M. had the first Halloween party tonight, through her Brownie troop.

She had wanted to be a cat, but wasn't sure what kind. Then we decided on a 50's girl, but didn't have enough fabric. I suggested a 50's guy, with a freezer paper-stenciled t-shirt and her high tops, but she thought that that was a ridiculous notion.

Finally we settled on a scarecrow. We visited our favorite children's new and resale shop, Ditto Kiddo, and found the overalls. I thought plaid flannel shirt and took her to the boys section ... um, no thanks Mom ... I guess princesses don't wear boys clothes. So she's wearing her sister's old shirt. The hat is a leftover Easter hat.

The straw is raffia, cut up. The patches are glue-gunned on and the stitching done with a pen. The overalls were very clean and "like new" ('cause that's how we do it at Ditto Kiddo) so I rubbed the seams and a few other areas with furniture stain.

Total project time: 15 minutes

Total time to clean up all the little "straw" bits that spread throughout the shop: A whole lot longer