DIY Light-Up Ratatouille Costume and an Eyeball Mocktail

I'm thrilled with how Trevor's Halloween costume turned out. Making it was a joint effort between Steve and me. Check it out:

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Chef Alfredo Linguini and Remy Costume

Materials:

• chef coat (affiliate link here and throughout the post)
• paper toque
• image of Remy
• micro-tip scissors
• black Sharpie
• LED light
• 3 volt button battery
• Glue Lines
• tape runner

Steps:

Draw or print an image of Remy holding a spoon. Cut it out, then use the Sharpie to color it in completely. 

The next part is really easy: ask Husband Extraordinaire to come up with a light. If you do not have access to my husband or your own Husband Extraordinaire, it's easy to make your own using a few small parts. Steve used leftover parts to wire up a bright white LED in series with a resistor and a battery. 

Here's the schematic:

In a pinch, you could use a small stick-on light like this, but I'm concerned this one would be too heavy. If you're able to find one that is very lightweight, give it a try! 

I gathered the toque, the cut-out of Remy, the light, and the battery, along with my tape runner and Glue Lines.

I used the tape runner to put glue on the FRONT of Remy, then attached him to the inside front of the toque. I put two Glue Lines on the back of the circuit board, then attached it to the inside back of the toque. I left the battery out for now, since there's no on and off switch. 

I put the battery in the toque then we did a photo shoot with Trevor around 5:00 pm on Halloween in our backyard. It was bright and sunny, so you can't tell that there's a light on in his toque.
  

Here's Trevor at 7:00 pm while he was out trick-or-treating. It was fun to see Remy emerging slowly as the sun went down. 

And in case you were wondering... Yes, Steve and I did dress up, but we didn't coordinate with Trevor. Or each other. I had planned to make family costumes, but had to prioritize some other things, so we went with stuff from the costume box.

You can probably just make out the rat on my arm and the snake slithering down my chest. I don't think you can see the spider on my hat, nor my too-subtle green skin. And you definitely can't see the cockroach and eyeballs in my cauldron. 

When we returned to the house after trick-or-treating, I made a drink from the items in my cauldron (and maybe a few items from the refrigerator...)

To make your own eyeball mocktail, start by washing and drying a ping pong ball. Draw in the details. I used Sharpies, but you could use food-safe markers if you prefer. Combine equal parts of lemon juice, orange juice, and apple juice, then add a splash of vanilla Torani and a drop or two of green food color.  Float the eyeball in the drink, making sure the liquid doesn't come in contact with the ink. Delicious!