Karneval (Carnival) Costumes

Karneval is considered the fifth season in German Catholic customs and traditions. It is similar to Mardi-Gras in the states. There are a wide variety of ways people celebrate and participate in Karneval. Some cities have a lot of parades and special events, while others don't. Some people get into the festivities, while others plan to travel in order to avoid the "hassle."

In this household, the Karneval traditions are family friendly and pretty limited, in comparison to others. It seems to me, the favorite tradition is planning and making their Karneval costumes.

When I arrived the costume ideas "on the drawing board" were cotton candy, a mail box, and a button. International J asked if I could help Princess Ballerina figure out how to make a cotton candy costume, so we jumped on Pinterest. While surfing through those options, new ideas started popping into Princess Ballerina's mind: a cookie, Cookie Monster, a cupcake....it seemed like she really wanted to be a food item. I can't remember how she switched gears, but she landed on Super Girl and that idea stuck.

Captain America donated his blue shirt (we turned it inside out to hide the white design on the front). Mommy donated her red shirt for the cape. My niece C happened to send along the red skirt that I was originally going to wear for part of my costume, we just resized the elastic waist and she was good to go. And after a trip to the craft store the logo and belt were added. They are made out of felt.

It was both super cute and super comfy. She wore it to school Thursday morning and decided to keep it on for our adventure that afternoon (I'll do that story in another post.)

Captain America originally wanted to be a mailbox. This type of costume is both very creative and very common for Karneval. We were on the hunt for a box we could design to look something like this....

Before we got too far into making this costume, Captain America decided to go as Captain America. After a hunt through the house for the proper colored base clothing, we found a shirt and pair of pants that would work. We just had to come up with the logo, hat, and shield. I took care of the sewing and K took care of helping create the shield.

The shield is the best part of the costume. It has elastic straps that his arm fits into and a special strap that allows him to throw it and pull it back. 

He won the costume contest in his classroom, at school on Thursday. The blue glasses/goggles did not last all morning, but the rest of the costume was comfortable enough for the morning. 

E.H.B. decided she wanted to go as a button....and she stuck with that idea. Her costume includes a second button that hangs on her back. For the parade on Monday, we are encouraging her to put her hair in a bun and wear a big "needle" in her hair with yarn (to look like thread) attached and hanging down to her shoulder. It was fun to hear the list of costumes her classmates came up with. They are so creative. 

As we were out and about that day, we saw many people (kids and adults) dressed in costumes. Some were probably on their way to special events, while others were working in the stores.

The kids wore their costumes for their half-day at school on Thursday and then again on Monday when we go to a parade in a neighboring city. We may have to make some adjustments to allow for the winter coats. It's cold here (especially to this wimpy American.)