It’s October…actually, it’s been October for several weeks now, I’m just starting to finally accept that Halloween will soon be on my doorstep, whether I like it or not.

Don’t get me wrong; I was most definitely all for getting dressed up and roaming the streets for candy and laughs – when I was a child.

I’m not a child anymore, at least so says my body. I’m all for laughing, but I have to be with some really good friends to get all dressed up in a costume of any kind these days and frankly, if it’s dark out, roaming the streets just isn’t my thing anymore.

Unfortunately, all of that IS the very thing my two little cherubs LOVE to do on a day like Halloween. In fact, they love to do it the very SECOND they catch wind that October 1st has finally arrived. I was able to hold them off for awhile a few years ago but now that one of them goes to school and can actually read means he’s very aware of what day – and holiday – it is.

Back to October. Being that it’s the month of costumes and candy, that means something is usually required from the mother of the home to provide any children in her household with a costume. Hubs are I are pretty cheap when it comes to stuff like this; I’m usually looking at $10 or less for a costume. I realize there are all kinds of ways to make a costume on the cheap, but unless my boys want to be “hobos” every year, then that’s about as far as my crafting / imagination skills are gonna go. So thank-you WalMart and Target for giving my kiddos the cheap but creative costumes.

There’s really only one downside to a cheap, store-bought costume. One word. Can you guess it?

ACCESSORIES.

That’s where they get ya’.

“Oh, you wanna be a doctor sweet little man? Sure! Here’s one. Oh, wait. it only comes with the scrubs. Oh…you want the stethoscope. And the surgeons mask. AND the hat?!? Well, um, how does the purple Barney suit grab ya’?”

This year I thought I had it beat. The accessory thing, not the sweet little man…

I got lucky that they both found ninja outfits, in their sizes, and that there were a few accessories included…mainly because they were already attached to the costume. Sweet! Done deal.

Nope. Not quite.

Every ninja needs more than just his hands to do his fighting, mom . They need SWORDS.

I was able to stall them for about a week with my questioning out loud, “Can I even get a sword without a costume?” or “Maybe I can make a sword…” all to which I was hoping they would just forget about the whole thing, Halloween night would get here, and la-dee-da, we would have to just do without them this year.

Nope. They couldn’t let it rest.

First, of COURSE you can get a sword without a costume, at least when it’s October. They run $8 at Target, which isn’t exactly a rip-off, but it is just an additional $16 shelled out since I have to get two of them. Second, they’re plastic, which means D will inevitably be hitting L with it which means lots of crying and two swords being taken away. Third, they WILL eventually break because they’re plastic and we’ve already lost one plastic sword to breakage in this house.

So today, I finally broke down and did something about it. I still wasn’t willing to head over to Target and spend any money on them. Instead I went to the one source for all desperate mothers out there who need a step-by-step tutorial with graphics and examples of children loving said craft item.

That’s right, I went to PINTEREST.

Lo and behold, there are plenty of mommas out there who also need to make things like pirate swords, ninja swords, numchucks, you name it! And one momma was even gracious enough to include pictures with her tutorial. A big shout-out to Lindsay Boardman of Filth Wizardry for making this momma’s day!

Once I realized I had everything in my home to make the swords, I got to work. Newspaper, cereal box, tape, scissors. I decided to make my swords extra sturdy by wrapping them with ductape, since I’m really hoping they’ll last 2 more weeks.

Bing, bang, boom – DONE.

Ninjas…

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you may now FIGHT!

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