A Brief History of Em's Halloween Costumes

Hindsight is 20/20.

2005, Em's 3rd birthday party with recycled skirts made from daddy's pant legs.  Flower hats made from recycled upholstery materials.

Apparently I've always been a recycle-er.  I was "green" before "green" was even cool.

With jewelry I love to take old pieces apart and repurpose them into something fun and modern, which is what I mainly do with bebe and boo.  As far as sewing projects, I've always been a fan of cutting something up that I haven't worn in a while and making something new.  When Em was a baby I took a pair of Jason's old khaki pants and cut the legs off.  (I think he wanted shorts to mow the lawn in...???)  Anyway, with one of the legs I ripped out the seams, added some lime green and raspberry material strips, a zipper, and random flower petals and made myself a skirt.  With the other pant leg I put a strip of elastic in the hem, added decorative buttons, ribbon, and a fabric flower and made Em a skirt.  I'm not a fan of patterns, but throwing stuff together is just fun for me.  It makes my mom crazy.

I'll be the first to admit that my randomness doesn't always pan out.  I've thrown a lot of attempts in the trash.  Others are a pleasant surprise, like my Grandma's old bed sheets I actually have on right now as pajama pants, or a $.25 pillow case and antique handkerchief I made into a skirt for myself.  For me, part of it is using something outside the box, part of it is the thrill of knowing it cost little to nothing to make.  The other part is knowing it's a one of a kind creation.  It's just fun!

So, today Em and I headed to the basement to see what kind of random stuff we had on hand to make a peacock costume for her for Halloween.  Thankfully she hasn't listened to the Katy Perry album so for Em, being a peacock will simply be dressing up for fun as one of the most beautiful creatures on earth.

Jason and I are doing Financial Peace University, so I'm really, REALLY trying to make this costume on a dime.  We found some old t-shirts, old designer fabrics and tassels, and some old drapes (can you say "Sound of Music?").  Em got out a sketch book and we googled peacock feathers and color palettes.  So far I've made ONE feather.  ONE.  It took 15 minutes.  This is actually good for me as I usually wait until the eve of Halloween to even START sewing a costume, so this year I'm ahead of myself I guess, but we've got our work cut out for us...

Here's what we've found so far:

The treasures we found in the basement

Cutting stuff apart for a little trial and error 

Recycled T's

Em's sketch book 

Em's sketch of what her shirt will look like

The first practice feather...it's going to be a heavy skirt!

Who said microsuede (actually from her Sacajawea costume, 2008), upholstery, and t-shirts don't go together?!

Cutting pieces for mass feather production

Sacajawea, 2008

Egyptian Princess, 2009

Betsy Ross, 2010

Em actually didn't wear the Betsy Ross costume for Halloween, but for Early American History Week at school.  I'm not going to lie.  I was a little disappointed.  Halloween 2010, Em had it in her head that she wanted to buy a costume, a pirate costume, at that.  After we bought it, and she wore it, she asked me if I would please make her costumes from then on.  I was excited!  My mom always made our costumes, and even if it made her crazy, I think she had fun creating them, just like I do, too.

So, we'll see how the peacock turns out.  The sad thing is, I won't even be with Em on Halloween to see her in her peacock glory!  She'll be in SD with her daddy!  Ry and I are just going to stick a bowl of candy on the front porch and go to bed early :)  My costume:  sleeping housewife.

Better Late Than Never?

Well, I know Halloween and Fall Break were a while ago, but I thought I'd post some pics anyway so you can see the Adventures of Emily and Ryan. 

We had an early snow so we pulled all the pumpkins into the front hall.  Ryan played "ball" with these every day until the snow melted.

For Halloween Ryan was "Adam" from the Garden.  Just kidding.  His little tooshie was raw from 2 months of diarrhea so we let him "air out" at Nana's house.  FYI:  his big D is gone and the kid broke 4, count 'em, 4 molars!  Fun times...

Em and I got to ride horses at a friend's house while we were home in South Dakota. What's that?  Yes, I am wearing a Pashmina with camouflage and running shoes...(no, I wasn't prepared for the chill at sunset!)

Bonus kid points go to Emily this year...she told me she wanted to be Cleopatra and wear her Egyptian princess costume again...it's from two years ago...the bonus points come in that Mama didn't have to make a costume this year!  (*To tell the truth, I kind of missed making one...)  LOVE our niece and nephews pajamas that glowed in the dark!!!  And that's Aunt Kitty behind the sword...let's just say Ryan DID NOT LIKE Auntie's face painted like a kitty!

Ryan, or "Squirt," helped me pass out candy to the kiddos in the hood.  And by "pass out" well, I have video of him chucking it left and right but I'm not sure how to post it here.  He's into that stage of throw down/pick up/throw down/pick up!  Fun for Mama!

In order to stop Squirt from chucking the candy dish all over the hallway I allowed him a few seconds of phone time.  I NEVER allow this as a phone is NOT a toy...not in my book, anyway.  I have a feeling this kid is going to be like his daddy...a techy brainiac genius type.

I guess I did get to sew a little...we were invited to a friend's family party down the street.  Emily insisted that we HAD to dress up, that EVERYBODY would be wearing a costume, so, I was either going to sport my senior year gold sequin prom dress circa 1990, my Grandma's old house robe with slippers and rollers with face cream, or a flapper dress I had made for a murder mystery party we went to 15 years ago...Can you tell which one I went with?  I had to take in the dress, if you count that as sewing.  

And did we have the best costumes there, you ask?  Well, yes.  Yes we did, in fact...BECAUSE WE WERE THE ONLY FRIGGING PARENTS DRESSED UP AT THE PARTY!  So, there you go...Halloween down, Thanksgiving in a week and then December the next week!  This year is flying!

My cutie patooties!

In the history of my 38 years and 10 months...

I have never bought a Halloween costume...

...until October 30th, 2010. Emily changed her mind at the last minute of what she wanted to be. I hadn't technically made her a Halloween costume, per se. Last year in school she did a report on the American Revolution and I made her a Betsy Ross costume.

And by "I made" I mean, baby, I went all out...like OCD style. At that time I informed Em that she was going to get two uses out of the costume, thus wearing it for Halloween. She was totally game. She thought that was great!

Then, I realized that I was being a bit neurotic. I told her she could be anything she wanted...but that because of the time frame, I wasn't going to be able to make her a costume. It left a pit in my stomach.

Now, I'm not judging you if you buy a costume. Many costumes at stores are actually great...even better than homemade. But for me it's fun to make up a costume from either thrift store finds, a pattern or from scratch. I enjoy it...and it's all I've ever known.

My mom always made our costumes...my little sister even came over the day before Halloween and saw the package on the chair...She looked at me strange and said, "What is that?" She had never seen this in her 32 years and 2 months, either...


Anyway, Em drew up a design...it bordered Rock Star and Pirate. But no matter what, for 3 days straight, all she talked about was she wanted a redhead wig...that HAD to be part of the costume.

So, there you go. Em was a pirate. Here's her blog on it... Go there to find out what we're going to do with her candy.

And here's my little baby bear. I did not make his costume...GAP did. When I was preggers with Ryan I went to the GAP just to check it out. I saw this outfit and it was all I could think about!

But now, this little handsome guy is all I can think about!