The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Costume

I'm only posting about our costumes, because I searched the internet for ideas on a wardrobe costume and came up empty handed. So, maybe somebody else can find this and get some ideas. 

For our family costume theme this year we did: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Clearly a Chronicles of Narnia inspired idea.

The lion costume came from Amazon for about $20. I had a black dress, and my mini witch hat was $8 and my gold leggings to match were $10 - all from Amazon as well. 

The wardrobe was made from two pieces of those cardboard project boards. The tri-fold ones. They were about $5 each from my local craft store.

We measured the width of my husband (person wearing the costume) and used a measurement that would still allow his hands to fold all the way around in front of him. 

We cut that measurement out of each middle section of the project boards to be the "base" of the wardrobe. We used the flaps and excess from the middle to make the "moldings."

My brother-in-law cut the molding out with curvy edges for an artistic effect. This was also just easier, in my opinion, because we didn't have to worry so much about straight edges. We cut out molding pieces to go along each side of the base, and then a wider pieces for the middle to be the doors. 

We traced one side of a bowl side by side to make the "mustache" top, and then just swooped it down and back out to a point - and this made the top of the wardrobe. 

Once all of those pieces were cutout as separate pieces, I glued them down onto the 'base' using wood glue. I glued all of the vertical pieces down first, and then the top and bottom pieces, and then the mustache top.

I let it dry overnight and then painted it using an acrylic paint in a cinnamon brown ($2), and I painted it on with a sponge brush ($2).

I only had to do one layer of paint, because the boys liked the sort of sketchy effect it had. They said it made it more wood like.

Grabbed some knobs and knob plates from my local hardware store (about a $10 purchase), and screwed them on after drawing a line down the middle for the doorway with a brown marker.

Then, just used some brown twine to make 'straps,' and taped it down on the front/back pieces of the wardrobe. 

And, tada! Costume!

It wasn't perfect, but it turned out pretty cute I thought. 

I wish I'd documented more details and done progress pictures (sorry). But, maybe this will be enough to get you in the right direction if you're trying to make a quick, easy, and fairly cheap wardrobe costume.

All in all the wardrobe costume itself was about $25. For the theme as a whole we were only out about $65. 

Pretty sweet, in my opinion. 

Because it's an artsy photo if you're going for the Narnia theme ;)

Essential Oil Diaper Rash Cream

I have found a few uses for essential oils that I do believe have helped. Hopefully I'll get around to the details of all that, but today I'm here to share about a DIY diaper rash cream.

Sometimes, my little bug just very suddenly breaks out with a terrible diaper rash. Maybe it was a really intense poo, that just didn't get changed fast enough. But... yikes.

I always feel so terrible for him, too. It must be an extremely annoying and painful thing to overcome for little ones in diapers.

I'm not lying when I say, that I've put this concoction on him at bedtime and he has woken up with the diaper rash nearly gone. Still faint, but people, nearly gone!

The recipe is simple:

◼︎1/4 cup Coconut Oil
◼︎10 drops of Lavender (essential oil)

I fractionated the coconut oil (meaning I put it in a ziplock bag and ran it under warm water until it was melted. I added it to a small bowl, added 10 drops of lavender, put the lid on and gave it a few good shakes. It would eventually solidify again on it's own, but I did stick mine in the refrigerator to speed it up.
Coconut oil in general has odd characteristics. It's sort of a chunky solid, but becomes very runny when warmed up. So, applying to a baby's bum is probably nothing less of comical. Especially a wiggly child.

I just grab a little chunk of it and start rubbing it around until it melts enough to spread over the area.

Now, to be fair, I sometimes also apply a diaper rash cream over the oil - because diaper rash creams act as seals, right? So, you're sealing in the oil, while hopefully creating one against diaper moisture. But, I don't always use a store purchased ointment on top of the DIY one. It's your choice.

The success or lack thereof is most likely dependent on skin types and severity of the rash.

My personal list of brands for this recipe are below:

Coconut Oil (much cheaper from my local Trader Joes, but this is for the same brand on Amazon for $14.99)

Essential Oil: Lavender (from my personally trusted Edens Garden for $7.25)

Calmoseptine Ointment (store purchased cream that I sometimes use over the DIY oil for $7.99 - it's really great stuff)

Hope it works for your little one if they're in need of some relief!

Homemade Cream Soda

Drinking soda is a rare treat for me, so I've really gotta make it count when it happens. I've tried a few homemade cream soda recipes before, but the one I'm about to share is by far superior to all others I have tried. 

1 cup of club soda
1/4 - 1/3 cup of vanilla syrup (like coffee aisle syrup or make one similar to this recipe)
2 tbsp of half and half
Put a nice mound of whip cream on top (yum!)

Tada! Cream soda. Enjoy :)