Dressing up for All Saint's Day!

Obviously, the real way to celebrate All Saint's Day (November 1, don't forget!) is to go to Mass.  And to offer thanks and praise for the "cloud of witnesses" bestowed upon us and the universal church.  And to recommit ourselves to delving deeper into the lives of the Saints for our own edification and sanctification. And to strive to follow their examples thereby personally drawing closer to Christ.  I *try* to do these personally and for my family.  But, couldn't I get even more out of it?? I mean, what about dressing up and partying and candy - those typically-done-at-the-end-of-October activities??  To really benefit from all that All Saint's Day has to offer, you really must combine all aforementioned activities.  Then you will truly be celebrating the Church Triumphant in grand style.  (and it's fun for kids too!)  

My kids chose their Saints a few weeks ago. (The party is tonight!!) When Ruth decided to dress the same as last year, my first thought was, "Oh, come on, choose something different, for fun!"  Then a little voice inside me said, "Why are you encouraging her to choose something that will require extra work on the part of the wardrobe department??" Since I am Mom and Costume Mistress, I agreed to let her be Our Lady of Guadalupe, again.

costume tips - I drew gold flower-y decorations on her "dress" with gold fabric pen,
and stenciled sparkly gold stars (fabric puffy paint, I think) on the veil.  Roses from the Dollar Store!

Aaron chose St. Michael the Archangel, presumably because the allure of armor and sword was too overpowering to do otherwise.

costume tips: chest plate and shield are from the Dollar Store.  The sword is made from wooden paint
stirrers that were spray painted and bound together with string.  The wings are a single piece of
poster board that I pinned onto the back of his shirts with two large safety pins.

Dominic chose St. Wenceslas - a repeat from three years ago.  I'm not entirely sure why he feels devoted to this particular first century Bohemian martyr.  But, we all enjoy the song of Good King Wenceslas, so that probably has something to do with it.  (Did you know that he was only considered a king after his death? It's true!)

costume tips: crown is metallic poster board with "jewels" glued on.  The cape I made three
years ago and I think I just cut a piece of purple fabric and sewed the faux fur with a
long  top stitch on my machine.  It's held together at the top with a large sew-on snap and again, I
glued the jewel on.

Clare?  Well, no big surprises there... we kept it obvious.  She is St. Clare.  Know how you get a previously-hysterical-when-approached-with-a-costume toddler to let you put a costume on her? Licorice.  

costume tips: I glued the host to the monstrance but then quickly sewed the entire thing onto her
habit.  Her veil is held on by a snap in the back - it probably won't stay on through
the whole party though, right?!  I tried to incorporate a white wimple, but she screamed bloody
murder and I backed down :)

And now, revealed here for the first time, exclusively for the readers of my blog, I bring you My Super Secret Tip for Saint Costumes...

I LOVE Saints that wore long robes or habits.  Every year, every Saint that I've ever dressed has required a long robe or religious habit.  My secret???  Men's T-shirts from Target. They are my inexpensive, no work required, go-to item for Saintly garb. Obviously, I save them from year to year, so Clare is naturally wearing St. Francis's habit from a few years ago.  But I needed to get a few new colors this year - the yellow for St. Michael and the BIG red one for St. Wenceslas.  I just love that a men's XXL shirt is the perfect royal robe for a pint-size king, long billowy sleeves and all! And because the warm weather is OVER, many of the T-shirts were marked down to $4.  Not bad when that's all you have to spend to pull together a perfect costume! Happy happy happy :)  Want to play spot the Target T-shirt???

And in case you're browsing for other easy Saint costume ideas, here are a few pictures of last year's costumes - St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Zita...

Happy All Saint's Day... a day early!