dressing for the grocery store: the princess collection

A week or so ago, we were in the local five and dime (what do you even call that now? the discount store? the junk shop?), when my youngest daughter pulled out the total screamer. We were in the toy section so that Gus could pick out a toy for (FINALLY) completing his clean-up chart. Théa had finished her chart two weeks prior – a lifetime ago to a four year old – and did not understand why Gus was the only one who could pick something out. The dialog went something like this:

Théa (very, very loudly): “It doesn’t make sense that one person would get a toy but the other person wouldn’t!” (I’m not kidding, she actually talks like this.)

Adrienne: “You already got your toy, remember? When you finished your chart, you got the Merida legos that you wanted.”

Théa: “But I don’t even like legos! You never let me get anything I want! I want something pink! I love pink! You never let me have anything pink! I need dress-up clothes! All of my dress-up clothes aren’t even real!”

Image via Pixar. Thank you, Pixar, for perfectly capturing how I feel most of the time. 

Just reading that back makes my daughter sound like an absolute monster spoiled brat. I might be raising the next Veruca Salt. All of this over a pink cowgirl costume. 

I think we might have gotten over it. At least until we go to King’s again. In the meantime, and totally coincidentally, Gran and I are working on some costumes. Théa has pretty high demands as you can see, and has asked for the following costumes: Snow White, Rapunzel, Elsa, Cinderella, and Merida. She might be Veruca Salt, but she’s my Veruca and I have to give the people what they want. Really, I can’t stop.

We are working with the same platform as before – if you can find an inexpensive base to work with, add some trim and a bit of shimmer, you’ve got a princess outfit to play in. Fortunately, we made a Rapunzel t-shirt last time around that still fits. I added a pink and purple tutu and called it a day. 

This one was from H&M, and is of course no longer available, but there is still a pink one. Wow, is that a lot of color. And the kid says that I never buy her anything pink.

Last week, we made Snow White and Merida. A special thank you to Adrianna at crafterhours, who inspired us to start making princess play clothes with her adorable Snow White outfit. You, my friend (even though I don't know you), are a rock star. I wish our Snow White play outfit was as cute as yours, but our Snow White is happy, which is all that matters. 

I found a simple blue t-shirt at Target and yellow shorts at Old Navy (these are similar). We added ricrac and ribbon, both of which we already had on hand, to the t-shirt. Simple but effective. 

We went with shorts for Merida also because I found this fantastic poncho-like top and the shorts were a perfect match. To Merida's top, we added a trim of gold ribbon around the sleeve, a small triangle of gold fabric under the v-neck, and gold elastic trim to the neckline. 

After Mom sewed those pieces on (we ended up using the ruffled elastic all the way across the gold triangle), I hand stiched laces across the front.

Our Merida was more than happy to not have a dress. I suspect Merida is the princess with whom Théa most closely identifies despite the fact that she says Belle is her favorite. I might have to reconsider my Disney Princess Half-Marathon costume and dress as Queen Elinor instead of Elastagirl. Tough decision. By the way, if you are looking for a great base to make a Belle dress for your preschooler, check this one out. 

We are still working on Cinderella and Elsa. Keep checking back and I'll get those to you as soon as they are made.