Our 2019 Halloween Costumes

This year's costumes were inspired by a picture I saw of a group of cosplayers at one of the big cons. They were dressed as Jedi, but their robes and lightsabers were in the colors of the Hogwarts houses. I didn't want to make costumes for everyone (I do not have that kind of time on my hands) and I knew we didn't have Harry Potter costumes to fit everyone or Star Wars costumes to fit everyone. But we could do half Harry Potter and half Star Wars and I'd only need to make two costumes. That seemed doable, so that's what we did.

Jeremy was Han Solo, using the costume I made a couple years ago.

Sunshine was Chewbacca. I made her costume this year.

apparently Chewbacca doesn't smile?

I was a Gryffindor Jedi, using robes I made this year.

River was Harry Potter, using the costume I made for Sunshine to be Hermione a few years ago.

Ocean was Ron Weasley, using the costume I made for River to use as Harry Potter a few years ago.

I think the mashup of Star Wars and the Wizarding World worked well.

A few more details on each costume.

We didn't change anything on Jeremy's costume that I made a few years ago. If he uses it again, I'll have to make new boot covers, but the rest of it is holding up pretty well.

I made a fur dress that Sunshine wore over a long sleeve black dress and fur leggings that snapped around her black boots. I got the idea for it here (affiliate link: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases, but there is no additional cost for you). I just cut a basic dress shape out of the fur, tried it on Sunshine, then altered it from there to fit her. I hemmed the collar to keep the fur out of her face, but didn't bother hemming the sleeve edges or the bottom. She also wore black leggings.

I altered the bag I made for her Asoka costume and turned it into Chewbacca's ammo belt. Even though River was Chewbacca last year, I had to buy a new bowcaster since his got broken sometime this past year. Like last year, I spray painted it for better realism.

I lengthened the bag strap with more webbing, then covered cubes of styrofoam in light gray duck tape and hot glued them to the strap. I hot glued a narrow strap over them, and put rivets in between each cube.

River wore the same vest and robes Sunshine had worn, with a white dress shirt and black pants. I did buy a Gryffindor tie from Target for $5, along with a pair of Harry Potter glasses (which he loves wearing, regardless of whether he's in costume). The glasses came with a surprisingly long-lasting temporary tattoo scar, that he is still carefully not washing off. We also found him a stuffed owl to use as Hedwig and I made a new wand since I don't know where his other one went.

Ocean wore River's old vest and robes, with a white dress shirt and gray pants. The robes were a little short, but that would be in character for Ron, so I didn't worry about it too much. He also wore a Gryffindor tie from Target, and we found him a stuffed rat so he could carry Scabbers around. I also made him a wand (hot glue on a chopstick, then spray painted, with some craft paint on top for texture). We sprayed his hair orange with a $2 can of orange hair spray, which lasted four uses with some still in the can.

My costume required the most work. I used my old Jedi robes to make a new set in Gryffindor colors (the house I've been sorted into). I used a red flat sheet and some yellow fabric from JoAnns. I would have liked a yellow that was a bit more orangey/gold, but I couldn't find any. I just wore a plain white t-shirt under the robes. I bought a Gryffindor patch on eBay to sew on one side of the yellow shoulder armor.

I made a black sash and found a belt at Goodwill to update the belt that goes over it. I riveted a narrower belt on top of a wider belt to keep them in place, then cut them in the back and attached some black elastic. This gives just enough stretch for me to step in and out of it, since the buckle is non-functioning. I put the small utility pouch from my old belt over the elastic to hide it as much as possible.

Under the tunic I wore black pants tucked into black boots. I also made a new lightsaber with a bigger handle. This allowed me to put a small flashlight inside to light up the blade, which I made out of red pex tubing. I sanded the printed words off the pex and gave the whole thing a light sanding. I painted the handle like I painted the last ones I made.

2018 costumes
2017 costumes
2016 costumes
2015 costumes
2014 costumes
2013 costume and here
2012 costume
2011 costumes and here
2010 costumes
2009 costume
2008 costume