Handmade Halloween through the years

Published: Monday, 23 October 2017

YIKES! How has it been 3 weeks since my last post? Sorry about the radio silence, I got lost under a giant pile of super hero capes and I couldn't find my way out. But I made it through! So hello again, my friends. *high fives all around*

So what happened these past 3 weeks? Halloween orders happened, and about 2 billion kids in the world wanting to be Batman. And to that I say... "DREAM BIG KIDS! You can do the thing"... but don't expect me to watch Batman movies any time soon. I'm all Dark-Knight-ed out... for a while.

In other news, since Halloween is just around the corner, I thought I'd get into the spooky festive spirit by sharing some of the costumes I made for my daughter through the years... and who knows? Maybe you'll get inspired. You know, if you've procrastinated this long and still don't have a costume for your kiddos... I know I'm still in that boat (last minute sewing is my forte).

_{My tiny Doc McStuffin, circa 2013, with Lamby in tow}

I'm not a big Halloween person. I enjoy the idea of it, and I love seeing all the crazy creative costumes, the spooky front lawns, and the kids having fun and getting high on copious amounts of sugar. But I'm just too lazy when it comes to decorating. I think it's mostly because Christmas happens soon after Halloween, and I'm all about Christmas decorations (as in, it's the only holiday of the year I actually decorate my house for), and so the thought of putting things up for a few weeks, and then taking them down only to put up different decor up just seems like a lot of unnecessary work. Law of least effort personified right here!!

Alas, my kid is really into Halloween decor. So as the strong mother I am I said no, put my foot down... and off I went and bought creepy things, and dutifully decorated my house. Kid=1, mom=0

_{Merida's younger years involved a lot of archery trial an error, but she got better with age}

_{How I miss that crazy curly hair!!}

The one thing I do truly enjoy about this holiday is... wait for it... sewing costumes! Who would have thought? But I do! The creative aspect of it is what I love. Costumes are quirky, fun, out there, and they are meant to let your child's imagination run wild. They can be whoever (or whatever) they want to be. And you better believe they will become "it" as soon as they step into that costume. They will transform right in front of your eyes. It's magic!

So every year I give my daughter plenty of time to decide what she will become on Halloween night. She tends to toss ideas into the universe and bounce around them for a while, until her heart sets... or until I tell her she NEEDS to make a decision because it's October 29. It works every time.

_{Not a true representation of our family life. Dad's pretty OK most of the time.}

_{And wouldn't you know? Wonder Woman loves her afternoon tea!}

Through the years she's been a cupcake and a lady bug (though she had no say in those ones), a famous toy doctor, a brave princess archer, an Amazonian princess warrior turned super hero, a wolf-defying red-hooded forest wanderer, and a magical one-horned creature.

_{Little Red is probably one of my fave costumes I've made}

_{And I know I'm totally biased, but she looks so cute in it}

If you follow me on Instagram, you likely got a tiny glimpse of what she will transform into this year, though that costume is still on the very early stages. I'm hoping to have it all finished by 5 PM on October 31st. Seems like an achievable goal, am I right?

_{I've been asked to do a tutorial for that Unicorn hairband, and I will do it... I promise... one of these days}

But since Halloween is just only once a year, and that's obviously not nearly enough time to be all the things you could be, I also make costumes for birthdays and Christmas, like this mermaid outfit (though Mrs. Santa tends to take the credit for those ones... it's fine).