Halloween has come and gone, and now we are left with a
MOUNTAIN of candy, chocolate and chips to deal with (
ie: pilfer from the kids' bags while they sleep!)
It was a crazy weekend, filled with parties, events and trick-or-treating.
Sweetie had a Halloween party at a classmate's house Saturday afternoon, and the local "
Purple Pumpkin Party" was held on Saturday night. The Purple Pumpkin Party is an event hosted by the churches in our small town. They fill our local hall with game booths, treats and halloween decor, all for a donation to the local foodbank. It is usually held on Halloween night, but since Halloween was on Sunday, they moved it to Saturday night. The classmate's party and the Purple Pumpkin Party meant both kids would be dressed up and busy
both nights on Halloween weekend!
Sweetie decided a short time ago that she wanted to be Frankenstein's bride for Halloween. She had never seen any of the movies, so she was not aware of what Frankenstein's bride
should look like. She had it in her head that she would be green (like Frankenstein), with wild hair and some sort of formal dress suitable for a monster wedding.
I think we pulled it off quite well.....
Our local Salvation Army store had racks of costume ideas, so it wasn't hard to find what we were looking for! This dress was probably made in the late 70's for a short, plump lady attending a wedding or "classy" New Year's eve party. It was a sparkly gold-ish fabric, with a black chiffon overlay, and black chiffon batwing sleeves. It was the perfect find! The second hand store had it matched with a fake flower bouquet, featuring white and black roses. PERFECT!!! The dress had been enlarged with black panels added at the side seams, and had been taken up at least 5 inches (hence the reason why I feel it was for a short, plump lady!) I pinched the panels and sewed a quick seam back where it had originally been. I was unable to make the dress any narrower because the chiffon batwings were in the old seams. It would have been far too much work to fit it perfectly. Besides, Sweetie had no qualms about it being a bit big. Rather than create a perfect hem at the bottom, I just took my rotary cutter and hacked off the bottom of the dress at the right length we needed. Sweetie was happy with it, because it frayed and made it look more "monster-ish". A few minutes of hairspraying, back-combing and
applying face makeup completed the look. She loved it!
Monkey has an overabundance of superhero play costumes, so I was hoping he would just choose one and make things easy for us. OF COURSE NOT. He decided he wanted to be a mummy. Bring on more sewing for mommy!
I remembered an old white sheet that I had worn as a toga at a Halloween party about 13 years ago. Good thing I'm a "saver" (nice word for "hoarder"), and I still had it. I ripped the whole sheet up into strips, and then went on the hunt for white clothing to attach them to. Do you think I could find a pair of white or off-white pants at the second hand store? Ummmmm, no. So, being the resourceful mom I am, I bought an off-white men's sweatshirt and MADE some pants for him! I bought a white turtleneck (that miraculously had no stains on it - SCORE!), and went to work. I tacked the strips onto the clothing, planning to take the strips off later and use the pants for pyjamas and the turtleneck in his regular clothing rotation. It took no time at all, and only used about 5-6 strips of the sheet! I felt the outfit needed a hat of some sort, so I made up a quick beanie-style hat with extended sides and back, and put a strip of sheet on it as well. It kind of turned out conehead-ish, but he thought it was perfect. Some white paint on his face, and black to outline his eyes (to look super creepy), and he was done, and super comfy.
The next day, we pulled out the outfits for a second wearing, only this time with multiple warm layers of clothing underneath. Fall has taken hold lately, with temperatures in the evening around 5 degrees celcius. Pretty chilly!
They weren't up for as much makeup this time around, so we opted out of the black around their eyes. They still looked spooky and scary, and were wonderful trick-or-treaters!
I went to a Halloween dance Saturday night with some friends (sans the hubby - he was fulfilling firefighter duties for Devil's night). I wanted a costume that was comfortable enough to dance the night away, and not be too hot or bulky. I came across this awesome idea:
Instant Ghost costume by Laura Koniver
I dug out what tulle I had left from our wedding (8 years ago), borrowed some more from my sister-in-law, used up some of the leftover mummy sheet strips, and concocted my own version of Laura Koniver's witch costume. I wore a white flowy skirt and white t-shirt underneath, and had a great time dancing. BUT DO YOU THINK I GOT A PICTURE OF IT? Ha, ha, not a chance (always the picture taker, never in the pics!) The local reporter took a picture of Monkey and I at the Purple Pumpkin Party, I'll have to see if she'll e-mail it to me.
So, that's my round up of what went on in our family over Halloween weekend.
Did you enjoy your spooky Halloween?
