I am taking a break from my Coronavirus posts to get back on track with what I would normally post at this time of year. Usually after Purim, I post a gallery featuring our costumes and the wonderful shaloch manos we got from friends and community members.
I love sharing with you, my readers, all the clever and yummy ideas our friends and my students’ families came up with. I hope they will inspire you for future years!
OUR COSTUMES:
After three previous years of dressing up as a family (2019, 2018, 2017), we decided to do it again. We also for the second year coordinated our costumes with our shaloch manos. After several days of discussions of what we would dress up as, we came up with dressing up as Pac-Man characters. I searched online for how to make them and came up with a lot of pictures, but few instructions.
I ended up using Spot of Tea Designs Pac-Man Costume Tutorial for our Ghost costumes. An important tip I would give is start small when cutting the neck hole. For the first costume, I cut it too big. There is no going back after that! Also, make sure you measure each person’s arms before cutting the sides of the fabric. I wanted to make sure the costume would not cover their hands – so they could still eat and function!
I also used iron-on fabric fusion tape to adhere the eyes. I have had things come apart in the past when I used just fabric glue. Also, we chose to make pixelated eyes instead of the round ones suggested in the tutorial. My husband made a template on paper and I traced it on the felt. I then pinned it on while I cut.
As for the Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man costumes, I bought two plain yellow t-shirts from Amazon (Michaels has a great selection of shirts but did not have anything larger than XL). I cut the eyes and mouth from black felt. They were also attached with iron-on tape. I bought pink ribbon to tie into my hair.
To complete the look we had everyone wear black pants and either a black shirt or matching colored shirt under their ghost costumes.
Materials:
- colored felt – 2 yards per ghost
- fabric scissors
- white and black felt – enough for two eyes per ghost*
- black felt for the Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man costumes*
- paper, pencil, and ruler to make eye stencil
- sewing pins (to pin stencil to felt for cutting)
- cardboard for making edge of ghost costumes
- plain yellow T-shirts
- pink ribbon (Michaels)
- iron-on fabric tape (Joann Fabrics or any sewing store)
- iron
- cloth for between iron and fabric (I used a plain white cloth napkin. The instructions said to use a wet cloth in between the fabric and iron to fuse the iron-on tape.)
* The amount of felt for the eyes and mouth will depend on if you are buying small sheets, large sheets, or by the yard. I ended up with too much, but that was better than going back to the store!
OUR SHALOCH MANOS:
Our shaloch manos included:
- Rice Krispy “Pacman and Ghosts” (parve, homemade)
- Sixlets “maze dots” – bought on Amazon
- Laffy Taffy “fruit levels” – bought at Sams.com
- Sparkling water “bonus points” – bought at Walmart
We included the above note (made in Microsoft Publisher) with a family picture, description of what was inside and their meaning, as well as the hectures for the items. I found two free Pac-Man fonts online to use in the headings.
MORE WONDERFUL SHALOCH MANOS:
∞ Moroccan – Our friends Bella & Yosef always come up with a great historical or geographical theme each year. They find great costumes and prepare goodies that coordinate perfectly with them. This year was no different! I will include their costumes in my next post!
∞ Caring for your eyes – Our friends Amy & Joshua always come up with clever themes and elaborate poems. Even though they moved away, I am glad to include her ideas again this year!
∞ Crown theme – Our friends Lisa & Jack put together a beautiful and elegant crown-themed shaloch manos. She used the following items:
- From the Dollar Tree – mini crown party hats, cupcake liners, wand party favors, metallic ribbon, gold and silver bead strands, and cellophane wrap
- From a party store – small acrylic trays in a multi-pack, small clear favor bags
- From Etsy – downloadable Purim favor bags
- Directions – Remove strings from the crown hats. Line each with a cupcake liner. Fill each with a variety of treats. She included homemade hamantashen, pistachio nuts, and Lindor truffles. Line up all three on the tray. Wind the necklaces around the cups. Wrap with cellophane and secure with ribbon. Add gift tag.
∞ Elegant treats -We had several friends (Ellie & Aryeh and Morah Tzirel & R’ Moshe Chaim) put together two beautiful shaloch manos presentations. The second one even included a cute teacher plaque.
∞ Presidential theme – Our friends Suri & Yakov Meir and their kids dressed up as presidential candidates and created this clever red, white, and blue presidential shaloch manos. Another great idea from them!
∞ Black-tie affair – Our friends Vicki & Marc and their kids dressed in formal attire and created this spiffy formal shaloch manos. They included ring pops (for jewels) and black and white foods (to represent black and white accessories). I will include their costumes in my next post!
∞ Farm – Our friends Avigayil & Akiva as well as Racheli & R’ Yitzie came up with clever farm-themed shaloch manos. They both had coordinated costumes and a creative poem to go along with their food and theme. Amazing! I will include their costumes in my next post!
∞ Breakfast tea theme – Our friends Chava & R’ Menachem made this delicious breakfast shaloch manos complete with homemade scones! Yum!
∞ Mind-blowing Purim – Our friends Riki and Chai Shai made this “popping” theme! So ingenious!
∞ Ice cream treat – Our friends Shanna & Yaakov shared with us a sweet ice cream themed shaloch manos in a super adorable burlap bag! They included toppings in a edible ice cream cone cup.
∞ Happy Birthday! – Our cousins Jennie & Yochanan created this original birthday-themed shaloch manos with several yummy treats!
∞ Corona/Mexican – This one was created by Angela & Tzvi when the Coronavirus had not struck so hard here yet. Colorful and delicious!
∞ Security/Police – Our friends Devora & Eli matched their security costumes to this security/police theme complete with fake handcuffs! My kids were fighting over who would get this toy!
∞ Ready meals – Our kids always fight over the meals our friends make. This year Shira & R’ Chanan made delicious salads; Debbie & David made their famous Indian pizza; Chana & R’ Shmuel made their lunch in a box, and Korey & Scott and Dassy & Ben made bourekas.
∞ Beautiful baked goods – We always love getting homemade treats from friends! This year we got homemade cookies (Mimi & R’ Yosef), chocolate mint brownies (Rebecca & Shmuel), chocolate chip cake (Raizy & R’ Yossi), sprinkle cake and jellybeans (Ditza & Naftali), and muffins (Nechama & R’ Pesach). We fought over all of them and enjoyed several for Shabbos desserts!
∞ Mocha – The rav of our shul and his wife (R’ Menachem and Zelda) wrote their own poem about the expression “Mi KaMocha” and included a mocha drink and Klik chocolate candy. They were all dressed as horse riders to go along with the poem. Very innovative!
∞ Zero – Our friends Jessie & Daniel ran out of ideas this year, but still managed to come up with something inspired with their zero-related theme! They included Wacky Mac to go with the word Wacky in their poem, Coke Zero, circle pretzels, a doughnut, peanuts, corn nuts, and a Zero candy bar.
Thank you to everyone for their generosity and creativity! May our next holiday be filled with simcha!
* For more great costume and shaloch manos ideas, see my past Purim posts here.
Surviving on a tight budget 
Leave a Reply