelo1@gmail.com.
