Thomas the Train Diaper Box Costume
Halloween 2013:
Out of Control Thomas the Train and a Damsel in Distress
One of four top prize winners in the Costume Contest
Reached the bottom of the hill and halfway up again, in costume, before calling it a night. Success! Considering our trick or treater is 2 ..
Dad had planned to go as Spiderman, who would save the day, stop the train, and get the girl… but then who would have been the photographer? I was so glad that one of us was NOT in costume – unhindered, able to redirect a screaming child at a moment’s notice, focusing on facilitating a smooth outing, as opposed to making sure we were all properly put together and looking great. That was MY job 🙂 Good thing there’s two of us and we can be a team.
The contest was over so quickly I hadn’t even realized it was ending until they were giving us a bag of goodies for Felix (some stuffed animals, stickers, and a whistle) and taking our name after we posed for a few photos. We were back into the car, all the way home, and it wasn’t until I had a quiet moment to take some photos of Thomas in the backyard that I realized… hey wait, I WON A COSTUME CONTEST!! I made the costumes. I was a driving force behind going out to do something fun for Halloween… I felt a sense of pride well up inside of me and I decided to ride it through instead of ignoring or belittling it. I am the kind of Mom who prioritizes time for creating handmade things for her family. At this point, after all my practice and trials and errors… frequently my efforts are rewarded and I end up with something I CAN be proud of. Maybe I can hold onto that idea for the next time, when I don’t have a panel of judges validating my work, giving me a pat on the back at the end. I’ll have to learn to properly pat my own back sometimes too.
What was the last thing you really felt PROUD of? Take a minute and think… What did it feel like? What could you accomplish that would give you another dose?
The tutorial I used for the Thomas train is HERE. I hope this author feels proud! The costume is great, the pictures are beautiful, and the instructions couldn’t be more inspiring. She makes it look easy… and it really was (after some errors and deep breathing) I couldn’t have made a better tutorial and I’m glad to share it with you, along with a pair of photos from MY process. THIS is another great honorable mention with some great Thomas costume tips.
I couldn’t get the base white, despite layers and layers of spray paint, so I opted for Duct Tape in the end. At Halloween time there are LOTS of sales on Duct Tape, and is comes in a staggering array of prints, patterns, and colors now. It had just the right sheen for Thomas’s train body, and made for very easy straight lines.
I painted the face late the night before the contest and was glad to find the next morning, that my perfect color mixing hadn’t been a dream! I’m NOT a painter… but maybe I’ll pick up another hobby in my later years, because I am SO pleased with how Thomas’s face came out.
Handcrafting Every Inch 