P wanted to be Aerial this year. I could have gone out to Target and bought her a $20 costume and be done with it but I just couldn't. I almost did. Then I reconsidered. It's been a childhood dream of mine to sew my children's costumes. Plus this year will be easier than next so I should take advantage!
I ordered a leotard and a wig from the cheapest sellers on Amazon and then headed to the fabric store. The original idea was to make her a fish tail of some sort. I bought enough boning to wrap it around her twice from top to bottom but fatigue and reason took over. P was allowed to wear her costume to school for two days which meant I needed to make a costume she could run and play in without tripping or getting tripped by other children. Fish tail was out of the question. Plus there is a sleek look to her sequin skirt just being long and straight.
I love the challenge of making her costumes from my imagination vs a pattern. Problem is I know little about sewing so my solutions may not be the soundest or most technical ones out there. I get inspired from seeing other deluxe, stage costumes and working a simpler version. Dave helped me make the sea shells more three dimensional by stitching each "ridge" all the way through instead of just one side of the fabric. I saw a mermaid bra top that had pearls sewn in and thought I'd do the same. The clear "water drop beads" were much cheaper so I went with them instead. Each one was hand sewn and almost each one came off after the first day of school! I waited until Halloween evening to sew more on.
We waited until Halloween to pull out the wig. As expected her head itched after 20 minutes of it being on and she was ready to take it off. I think she braved through the trick or treating only because she got so many compliments....starting with Crate & Barrel. P got to trick-or-treat through the store when we went to pick up my mom from work. Of course everyone was saying how cute she was and how awesome her hair was!
I like to do a family theme with the costumes but this year I only had the energy for one. I did think it would have been perfect for Dave to be King Triton, my mom would have been the perfect Sebastian and I with my round belly could have been Flounder. But that was too much....work and money.
Much to my surprise Dave was engrossed in pumpkin carving. I had no idea how much he loved it. I had to ask him to stop so we would have pumpkins left for Thanksgiving decorations.
I did love watching Dave and P do their carving together. P is starting to handle sharp objects quite well which is exciting and nerve-wrecking at the same time.
Dave's cat creation was so awesome people asked me if we had bought it from a florist!
Every Halloween I'm so happy and proud that I made P's costume. I've been dreaming of this since I learned to sew as a kid and I'm glad I'm doing what I've set out to do so long ago. I've always hoped the extra cost of making them vs buying them would be worth it. This year Dave and my mom told me P was telling everyone her mom made her costume. She was proud. Also, this year P has asked for a sewing machine for her birthday! I think the whole process is making a positive impact.
Seven years ago Dave and I bought this ghost/jack-o-lantern for our apartment. It was our first holiday decorative piece together. It burned out this year and I couldn't throw it away without taking a picture of it. He brings back lots of memories.
The Halloween traditions wouldn't be complete without the "candy trade". Thanks to our friend Kiersten who always has brilliant ideas to raising happy, healthy kids, P only has 5 candies from her treating. The rest she trades in for a toy of her choice (within reason) at Toys R Us.
She got a pink dolphin the next day!
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