Hobbit Festival

A few weeks ago Tyler asked me for help in making a costume, of sorts. No, we don't have Halloween here so it wasn't for that...it was for a much nobler cause!

The problem is, costume making is not my forte...this is one of those times when I really wish Grandma (my mom) was around because she could've been much more helpful to him than I!

But, being the mom that I am, I said I'd give it a shot and do all I could to help him become...an elf! No, no, not the kind at the North Pole! In fact, I hope I'm even saying it right...are there "elves" in the book, "The Hobbit"?! Tyler is not around for me to ask so I'll just have to go with this as best as I can!

A group of people here in the Czech Republic host a "Hobbit Battle" each September and you go as various characters from the book and take part in a simulated battle between good and evil (yes, some choose to go to the evil side...but not Tyler, thankfully!). This was no small event, as I imagined it would be. There were over 350 people there! I wish I had the pictures of everyone else who was at the festival - it was quite impressive.

But the deal of the festival is...to participate you have to have a costume and weapons that you have made...none of that "store bought" stuff!! So Tyler spent a week making his own bow and arrows and carving a sword of his own design...impressive! But then there was still the question of the costume...only certain colors are allowed for certain characters, and it has to look genuine. Where on earth do you find "hobbit looking" clothing in the Czech Republic?

Tyler's friend, Patrick, gave him some ideas so off Tyler and I went in search of his costume! We went in stores I had never ever seen before, let alone been in...and these were in cities that I actually shop in! I've just never been in the market for these sorts of things before!

In the end we bought pants and a shirt, along with a few other "Hobbit-ish" items, and I actually sewed...yes, it's true!...a cape for him! He did look quite dashing and handsome as he left for his Hobbit Festival. Perhaps he'll write about it on his own blog with details of the festival...he could explain it better than me since I wasn't there!

But I did get some fun pictures of him before he left that day...and he and I both felt quite proud for having pulled together a costume that even passed inspection once he got there!