I'm a lunatic at Halloween...

[Aubrey]

I mean, I don't do the scary stuff, but costumes? Creativity meets disguise? Oh. my. goodness. this holiday was MADE for me! I mean, my kids, of course.

 

So...I'm a little...um...*particular* about costumes. They have to be GOOD. Creative, not run-of-the-mill, not (usually) store-bought, & yet still simple.

 

Last yr, the 2 big dc were spies. Dd wore a homemade Audrey Hepburn style dress, gloves, hat, oversized sunglasses. Once I made a lobster costume from a red sweatsuit.

 

The problem? I kinda had my heart set on The Wizard of Oz for our theme, since we've got 4 dc & 4 main characters. I mean, anybody can come up w/ a costume, but to have a whole ensemble? Too cool.

 

Ds wants to be George Washington, though. Well...that's cool enough that I could be sold. Way over the top complicated, but I could deal w/ that, maybe. But then dd would *have* to be Martha.

 

She wants to be a snow fairy. I hate to thwart her childhood & all, but...

 

Halloween is MY holiday. You match a theme w/ your sibs. Period. :lol: Oh the sacrifices we face as parents!

[OnTheBrink]

LOL, I like Halloween, too. It just sort of sets off Autumn for me. I think dd is going as a ninja.

[Emmy]

:iagree: I'm not entirely sure it has occurred to my children that they might select their own costumes. Up to now it's simply been a matter of finding out what I have planned for them. :D

[MariannNOVA]

I'm not entirely sure it has occurred to my children that they might select their own costumes. Up to now it's simply been a matter of finding out what I have planned for them. :D

 

That has certainly been how it works here -- same way with the Christmas tree - there is a theme, and I select it.

[Aubrey]

:iagree: I'm not entirely sure it has occurred to my children that they might select their own costumes. Up to now it's simply been a matter of finding out what I have planned for them. :D

 

Ooooh...the costume fairy could just...leave a surprise.

 

Except...the costume fairy wants credit, praise, & lauding. Complaints result in mysterious dissappearances. It's beyond candy-swiping to complain about your costume. These are couture, darling.

[BigMamaBird]

I completely agree!

 

I love to sew, so this time of year is really fun for me! Ds is going to be a pirate and Dd is going as a robot. Pretty standard, I know, but I love making their costumes, so they'll have something no one else does.

[Aubrey]

That has certainly been how it works here -- same way with the Christmas tree - there is a theme, and I select it.

 

I finally gave up themed Christmas trees. Or, rather, embraced the junk theme.

 

We've got a felt tree for now, & we make felt ornaments together. That unifies it, until dc get out paper & markers & add their own homemade stuff. Ick. But also warm & fuzzy, & so...I tolerate it. (This "tolerating" thing...that's a big deal from me.) :lol:

[MariannNOVA]

(This "tolerating" thing...that's a big deal from me.) :lol:

 

 

:iagree:IF I deign to 'tolerate' something, well....let's just say that they are finally getting better at understanding the cost.:lol::lol::lol:

 

I have costumes that are better than some one might see at the Smithsonian -- yes, you are absolutely right: the costume fairy wants credit, praise, & lauding

 

...the cake baking fairy wants the same....so do the 'entertaining' and 'cooking for special occasion' fairies! OH, and the 'decorating' fairy -- don't even get me started on her!

[Mom to Aly]

Every year since my dd was 2 until about 7 or so, I would buy her a beautiful costume (usually Disney--everything!! wig, shoes, gloves, tiara--all of it) and, on Halloween, she would decide she wanted to be a black cat, dress in black, and want ears and a tail, and that was it! So we had a bunch of Disney costumes from when she was little, that she gave to a needy fam a few years ago that had six little girls. Actually, I had regretted it for the longest time, until she did that, and then I felt great--her decision, she had had them to play with, then one little girl told her they never dressed up because they couldn't buy costumes, and she came home and told me she wanted to do that and I was thrilled!!!

 

Last year we went to a trunk or treat, and there was the greatest costume!! This girl, don't remember the costume actually, but her hair went straight up like an inverted pony tail--the mom had put an empty water bottle on top of her head and put the hair around it and pulled it up into sort of a pony tail and put a clip at the top and poofed it around it and she was--wait for it--CINDY LOU WHO!!!!! it was precious, except the girl hated it!! Cried through most of the night!

 

I let my dd pick what she wants, always. This she wants to be a skelanimal. For those of you who don't know what that is, here is the link http://skelanimals.com/meet-us. What they stand for is loving dead animals, meaning don't wear fur or leather, etc, (we are fanatical vegetarian and completely against animal cruelty). She is going to wear a shirt and knee socks from them, and cat ears and a tail, and paint her face like a cat--hey, wait, we're back to the black cat thing again, aren't we! :001_huh:

[Aubrey]

:iagree:IF I deign to 'tolerate' something, well....let's just say that they are finally getting better at understanding the cost.:lol::lol::lol:

 

I have costumes that are better than some one might see at the Smithsonian -- yes, you are absolutely right: the costume fairy wants credit, praise, & lauding

 

...the cake baking fairy wants the same....so do the 'entertaining' and 'cooking for special occasion' fairies! OH, and the 'decorating' fairy -- don't even get me started on her!

 

We don't have a decorating fairy. :confused: And all of ours are anti-social, so there's little in the way of entertaining. The cake fairy still hasn't earned her wings, & she's awfully bitter about it.

 

So the fairies who fly through here better be appreciated! Sometimes they seem few & far between, lol. :001_smile:

[Barb_]

I love Halloween. The weather is pretty temperate, there's very little prep work, we get to see neighbors the neighbors that are holed up in their houses the rest of the year, and not least, I get to skim the top of the candy.

 

What's not to love?

 

Barb

[aggieamy]

I too love Halloween. And for the same reasons you do. And I had my heart set on doing the Wizard of Oz. We just moved to Kansas and have a blonde girl and a brunet girl. Dorothy and the Good Witch. Perfect. Except one wanted to be a scary witch and the other wanted to be a pirate. :glare: On my next batch of kids I'm going to do like you ladies do and just let them find out what I'm going to let them be. At least these kids still let me dress them in matching outfits. I guess I should be happy about that.

[tex-mex]

I love Halloween! Don't go for the creepy costumes... but LOVE to do up a homemade (creative) costume! Aubrey, ya gotta show us a pic of some of those costumes!

[ChristusG]

LOL, that's how I am. Last year my DD (then 4) was in love with Scooby Doo and wanted to be him for Halloween. My mind started working....okay, I'll be Velma, DH can be Fred, and littlest DD can be Scrappy Doo.

 

Then.....she changed her mind and wanted to be Marie from the Aristocats. UGHHH!!!! LOL! Good thing I had not purchased anything yet.

[KidsHappen]

LOL, that's how I am. Last year my DD (then 4) was in love with Scooby Doo and wanted to be him for Halloween. My mind started working....okay, I'll be Velma, DH can be Fred, and littlest DD can be Scrappy Doo.

 

Then.....she changed her mind and wanted to be Marie from the Aristocats. UGHHH!!!! LOL! Good thing I had not purchased anything yet.

 

This waht my family did last year. It turned out very well. We got lots of comments. We are considering WIzard of Oz or the Addams family this year.

[ChristusG]

I wanted to add.....

 

My fave year was probably when DD#1 was 18 months old. I coordinated us. I was Cruella Da Ville and she was my dalmation. Everyone loved it!

 

[Slartibartfast]

I wanted to add.....

 

My fave year was probably when DD#1 was 18 months old. I coordinated us. I was Cruella Da Ville and she was my dalmation. Everyone loved it!

 

 

 

So cute!!!!:hurray::hurray::hurray::hurray:

 

 

 

 

 

I have a toddler and an eight year old. I am looking at fun things to do for costumes this year.

[Imprimis]

 

Halloween is MY holiday. You match a theme w/ your sibs. Period. :lol: Oh the sacrifices we face as parents!

 

Oh, I do feel your pain. When my youngest was tiny, I tried unsuccessfully to get my two older children to dress as Wendy and Peter Pan (baby would be Tinkerbell). But, NOOOO....son just HAD to be Jack Sparrow (which he proceeded to do for 3 years, btw) and dd would have no part of Wendy. Kids.....dashing our Halloween dreams....:glare:

[Aubrey]

I love Halloween! Don't go for the creepy costumes... but LOVE to do up a homemade (creative) costume! Aubrey, ya gotta show us a pic of some of those costumes!

 

The lobster's on my blog--there's a scrolling thing of...artsy things I've done right up at the top. The other one's hard to tell from the pics--it's an elephant. And then the French bistro, but that's a whole other story, having nothing to do w/ Halloween. :001_huh:

[MariannNOVA]

Can you post pix of the Scooby Doo costumes? That's what my kids want to do this year. Thanks:001_smile:

[Mrs.MacGyver]

DH is the seamstress around here...(as you can see from my name:D "MacGyver")..he gets final approval of the costume theme. So far we've had DD and Dexter, Spongebob & Patrick, Legolas & Arwen, Hermoine, Harry, & Ron, the Incredibles, Anikan & Padme, So....this year, we are going back to the spongebob theme this year with the boys (so we can have the little one be Plankton!) but DD wants to be an "Amy Brown" fairy this year...so the theme thing may get broken up :crying:. P.S. I LOVE halloween too! Can you tell?

[Macrina]

We theme our every year two. My three kids plus my 16 yo little sister. Last year was the three little kitten who lost their mittens and the mama cat with pie! This year it's Little Bo Peep and her three missing sheep!

[Ravin]

We love Halloween around here, too. Our neighborhood is a mix of families and retired folks; the former mean lots of trick or treaters, the latter mean decorated yards and great candy, and you can tell they love seeing the kids.

 

DD is going to be a pirate this year. She wants a pirate-themed birthday party (her birthday is the beginning of October), and I told her if she's going to dress like a pirate, she's got to use the same costume for halloween. I'm making it, of course, because it can double as SCA garb and is cheaper and nicer than if I bought it.

[LibraryLover]

I enjoy Halloween because it's fun and low -key. You're making Halloween sound intense and I can't do intense holidays, although I enjoy other people's intense-ness. :D

 

Rock on. :)

 

My kids also love Halloween and I love that they do. I provide the goodies, encouragment for their cool costume ideas, the lit -up house, the beer for the grownups... and that's it. lol

[Peek a Boo]

we're pretty big into costumes too :) This is the first year I'm setting aside the catwoman costume --dh wants to dress up as Gomez and Morticia, so i'll be dying my hair black. need to find a nice tight blackdress w/ a hobble skirt.....

 

if anyone sees a 44 long double breasted black suit at the thrift stores [w/ pinstripe would be great] let me know, 'k? :D

[Peek a Boo]

I mean, anybody can come up w/ a costume, but to have a whole ensemble? Too cool.

 

i want to do the Flintstones next year ;)

[Aubrey]

I enjoy Halloween because it's fun and low -key. You're making Halloween sound intense and I can't do intense holidays, although I enjoy other people's intense-ness. :D

 

Rock on. :)

 

My kids also love Halloween and I love that they do. I provide the goodies, encouragment for their cool costume ideas, the lit -up house, the beer for the grownups... and that's it. lol

 

No, see, if you let it get intense, you lose. The whole thing is to achieve something unimaginable while keeping intense under control. Or under wraps.

 

Or at least not telling all your friends that every. costume. involves running to dh in tears, claiming that it's all a disaster, you can't do it, wasted time, $, & Halloween's ruined.

 

And never, never admitting to making/buying a second version of a costume because you didn't get around to pics in time, & the 1st no longer fit.

[Garga]

I lurve Halloween costumes!!! At a company I worked for here were some of the costumes we wore:

 

An entire department wore green for the day and was Gangrene.

 

I wore a sheet over my head with eye holes--a ghost. People LOVED that costume. You hear about it (or see it on Charlie Brown) but no one ever actually wears it.

 

My dh (he worked there, too) wore a hat, trench coat, those sunglasses people wear after cataract surgery, gloves and bandanges surrounding his head, and was The Invisible Man (he won 1st place.) He looked so genuine and it was stuff we already had at home.

 

A manager named Susan put black paint (makeup?) around her eye and went as a Black Eyed Susan.

 

When I was a kid and went to a church Halloween party where you had to dress up as a character from the bible, I went as Lot's Wife--after she became the pillar of salt. I wore all white and my mom put flour (or powder) in my hair.

[fivetails]

I'm bugged about Halloween this year.

 

See, we always dress up - the kids and I, dh doesn't - and have a lot of fun trick-or-treating in our costumes.... but I often dress as a vampire - and I've been doing that since WAY before they became "popular", so HA. :tongue_smilie: ~ my long creepy hair, narrow face, and permanent under eye shadows seem to lend themselves well to the scary vampire chick thing :lol: ~ but I've been warned about costumes here in our new town-much-more-north-than-we-were that Halloween get ups should fit over snowsuits cuz winter will be in full swing by then.

 

The kids don't really care ~ they're happy to get the candy and are fine with the idea of dressing over their snowgear. I DON'T WANT TO BE A PUFFY SNOWSUITED VAMPIRE. Drat it all & phooey. Vampires should not be puffy and wearing mittens. Never ever. :toetap05:

 

Maybe I should be a snowman////errr, snowmum. With fangs.

[cougarmom4]

Ah, Halloween costumes...you clever moms who come up with such great ideas! I'm the type that would like to do fantastic things like you, but don't have the energy, time, money, or oomph to get it done. So I always feel a little less accomplished at this time of year!

 

But...good for you, for making the holiday so fun! Maybe I'll get inspired to do more than I usually do...