We don't do much more than that for Halloween. I buy candy for the few trick-or-treaters that come by, but that's about it.
When our daughter was younger, we'd get into the whole costume thing and go to Halloween parties. After several years of making costumes, I got a little burned out. You see, I could never justify spending buying a cheap costume from the store...they were so tacky and I knew I could do better. Yes, I spent more money on the fabric and it took time to make them, but it was worth it to see the look on my daughter's face.
When she was very small, I made her the requisite bunny and black cat outfits. Later she wanted Wonder Woman, so that was pretty easy. As she got older, she wanted costumes that were a little more involved.
One year, she wanted to be a dinosaur. I found a pattern for a stegosaurus, so:
(yeah, the spikes were a whole lot of fun!)
The year that the "Gremlins" movie came out, she fell in love with Gizmo. Another trip to the fabric store and a long session with the sewing machine and we had:
That was a fun year for all of us...the Husband was Billy Idol (he shaved off his mustache and sprayed his hair blond!) and I was Cyndi Lauper in a pink prom dress and my hair in crazy colors. However, I had bits of Gizmo fur everywhere for a while.
There were a couple of more normal costumes in between, but then the Daughter wanted to be the Pink Panther. The pattern I found called for pink fur (oh, boy!). It turned out pretty well:
The sewing machine was busy that year, because I also made Robin Hood and Maid Marian costumes for us. (Somewhere the pictures have gone astray.) But after the Pink Panther costume, I vowed never again to sew fur! It was everywhere! Dust bunnies were pink for several months....that stuff got into every little space!
As it turns out, that was the last costume I made for the Daughter. After that, she wanted to do her own. I sort of miss making the Halloween costumes. It was always fun to watch them come together. And I definitely enjoyed the challenge. What I don't miss is the frenzy that accompanied it—the late nights, the adjustments that had to be made after the fitting, and the "oh, cr@p! the sewing machine's not working!"
Now I just enjoy the pictures from the Daughter's Halloween parties and get a chuckle out of her costumes. She is definitely creative. (last year she was a News Flash...I won't even try to describe that!)
Anyway, enjoy the little spooks and goblins tonight!
Happy Halloween!
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