Homemade Halloween - The Peanuts Gang

We waited a long time for the Great Pumpkin this year as it was back in the summer months that I chose The Peanuts Gang as our Halloween costume theme. I knew that once I started working again in September I wouldn't have the time to come up with costumes so I started watching Ebay for Snoopy hats in July, and FINALLY in early September I finally scored this one for under $10. 

You can get them on Etsy too, but I prefer this tight knit instead of the crocheted look.  The big pumpkin and the one with Elsa's name grown in it were grown in our straw bale garden. The rest belong to my sister-in-law who brought pumpkins to her parent's house for our annual Halloween photos and pumpkin carving. It is much more relaxing to snap pictures days before instead of the night of. We've been doing this for a couple of years now.


 Details on how we put together our version of the Peanuts Gang can be found below each character's photo, but first, here's the whole gang!

By far the hardest piece to find was a Peppermint Patty shirt. I found Charlie Brown's online - they are easy to find with a quick Google search, but Peppermint Patty's? forget it! Had I known what I know now, I would have made Charlie Brown's too because it was super easy to make a homemade Peppermint Patty costume using fabric paint.

 Matte fabric paint (bigger than a 2oz bottle), a thick paint brush, and some painter's tape was all I needed to make the unique stripes on one of PapaBear's shirts. I made it simple by skipping the sleeves and not bothering with adding stripes on the back. I eyeballed the spacing and it really turned out nice. I was afraid the shirt would be stiff, but it wasn't at all! Dab the brush, don't use brush strokes so none of the paint seeps under the tape. I already dye my hair red so I didn't factor that into the $12 per person budget. I donned some of PapaBear's Birks, black capris, & a speech bubble with a well known line from the holiday specials, "Hi! Chuck!"

 

 The swirl on Charlie Brown's head was made with an eye liner pencil from the Dollar Store and his speech bubble says, "Good grief!"

To make your own speech/thought bubbles you can download the Peanuts font for FREE here. I centered the text, printed each quote on cardstock, free handed a bubble around the words then used spray adhesive to attach the cardstock to a second piece of cardstock for stability. Be sure to draw the bubble so that the point comes out on the top half. I'll admit, I had all the speech bubbles done then realized I would have to hold the paper above my head because I had put the point at the bottom. Oops!

Sam's Linus costume was as easy as it gets...a $2.49 shirt from Walmart & black shorts that we already had. Again, you could easily use black fabric paint on a red shirt if you can't find a striped shirt. I used Google images to copy the writing for the "Welcome Great Pumpkin" sign to make it look authentic. Sam has had this blue blanket since he was born so that was another element we didn't need to purchase.

I bought suckers at the Dollar Store so we could recreate the scene in the movie, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, where Linus jumps into a pile of leaves with a sucker.

Next up is Julia's transformation into Frieda, the girl with the naturally curly hair. She's most known to my generation for her role in the Christmas special where she's suppose to be the Inn Keeper's wife (Pig Pen).

Since I had a long time to watch for the items needed to create our costumes I kept an eye out for this particular Ralph Lauren dress off of Ebay over the summer. Frieda does wear other colored dresses, but this is the one I thought more people would recognize as it is the one from the Christmas special.  It's something she can totally where the rest of the fall/winter so I didn't include it as a cost to her costume. $12 saddle shoes from Ebay and an old mirror complete the look.  Isn't she adorable!?!?!

 

Last but certainly not least, Elsa's Snoopy costume....

 

 I sewed the spot on during the drive to my inlaws that afternoon and called it good. I was really really nervous that she wouldn't wear the hat, but one mention of candy being put in the dish was all it took for her to ham it up for the camera.

The dog dish was a big hit when we went to the houses in our town. My favorite part was her sweet little 'tank you' in response to candy being put in her bowl. Linus and Frieda carried paper bags just like the characters in the movie - granted in the movie Linus doesn't go trick or treating since he was waiting for the Great Pumpkin, but we let that slide.

Have you ever dressed as a Peanuts character for Halloween or if you haven't - who would you be if you ever did?  I found the perfect dress to be Lucy at Goodwill, but with my red hair and freckles, it was a no brainer for me to be Peppermint Patty. Besides, she has a crush on Charlie Brown. :)

To see more costume ideas visit The Mom Creative. The Turners were dressed up in a a theme we did once when Julia was Elsa's age.

P.S. We'll never use these costumes again so if your family wants to get a head start on next year I am more than happy to ship anywhere in the US. Leave me a comment with which costume you are interested in and I'll get back to you with their price.