Halloween Costumes

wings I made for Kristen- completely by hand!  I designed
the shape and constructed it piece by piece out of wire,
which I then covered with tulle by needle and thread. Lastly,
I sewed/glued sparkles and glitter and flowers and jewels.

I have ALWAYS loved Halloween.  I don't understand the people who do not.  Fun decorations and movies like Hocus Pocus, Nightmare before Christmas, Young Frankenstein and Van Helsing add so much to this wonderful Holiday.  Last night I met two sweet girls from India who are here for school and they were experiencing their first Halloween- first time dressing up as anything, even.  They loved it- and how could they not.  I am very sad that the world does not enjoy it like we do.  Halloween was LAME in Europe when I was a missionary.  Never saw one decoration.
So in honor of this fantastic holiday which we just had, I wanted to post pictures of some of my recent Halloween costumes which I love so much.  And let me just say- that when it comes to a costume, for me and my sister- there are no limits.  We have no concept of 'can't' or 'too much,' only HOW and HECK YES, ROCK IT!
I like to wow people- and that takes effort.

So- starting with one of my all-time favorites: the Cowardly Lion.
This group costume idea started when Kristine found some cheap 70's pumps Dorothy shoes and we decided we should all be characters with a modern twist.  Unfortunately you can't even see her shoes in the picture.  My clothes were simple- I just wore a brown shawl-thingy and ugg boots.  It was my hair that made the costume, of course.  And YES, it is my real hair, not a wig- like everyone thought.


The next year was another fantastic hair year.  In college I had taken a class about the history of 'costume' (but that just means clothes, really) which explained the evolution of clothes dating back to Egyptian and Greek/Roman.
So I was in the mood- and when my date said that he was planning on being a greek god of love (NOT a cupid- despite the wings), I decided I could whip up a Greek Goddess of the Sea. And my hair makes great Greek hair.

Btw- at the boat dance we saw MANY other greek/roman costumes.  I don't know if it is usually a popular costume or if that year we were all just on the same page.  hmm...

Okay- so then I missed 2 Halloweens while I was a missionary.  The first Halloween was while I was in the MTC.  All of the sisters found whatever Halloween colors they had to wear that day and we considered switching name tags, since we couldn't wear costumes.  I was sad to miss the real festivities of this holiday, but I was enjoying it with the best people I know and we loved being there.
The next year I was in Geneva with a French companion who had never really celebrated.  As I said, Halloween isn't big in Europe.  There are other times where people dress up in costumes- like for themed dances- but there are no parties or decorations on Halloween.  But my companion and I made some candy stuffed tissue ghosts and delivered them to people we were teaching. We also played a Halloween surprise prank on the Elders who came to fix our shower.  But again- no dressing up. :(
So you can imagine that the next year, when I was home from my mission, I was really excited and ready to go all out.  
You might say I did just that.  Behold- my victorian peacock-which will be a marvelous Miss Peacock costume if I get a great rope or candlestick.

I am so grateful to my mom for letting me do this costume and for doing all of the hard work on my bodice.  I am not a seamstress, though I DO know how to use a sewing machine.  So I took on the learning opportunity to make the skirt/bustle/bustle pillow all by myself, with my mom's supervision and advice, of course.  I am quite proud of my accomplishment.  But it is not without a price.
While I was sewing the skirt- (late at night- trying to get as much done as possible) I was tired and getting careless.  I somehow managed to get my finger under the needle- which of course when through the nail and impaled my finger.  The most disgusting part was having to unwind the machine by hand to raise the needle and pull it out of my finger.  Ew- just thinking about it.  The pain was crazy and the shock even worse.  I did almost faint and I felt sick.  That was not a fun night.
But do not despair.  I still finished the costume, and it was worth it.


And finally- this year's.  For a long time I did not know what to be.  A couple weeks into October it just came to me.  Ursula.  Of course.  No explanation needed.
Karen was very excited to help me and I am SO grateful for her help.  With her knowledge of sewing and my innovative mind- our two creative geniuses have combined into an award-worthy costume.  Since I already had a dress that was perfect, this costume didn't end up costing us too much :)
We designed our own pattern for the tentacles and I spent hours painting on the suckers with glow-in-the-dark puffy paint.   Btw- puffy paint is a PAIN to control with a brush.  It is SO hard- but it wouldn't have looked as great if I had just sqeezed it all into place.  Yes, it would have been faster, but quality is more important.  And I am very happy with the results.  The glowing effect is very cool, as well.
Thanks to a fantastic pinterest idea, (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/438115869970771689/) Karen got to wow everyone with my hair. Yes- there is a ship in it.

So can you see why I love this holiday?  How can you NOT have fun with costumes like these?