The Fellowship of the Ring Costume

My family and I made these Fellowship of the Ring costumes entirely ourselves, and everyone had a hand in creating them. We have read the Tolkien books multiple times with our daughters, and they have always loved them, so we decided to turn ourselves into our favorite characters for Halloween! Our newly-turned 13 year old is Legolas the Elf. We sewed her costume out of old men's jackets, and my husband carved her handmade wooden bow himself. Our middle daughter is Gimli the Dwarf. We also made her tunic out of a recycled men's sport coat which I added some details to. She hand-engraved a soda can for her shoulder details. We built her helmet out of an old styrofoam bike helmet, foam core, and craft foam. Her battle ax was handcarved by my husband to complete the look. Our youngest daughter is Samwise Gamgee, a hobbit. Her costume was assembled from various bits of clothing I adapted. Her backpack is kitted out with Sam's provisions, including homemade sausages, pots, pans, bedroll, and mug. I am playing Frodo Baggins the hobbit, and my costume was created by cutting down men's clothing to fit. The One Ring is a plumbing fitting. Our hobbit feet are made from craft foam that I glued wool roving to for our hairy feet. Each of the Fellowship's Leaves of Lorien brooches were handmade from recycled soda cans. My husband is dressed as Baradur, with the Eye of Sauron on top. We made his costume entirely out of foam core and plastic sheeting. We had such a blast making these costumes as authentically as possible, and our kids absolutely loved getting into character!