Halloween Moana-Style

I wanted to do a blog post for this because my super talented mom HAND-MADE most of our costumes for Halloween this year and it’s just too good not to share the details.  Grady has been pretty obsessed with the movie Moana the past several months so we decided early on that we would do a family theme based on the movie.  So, we thought it was fitting for John and I to be Moana’s mom and dad, Evelyn to be Baby Moana, and Grady to be Maui.  Of course, it’s impossible to find a Maui costume anywhere since Disney discontinued it…and the mom and dad are semi-obscure characters, so we pretty much had to compile the costumes from scratch!  I wanted to do some side-by-sides for fun…so here goes!

Maui – My little man made the cutest Maui, if I do say so myself!  That tattoo shirt is hand-drawn with permanent marker free-hand by my mother…yes, you read that correctly!  Do yourself a favor and zoom in.  They are ridiculously accurate and it’s super cool to look at each ‘story’ on his sleeve.  I purchased a tan leotard online and she drew everything with a thin black permanent marker.  Then, we made the skirt by using rattan string and a collection of silk leaves from Hobby Lobby.  We added additional string and shells to the front to mimic Maui’s and give depth.  I also, glued a bunch of leaves to a pair of green gym shorts of Grady’s as an underneath/back-up option.  I’m super glad I did that because as cute as the skirt is, it just wasn’t super realistic to withstand the wear and tear of a toddler for hours and hours.  Lastly, my mom hand-sculpted the teeth and necklace pieces to create an over-sized version fit for a toddler. I LOVE the way it turned out…too darn cute!

Baby Moana – I don’t think there is anything cuter than a bald baby Moana, hahaha. I actually bought her outfit on Etsy here. Then we made the shell necklace small enough for her to replicate the one from the movie. And lastly, I bought a realistic Plumeria on Etsy and then bought some nylon headbands.  My mom sewed the plumeria onto the headband so it would stay in place.  This was a perfect costume for little Evie because it was simple and comfortable.

Sina and Tui – It just made sense to be Moana’s mom and dad since Evelyn was dressing as her.  This was truly challenging though since all of it had to be created from the ground up.  My mom set out on the challenge to find the right fabric, sew it all together, and layer the pieces to look EXACTLY like the real thing.  She hand-drew the tattoos for John’s tight shirt as well. His necklace is also hand-sculpted from clay.  And then, of course, we had to include Tui’s ceremonial Chief’s headwear for John…..all of which my mom also painted, sewed and glued from scratch (some pretty ingenious stuff she did to get it all to work and fit appropriately!!). My headpiece was purchased on Etsy and added the perfect final touch.

Accessories – Lastly,  we incorporated some of our favorite accessories to complete the look.  I purchased a Hei-Hei doll and a light-up Maui Hook from Target.  Then I made these Kakamora Treat Buckets by spray-painting pumpkins.  My husband painted the faces on and I think they came out so cute!

To say we had fun as the Moana family is an understatement.  The best part is that it’s something Grady has been watching for months in our house, so it was fun to make that come to life for him.  The things we do for our kiddos (and grand-kiddos in my mom’s case :))!

Here are some other favorite pics from the night we spent at Magic Kingdom in our costumes: