One thing about being a mom that I rarely enjoy but seem to do very well is what I call “McGyvering things”. You know, putting together Halloween costumes, fixing broken stuff, and finishing any kind of school project, with whatever supplies happen to be around, in 30 minutes or less.
Just this Halloween, I used garbage bag twist ties with an old black belt and broken toy gun holsters to create the perfect Lone Ranger belt for MrCutie. Last year it was taking apart an over-the-shoulder old-time gangster kind of holster and crafting a Han Solo tie-around-the-thigh long-gun holster. Not to mention throwing serious braided hair buns into my daughter’s hair and using aluminum foil with duct tape to create the shiny bits on her Princess Leia belt.
I’ve painted on lumberjack stubbly beards and pirate mustaches, and even done a full tiger face-painting for Sweetheart’s spirit days at school.
Cereal boxes have served as the base material for several costume and school production props. I can print almost any shape or design on my printer (thanks to Google image search) and with some scissors and tape we can make almost anything.
Every day clothes, twist ties, baling wire, duct tape, staples, fabric scraps, belts, craft foam, spray adhesive, eyeliner, lipstick, hair pins, etc… I can make just about anything with most of what we have here at home.
What’s usually NOT so fun about the whole process is the inevitable time crunch that seems to happen when the child who needs the McGyver’ed stuff tells me they need it tomorrow.
The new rule was instituted for Halloween – if you don’t start prepping at least 2 weeks before Halloween, you’re stuck with what you get!
Last night was one of those time crunch times. Sweetheart had decided that she was going to be a Black Jaguar for “Animal Day” at school today. She needed to pull together stuff from home to make her costume. She was able to cover everything but the ears, a tail, and the face paint. McGyver Mom to the rescue!
With a black headband, some scrap black fabric left over from the Lone Ranger mask, spray adhesive normally used to baste quilts together and a pair of scissors, we had ears in about 15 minutes.
An old black knee-high trouser sock, stuffed with black corduroy fabric from one of the brothers’ old pair of pants, pinned with safety pins to the back of her black sweatpants served as the tail.
The face painting was going to be very interesting, seeing as Sweetheart had the face paints with her at school on Halloween, and couldn’t find them while gathering stuff last night. I was prepared to go as far as I could with my single black eyeliner pencil, but assured her it wouldn’t give her the effect she was hoping for. Thankfully, she found the face paints, under her bed, just before she needed to be saying goodnight. PHEW! And my daughter had no worries about me being able to create the desired effect with the face painting. Brave girl! 🙂
My kiddos have become accustomed to my McGyvering stuff I guess – they have full confidence that I can make just about anything they need to have made for whatever they are doing. I just have to work on their timing a bit!
What projects have you McGyvered lately?
You are da MOM! I am so impressed! I have most of that stuff around here, but I couldn’t begin to think about how to be creative with it like you!
My mom-in-law has said that she would never think to do most of the stuff I come up with. THAT surprises me, because it just pops into my head. I guess some people are just wired this way. Yup, I’m weird! 🙂 Now, if only I could McGyver a robot maid…….