Our Train Costume - Welcome to the Halloween Express

This year Lewie wanted to be a train--a steam train to be exact.  Last year he was Brewster from Chuggington, but this year he wanted to be "the real deal."  It was no cartoon characters for him.

So, after much deliberation (since Halloween has now become a full family event), we decided we would make our own DIY costumes.   That's right.  Lewie would be a steam train, Mommy would be the coal tender behind him, and Daddy would be the passenger car behind me.

Everything is made out of cardboard. 
We used electrical tape for the spokes and a thin piece of wood for the connecting rod.

My coal tender used stove liners for wheels. 

My husband was supposed to be a caboose until Little Lewie changed his mind
and wanted Daddy to be a dining car.  The windows are obviously made of construction paper.

It was not easy.  Since all three of us lack the creative gene, we weren't sure of what size boxes to buy, what type of paint to use, or what type of details we needed.  We probably used a tank of gas running back and forth between Walmart, Home Depot, the UPS Store, Uhaul, and Joann's Fabrics.  (If we were better planners, I'm sure we could have gotten the boxes for free.)

Still, we worked tirelessly on our costumes all week long and were pretty pleased with the outcome.  In the end, Lewie had an awesome time pretending he was a little steam train.  He huffed, tooted, and made bell sounds as he led his kindergarten costume parade and then led Mommy and Daddy through the dark streets of our town.  We just adored the fact that he got so much into character...



Walking through the various rooms of his school.

Leading the kindergarten parade...

Visiting Grammy at work...  It's a yearly tradition.

Trick-or-treating...  We were surprised at how many people took pictures of us with their cell phones.

Our little train conductor...

Daddy enjoying coffee from his dining car...(A house was actually handing out coffee along with treats!)

 I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!!  I wish the holiday continued all weekend long.