So, I made him a purple car.
The kids were at school, and I had the house to myself. I lit a candle and put on classical music (Handel's Water Music).
I got out the poster board I bought at Target (54 cents each)...
...and the pack of ribbons ($1).
I put the two boards on top of each other and cut out a car shape. Then I covered the front of each with the Bed, Bath & Beyond purple shopping bag, taping and stapling it on.
I rolled out a steering wheel from aluminum foil and covered that with purple shopping bag, too.
Then I went to cut the ribbon, so I could hang the car cut-outs on his shoulders like a sandwich board. And I had the epiphany that when you buy six spools of ribbon for $1, you do not get a whole lot of ribbon. Just look at the amount of shopping bag Bed, Bath & Beyond gives you! And it's free!
Saved by my bag o' ribbon.
By then, I had a mess of stuff lying all over the kitchen table, and a piece of bag too close to the candle caught fire. That was interesting.
Then the costume was done. But I just wasn't sure about it. I mean, it pretty much looked like...a shopping bag costume. Of indeterminate costume. Then Max came home and I got all excited and couldn't wait till Halloween, I had to present it to him right away.
Max wasn't sure what to make of it, at first. But he sure did love the steering wheel.
The front bent, so that you couldn't quite tell it was a car. It looked like, maybe, a big piece of a purple puzzle.
The back didn't look half bad.
Then Max's occupational therapist, Nafeesa, came by. I decided to test her. "Nafeesa, can you tell what Max is?" I asked.
She stared at him. "Well, he's purple!" she said, enthusiastically. A minute later, it dawned on her. "He's a car!" she declared. "Wow, where did you get that shopping bag?"
So I guess two things are clear: 1) There's no doubt Max is walking around in a costume made out of a shopping bag, and 2) This is an interpretive costume. Some people might look at it and see a purple fruit. Of indeterminate fruit. Some people might see a purple can. Some people might see the color purple. Some people might see Oprah.
No matter. Because Max is a purple car, and Max is happy.
So, how are your kids dressing up this weekend?
