Ethan’s Fire Engine, Fire Rescue Boat, and John Deere Halloween Costumes

Fire Engine Costume (Halloween 2010)

Ethan’s Fire Engine Costume for Halloween

The rain poured and poured and poured this weekend. But it wasn’t that terrible to be confined indoors with two sick little kids. We spent plenty of time with Legos, firefighter toys, superhero capes, short walks outdoors, a few movies, carving a pumpkin, and finishing Ethan’s Halloween costume.

When we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he was insistent that he wanted to be a fire engine. Of course not just any ‘ol fire engine. He wanted to be a ladder engine. Hmmmm. Laura scoured the internet for ideas to see how other parent’s assisted children’s Halloween costume dreams. She found many ideas but none that exactly fit Ethan’s vision. We put our minds together and began to cut, glue, and paint.

The final product took a few weeks to assessmble. Here are the steps we followed:

1. We found an old moving box in the attic, sized up Ethan, cut out the hole, and painted a few coats of red, then white for the cab and striping.
2. We cut some black construction paper to size and glued on a couple front and side windows.
3. The lights were Ethan’s idea. Ethan and I found front headlights at a nearby hobby store  and grabbed a set of back bike lights from Fred Meyer.
4. The ladder was essential. I picked some 3′ long 1/4″ x 1/4″ pieces of wood from the lumber store. Both ladders are the same sizes, except one is attached to the base with screws so it can swivel around.
5. The two side hoses are 5/8″ rounds of wood. They are tied on with a couple of ties.
6. The side hose reel is an old bike tube wrapped around a black painted toilet paper roll.
7. The front and back bumpers are packing styrofoam wrapped in aluminum foil and screwed to the box.
8. The tires are two paper plates glued together and then glued to the fire engine.
9. We grabbed a couple fire stickers and stuck them on the front grill and two side doors.
10. Laura personalized it with the words “Ethan’s Fire Engine” on the back.
11. Laura picked up a set up rainbow colored suspenders so that the box would balance well on Ethan (it’s a little back heavy).
12. Last, duct tape not only holds the world together, but also this costume.

Ethan loves his costume. Actually Autumn loves it too because of the working lights. We spent about $40 on this project, but we know that the lights and suspenders can be used again, while all the other materials were from other projects.

Fire Engine Halloween Costume

Fire Engine Halloween Costume

Fire Engine Halloween Costume

Fire Engine Halloween Costume

John Deere Tractor Costume (Halloween 2009)

All kids love John Deere Tractors. Ethan wanted to take his interest in John Deere to the next level and be one for Halloween. This costume was mostly prepared by Laura. She did a fine job with it. The key part to this costume was finding the right size box for our 3 year old so it was snug on the sides and easy to carry. Once that was found, it wasn’t very hard.

Ethan and his John Deere Tractor costume (2009)

John Deere Tractor Halloween Costume

John Deere Tractor Halloween Costume

John Deere Tractor Halloween Costume

Fire Rescue Boat (Halloween 2011)

We made Ethan a Fire Rescue Boat for Halloween 2011.  It was based off the Seattle Fire Rescue Boat  Leschi and not terribly difficult to make. Despite my initial skepticism to create this, it came together very well and Ethan enjoyed wearing it around and showing it off to his friends. The only change I’d make next time is to use duct tape rather than paint for the entire boat.

Ethan’s Fire Rescue Boat Halloween Costume (2011)

Ethan’s Fire Rescue Boat Halloween Costume (2011)

Ethan’s Fire Rescue Boat Halloween Costume (2011)

Ethan’s Fire Rescue Boat Halloween Costume (2011)

>>More photos of our family D.I.Y. projects are in our DIY Photo Album.<<

Here are few more photos of the fire engine costume.

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