Middle, much to my sometimes chagrin, is obsessed with trains. It started with the PBS Kids show Dinosaur Train and has evolved to everything Thomas the Tank Engine. It doesn't help that my brother is also obsessed with trains and encourages Middle every chance he gets, including purchasing this snazzy little dress up number.
So when it came time to start deciding on a Halloween theme, it was pretty obvious trains were going to be involved. This will be Middle's first actual Trick or Treat experience. Last year we took out my bonus son, Big, and Middle got to ride along in the wagon in support.
Don't they make quite the dino-mite pair?
With the addition of Little earlier this year, we have to ditch the wagon in favor of the double stroller to provide adequate support. I took to Pinterest for ideas on how to incorporate it into our theme. There's plenty of tutorials and ideas for wagons available, but not a lot in the way of strollers, especially doubles. Nothing like a good challenge!
A quick search of Thomas Halloween costumes presents you with two main types. The first is making the child Thomas, either via a smock with the Thomas design or by building a small engine to hang around their waist. This option seemed impractical, considering the mode of transportation for the boys and the awkwardness of seating him with a carboard train around him. The second makes the mode of transportation, typically a wagon, into Thomas or one of his engine buddies and the child into a related character. Option two for the win!
The first thing I needed to decide is how to make Middle accessible in the stroller and not require us getting him in and out at every single stop. We have a Baby Trend Sit n Stand, so placement was a no brainer, but I needed a design which left the back of the stroller open. Next, accumulation of materials. I haven't been as active on Amazon these days, so boxes were in short supply. Lucky for me, Papa R is a mechanic and lots of car parts come in really big boxes.
I started out with a simple design based around the seating of the stroller. Little would have to be in the front seat but doesn't need much leg room, and Middle is in the back jump seat with a clear exit, but can have more of an enclosed space. With this in mind, I decided to have the boiler wrap around the tray for Little and the cab can enclose Middle. I set out the stroller and started lining up boxes to give myself an idea of basic shapes and design.
From this point it was a matter of cutting away pieces of the boxes that I didn't need and combining others to make four main components: a rail base, a boiler, a cab with walls extending to the boiler, and Thomas's face.
Of course, it's not complete without Thomas's smiling face. I saw a lot of Pinterest posts which just printed the face and glued it to the front. To be honest, I was tempted to do the same. But then I stumbled upon a mom blog who used paper-mache to create a 3D version of Thomas. Now I have not paper-mached anything since grade school and from what I remember of that experience is that it was time-consuming and messy. Neither of which I want to deal with while trying to keep up with two crazy kids! But still, the overachiever in me wanted to do something more than just print and paste. I started looking through my crafty supplies and found these two beauties! Crayola Air-dry clay and Mod Podge! I bought both a few Christmases ago with the intention of making ornaments with Big and Middle but in the hustle and bustle of the season with a newborn, it never happened. I started by sketching out where I wanted his features on the carboard and then began shaping balls of clay to form raised areas. Once completed, they dried for 2 days and I both adhered them to the carboard and sealed each piece with the Mod Podge. Another day to dry, then I started painting and adding in the rest of his face.
Up next was painting of the main engine. Having each of the 4 components still separated made the task much easier with no paint carry-over into unwanted spaces.
While the main pieces dried in the sun, I focused on some details. Thomas is known for his toot! toot! whistle so of course I had to include those. A couple of $0.38 PVC pieces from the plumbing section at Menards, two outlet covers (of which we have many!), yellow and glitter paint then Ta-da! Lightweight and easy enough to attach.
Next the headlamp. One of our main concerns during Trick or Treat is visibility. What better way to increase that and make the design more true to character than with a working headlamp? I purchased two of these round touch lamps at Walmart for $4.88. They're both incredibly lightweight and easy to operate with only 4 AA batteries. Using just a simple box to enclose, I cut out a circle big enough to be able to turn it off an on without much hassle but the back is still open for battery access. The housing will eventually be fixed on the front of the engine. The second light will eventually be attached to the inner roof of the cab so that Middle can see to get in and out easily.
The work continues on Thomas! My next steps are to begin painting the detail work on the body pieces, build a lighted smoke stack, and attaching it all together and to the stroller. Can't wait to share the final results!
Part 2 has been updated!
I LOVE IT! So creative! You are such a dedicated mamađź’•
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