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cosplay, despicable me costume, despicable me lucy costume, diy, family, gru costume, halloween, halloween costume, homemade costume, lucy wig, minion costume, purple minion costume, sewing
They are done. OH EM GEE!!! DONE!
Halloween costumes are done!! I was so excited. I arranged them all on the floor while Nathan and Finn were out and Alice was asleep. And then I got out the camera because I could. not. help. it.
Which is when the guys walked in, with me standing on a chair, hovering over our costumes with a camera dangling from my neck.
By some miracle, Nathan was easily persuaded to try them all on and shoot some pictures. It helped that I promised if we took them now, we wouldn’t have to take a hundred of them right before trick or treating on Halloween. And I was expecting Alice to have a mini-minion meltdown, but holy lord, she even kept her hat on the whole time.
The miracles just kept coming, ladies and gents.
If you’re new to this neck of the woods, we decided to be characters from Despicable Me (the second one). Finn decided. We all followed along.
The kids are Minions, and adorable…
Nathan and I looked like complete freaks, but I ‘spose that is what Halloween is all about.
For the kids’ costumes, I whipped out very simple pairs of overalls – just pants with a bib on the front (Finn’s were an old pair of jeans in a past life). They each got a pair of $.87 gloves from Walmart and I made them each a coordinating hat (you can read all about the hats here) to got with their fleece sweatshirts.
Nathan’s Gru costume was the easiest and cheapest costume of the bunch. I made the striped scarf from black and gray fleece. We dug one of his old coats out of the basement, I tacked on the “G” logo as a pretend zipper pull and made a nose out of Fun Foam. A not-fooling-anyone kinda nose. One that is hilariously unsophisticated and not awe-inspiring at all.
We had two options – buy the “witch’s nose” kit from one of those Halloween pop-up stores or get the Gru mask. The witch’s nose was all wrong and had an enormous wart on it. We found the mask, but besides the fact that it felt like cheating and not half as much fun, when I tried it on, it sent Alice into a panic. So no to that idea. Fun foam it was.
And his skinny pants? I have to hand it to him; he is totally rocking out a pair of his long underwear.
My costume, Lucy (Gru’s love interest), was the hardest one of them all. It sucked up the most time and funds. I found a pattern at Joann’s for a trench coat and made a few alterations to it – and used fleece to cut down on the cost. Never in my life have I wanted to murder a piece of fabric more…. The collar was a disaster and I spent over an hour staring at the instructions trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next. I spent the entire night dreaming about it. I wish I was exaggerating.
I bought a pair of cheapie sunglasses at the dollar store and painted them with blue nail polish. Want to know how to entertain yourself for an entire nap time? Try painting pink polka dots on a scrap of white fabric one day to make a scarf – that was fun! (Eye roll.)
And the wig? Ahh. A hot mess.
It is actually two $6.00 orange bob wigs from Walmart. One wig is balled up and pinned to the top of my head for Lucy’s bun. The one I wore got pinned up and under – and I’m lucky that she popps her collar – since the back is even worse than the front.
Either way, it is fine – since all we plan on doing is trick or treating at the zoo and around the neighborhood with all of our costumes on.
The only thing left to be decided is this… Nose, or no nose? Nathan’s fake nose is terrible…. but it is kinda what makes Gru “Gru.”
Whaddya think…. should we keep it?
Awesome Lisa! As always!
yes to the nose. My husband is going as Gru and we have been searching for a nose solution! THANK YOU!
You are so very welcome! Quick tip- secret to getting the folds crisp is a hair dryer. 🙂
Omg thank u soooo much for the nose idea!!! Love it, It looks great!!! Quik question how do you keep the nose from falling? Thank you=)
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but it’s stuck on with carpet tape. I originally planned on using spirit gum or some other kind of cosmetic adhesive. We used the tape just for the pictures, but it stuck so well that I think we’re going to use that on Halloween!
This is an amazing family costume – you are so creative! My 6 yr old is going as Gru – can you share how you actually made the nose? I have researched using fun foam and forming it with heat. Did you make a “mold” first and fold it around that?
Gee, thanks a million!
As for tips on the Gru nose; don’t overthink it! There weren’t any molds or anything – I cut out a piece paper that I would form into a very tall, skinny pyramid and once the size was right, I traced it onto tan fun foam. The problem with fun foam is that it doesn’t crease very well; but heat it up with a blow dryer after you have folded it as best as you can, then hold the crease and it stays crisp much better. I used hot glue to glue it together, and then just trimmed and trimmed until it fit on my face.
I think the thing about making a nose out of foam is that it isn’t fooling anyone; so there isn’t that pressure to make it look “real.” Gru is, afterall, just a cartoon. 🙂
Good luck, and I hope you send over a pic once you are done!
Thank you! I will attempt this and definitely share a photo!!
I do of course have another question – is your nose 3-sided? Meaning, is there any underside to it? I’m guessing there is as you mentioned pyramid. So then is the underside where you glued it together, overlapping? Thank you!
Yep, yep! Right on all counts. Three sided and glued together on the bottom.
awesome costumes I am so impressed!
Thanks so much! I’m so happy with the way it turned out. Cannot wait for Halloween!!
Going as Gru because my 3 month old got a minion costume off a creative-type like you on etsy lol. Thank you so much for the nose. I was just going to plain face it because nothing in halloween shops looked right (just as you stated) and the zipper pull was a good touch too. It didn’t even occur to me 😀
Great costumes! What did you use to keep the fun foam nose on your face?
Thanks! Carpet tape. Classy.
Thank you so much for sharing your creativity and tips & tricks! This is our plan for family Halloween costumes, too. The fun foam nose is brilliant – we made one last night. And, painting dots on white fabric & dollar store sunglasses with blue nail polish- also brilliant! Just finished those this morning and with the blue trench coat I found at Goodwill, I’m now all set! Loved your great pictures, too (and I’m completely in awe of the beautiful coat you made). Happy Halloween! 🙂 Robin
Thanks, Robin! You have to send pics!! Happy Halloween to you and yours. Now go get some candy!!!
hi there! I had my friend who is much more creative and good with a sewing machine use your picture to create the cutest minion hat! my fiance is going as gru, we are trying to figure out the nose today. thanks so much for this amazing post!
You’re very welcome! Happy Halloween!
Hi there – hope your Halloween was great! We had a chance to wear the costumes 3 times. I made the nose from white fun foam and shaped it with an iron. I mixed up some craft paint and painted it skin colored. Not exact, but good enough! I The first time (Saturday before Halloween) he had the nose on with carpet tape but it didn’t connect too well to his tiny real nose. I reapplied 1/2 way through trick or treat. So, for the 31st at school, I had hot glued the strings from a birthday hat (of course painted them skin-colored prior) and that worked great. Not my first choice but my son wanted it that way. And he won for his K5 classroom, and then 4th overall at school (K4 through 8th grade)!
Would love to upload photo to share but not sure how…..
Thank you so much for your tips and that gentle push to make it good!!
Do you sell the costume?
Nope, just sitting in the costume bin waiting to be worn out by the little ones playing dress-up. 🙂
OMG these are adorable…my son wanted to be the purple minion for Halloween so we made his costume, just wanted to share it with you..But I just wanted to say your costumes are AMAZING!!
We do family costumes that I make every year. And, since my daughter’s birthday is October 30th, I also usually make a cake themed around our costumes. I love how your overalls turned out and I’m very curious about the pattern you used to make them.
They aren’t really “overalls” per say. I traced a pair of each of the kids’ pants and instead of feeding elastic around the waist, I put a simple bib on the front and attached two lengths of fabric for the straps. No clips or buckles; just had to slip them over the kids’ shoulders since they crossed in the back. My son’s were made from a pair of old jeans and my daughters with black cotton duck. I’m so glad that other people do family costumes! We were the only ones dressed up as a family for trick or treating.
If you haven’t made pants without a pattern; here is a quick tutorial here: https://anotherbigbite.com/2012/12/03/outfitted-for-christmas-morning/
Did you make the shirts also? I love the idea of the coat out of fleece too. So much cheaper!
Yes, I am one of the weird moms who dress up with the kids. Ever since my daughter was born on Oct 30, it just made my love for Halloween bigger. We did a homemade Dorothy and the wicked witch (green and all!) when she was one. I also outfitted the stroller with a flying monkey, a yellow brick road, and the witche’s striped socks.
The next year, after my son was born in August, I saw his black hair (which is now blond) and decided he should be a greaser and me and my daughter would be 50’s girls. I made a “leather” jacket for my son and a skirt for my daughter (I already had one) and belts for us girls too. I also made a cardboard 50’s car to attach to the side of our double stroller.
Then we did Snow White, and all costumes were 100% handmade. We had Snow White, Dopey (which I modified a Pirate costume to come up with) and I was the Evil Queen. My Evil Queen was in the top 5 in the nation in Simplicity’s Halloween costume contest. Then I reused my evil queen dress the next year, and modified my cape so I could be Mother Gothel. My daughter was Rapunzel, and my son Flynn Rider. My daughter had a massive Rapunzel tower for her birthday cake.
This year, we added my new husband to the mix. My daughter desperately wanted to be Rosalina (a mostly unknown princess from Super Mario Galaxy.) So, I became Princess Peach, and my husband was Luigi and my son was Mario. I start thinking about Halloween costumes for the next year as soon as Halloween is over! We just saw DM2 over Christmas and figured it would be perfect! Especially since my daughter is super hyper and acts like a purple minion.
I love your costumes and hope that ours turn out half as good. Now I just need to decide on her cake…Minion Cake Pops maybe? 🙂
Totally cake pops!! Though the minion twinkies are cute and a little easier. :). Is that cheating?
My daughter is living and breathing the Frozen music now… If I’m lucky, maybe I can parlay that into Ana and Elsa costumes for her and I… The wheels in my head are a-swirling. Omg, that fusha cape with the ball trim??? Yessir.
OMG! Frozen was totally another option for us. I wanted to real free from princesses though. Mom sure there will be tons of Frozen princesses this year.
I figured if we put it off another year, there might be an actual pattern for the dress. (I’m a big simplicity snob. I love their ease patterns. But I was sorely disappointed when there was no Brave pattern the year after the movie came out and I was asked to make a Brave dress for a friend. I’m hoping they’ll have Frozen patterns by 2015, because fudging patterns isn’t my favorite thing.) I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!
Holy flipping typos…sorry
No worries at all…. I am the TYPO QUEEN… Which means that I DON’T see them. It is my kryptonite.
Sorry not to answer your question about the shirts! I did make them with a qwiksew pattern that I can’t seem to find. I think I got it at Hancock fabrics. They worked great for the costumes, but woah they were a pain to get on and off.
Interestingly enough, I’d already found that coat pattern and figured it would be the one to use. Nice to see you used it too!!
Wow, fantastic effort on your costumes they look great! Definitely should keep the nose – but your costume is easily recognizable without it too.
I have to give you kudos for the coat that you made. I’m in the process of trying to figure out the Lucy coat for myself for our family Halloween theme this year. I’ve already been to thrift stores trying to find one. No luck as of yet. There’s no way I have time to make one with the making of 3 minion costumes. You’re costumes are great.
Where can I find fun foam? The nose you made looks awesome and I want to try it out, although I am not crafty like you at ALL! lol
At Michaels, Joanns or Hobby Lobby… Even Walmart, though not in the flesh color.
Any chance you would be willing to sell the lucy costume and both minions?
WHERE CAN I FIND THE FOAM FOR THE NOSE?? AND THE CARPET TAPE? DID U PAINT IT?
Hi! My family is dressing up as this for Halloween. These costumes are awesome!!
Do you still have Lucy’s jacket/outfit/wig and Gru’s scarf and the G symbol? I would like to buy them from you. Let me know if you are interested! Thanks!
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Hello,
Would you be interested in selling the purple minion costume? My son desperately wants to be a purple minion for Halloween and I am not crafty.
Thanks!
The trench coat pattern isn’t available any more, would you mind sharing it? My friend asked if I could make her one for her to wear for this year’s Halloween. Thank you for you time!
Sure! It’s Project Runway pattern 2311. 🙂 I think it’s still available on amazon.