Halloweens past
2010--Musicians and Sweeney Todd
I've already posted this picture, but I wanted to include it in the retrospective "through the years" edition. :)
A. and D. are dressed as characters from Sweeney Todd. Jeff is from ZZ Top (his "guitar" is mounted on a thing that lets it spin around), J. is Michael Jackson from Thriller, and N is, of course, Gene Simmons. As a side note, his boots are made from paper mache on a wooden platform and each weighed 7.5 pounds. He and Jeff made them. The chain is part of a dog leash. :)
For these costumes, I made my belt, J's costume, and N's vest. The Michael Jackson costume and Gene Simmons vest are both made from "pleather"-ish upholstery material. My pink "skirt" is actually part of a bedskirt.
2009--The Addams Family (da da da dum)
My niece K. came as Wednesday, Jeff and I are Gomez and Morticia, N. is Uncle Fester, D. is Pugsley, and J. is Cousin Itt.
This is one of my favorite family costumes because I had very little sewing to do. The only costume I made was J's Cousin Itt. A lot of yarn died to make that "hair"...and he only wore the costume for long enough to get the pictures. It was hot and uncomfortable, and he hated it. But he fit with the theme, and then he got to pick one of his myriad other costumes.
My dress (which is beautiful...and actually sleeveless...I just tucked some sheer black material around it) came from Goodwill, as did N's coat. Jeff's suit was a costume he found cheap somewhere, and D's shirt came from our "stock supply".
2008--A whole new world...
I loved these costumes! D was Aladdin, I was Jasmine, Jeff was the Genie, N. was Jafar, and J was Raja.
I made my costume and D's. We had to dye a turtleneck for Jeff's costume, but he either had those clothes or found them at a thrift store. N's costume was easy...just a robe we had in our stock of Halloween goodies and a piece of black fabric wrapped around his head. Jeff found J's tiger costume at a thrift store.
If you look closely, you can see that the little triangles where you're supposed to match up the collar for the vest are still on D's vest. This type of thing is Halloween hallmark #1: I work and make myself crazy to make costumes just right (when good enough would do fine), and then at the end say screw it had just throw whatever else together. And I shouldn't say just "I". I'm the one who sews, but Jeff does a lot to get stuff together for the costumes, too.
You would think it's so much cheaper to make costumes instead of buying them, but it's not. This was actually one of the cheaper years...until I put the ribbon and beading onto my top. Halloween hallmark #2...poor priorities. I mean...we wear these for maybe an evening. Often, we take them off shortly after pictures. Is it really worth the sewing time? Is it really necessary to fancy up the top for 15 minutes worth of wear? At the time, it certainly seems like it.
2007--Royal Family
I made N's knight costume, Jeff's robe, D's jester costume (I think without a pattern even), and J's dragon costume. The dragon costume had actually been D's quite a few years ago (obviously...look at him now!), and J fell in love with it. So, we build the family costumes around the dragon.
My dress and the rest of Jeff's costume were store-bought. Again, noting the details, you can see that Jeff's boots aren't finished. N has a pair, too, but they're harder to see. I ran out of time and we had to just pin them on. I had planned to finish them up later. I'm still planning to. :)
2006--We're off to see the Wizard!
J loved The Wizard of Oz that year. I think he watched it about a hundred times. And he so wanted to be a flying monkey.
My mom came as the Wicked Witch of the West (completed with striped socks), Jeff was the Cowardly Lion, I was Glynda the Good Witch, niece K was Dorothy, D. was the Scarecrow, N. was the Tin Man, and J was the flying monkey.
I made Jeff, J, and D's costumes. I also made my Dorothy costume. Yes, I realize I'm wearing the Good Witch costume. That's because I put on my Dorothy costume and realized I looked like fat milkmaid Dorothy. So we made a last minute switch: K wore my SIL(aka Skinny Bitch)'s Dorothy costume, and I wore an old bridesmaid dress.
Halloween hallmark #3: It doesn't matter how cute the costume is; I am not going to look like that character. One day I'll remember this and not be disappointed when I get dressed up, only to look like Kate, in a costume.
2005--Bit of a mishmash.
D. wanted to be a mime. Easy, easy costume. You might note that the shirt he's wearing here is the same shirt he wears in 2009 as Pugsley. All I did for his costume is sew a red pom pom to a beret. And paint his face.
N. was Horus, the Egyptian (?) god of...something. He had to make the head for a school project. I'm sure you can imagine how long he left this costume on!
J's little devil costume was borrowed from my sister-in-law (not SB, but that could be her nickname as well). I made the Cleopatra costume. Jeff and his dad made his "leather" armor thing, and Jeff also fashioned his helmet out of cardboard, wood, foil, and gold spray paint. I think his white dress and cape were things we already owned.
The Cleopatra dress was (is) beautiful. Nice fabric, fairly well made. It wasn't cheap but has been worn by friends of mine several times since I wore it, so at least someone is getting use out of it.
2004--Giddyup!
This year, too, was before we had a whole-family theme going. D's magician costume was super easy. All things we already owned (who doesn't have a black top hat lying around?).
Jeff and his dad made the vest/chaps. N's uniform is an old one of my brother's (I think)...that uniform has made several appearances on different family members over the years! The only thing I made for this year was my Indian costume. Another costume made expensive by the trim. I think it looks pretty good in the front, but the v's of ribbon on the skirt don't match up quite right in back. This is another costume that has made the rounds of my friends.
2002--Beetlejuice
Jeff came as Beetlejuice, and I came as Cruella de Vil. This was before our digital camera, and I'm not sure where the other pictures are.
His costume is a lovely white polyester suit he found at Goodwill. He made the stripes with electrical tape. It looked fantastic! He had them so evenly spaced.
We were a very well-coordinated couple, as we were both in black and white. Hopefully I can find a picture with me in it, as well.
1998
Before we got married and he moved in with me, Jeff and his sister lived one behind the other. Every year they put together a haunted house (in both of their houses) and Halloween party bonfire. You think "homemade haunted house" and it's not so impressive, but theirs was scary.
We had just started dating this year, and I think he had, at this time, barely acknowledged that we were, in fact, dating. Just a little fear of commitment, folks. So when he peeked out the window and saw me walking up the driveway in a wedding dress, he was a little freaked out. Once he saw the slashed neck and bloody mouth, he was much happier.
Bride? Scary.
Bride of Frankenstein? Good. Very good.
P.S. The dress is my actual wedding dress from when I married my ex-husband. The only things I chose for that wedding were the dress and the husband, and both were mistakes.
1996--
Both costumes are homemade, but not by me. My former mother-in-law made these.
I think that D. is almost 4 here and N is 2. D. had his heart set on being a pumpkin. He choose the pattern, the face on it, everything. He looked so cute. But N's Cat in the Hat costume was so adorable. Everywhere we went, people would make a huge deal about N's costume: "Henry!! Come here! You have to look at this costume!!" "Oh, my gosh, this is the best costume I've seen all night!" Etc.
And D. would pipe up: "And I'm a pumpkin!"
Side note: look how fat my face is here. I showed this picture to a friend at work, and she said, "Wow, you used to be a lot heavier." I was, too. The ex-husband wasn't the only ugly weight I dropped in the divorce. :)
It's been fun getting to see all the different costumes that people have posted on their blogs this Halloween season, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kids wore for trick or treating. After all, we need to figure out what we're going to be next year!
I've already posted this picture, but I wanted to include it in the retrospective "through the years" edition. :)A. and D. are dressed as characters from Sweeney Todd. Jeff is from ZZ Top (his "guitar" is mounted on a thing that lets it spin around), J. is Michael Jackson from Thriller, and N is, of course, Gene Simmons. As a side note, his boots are made from paper mache on a wooden platform and each weighed 7.5 pounds. He and Jeff made them. The chain is part of a dog leash. :)
For these costumes, I made my belt, J's costume, and N's vest. The Michael Jackson costume and Gene Simmons vest are both made from "pleather"-ish upholstery material. My pink "skirt" is actually part of a bedskirt.
2009--The Addams Family (da da da dum
My niece K. came as Wednesday, Jeff and I are Gomez and Morticia, N. is Uncle Fester, D. is Pugsley, and J. is Cousin Itt. This is one of my favorite family costumes because I had very little sewing to do. The only costume I made was J's Cousin Itt. A lot of yarn died to make that "hair"...and he only wore the costume for long enough to get the pictures. It was hot and uncomfortable, and he hated it. But he fit with the theme, and then he got to pick one of his myriad other costumes.
My dress (which is beautiful...and actually sleeveless...I just tucked some sheer black material around it) came from Goodwill, as did N's coat. Jeff's suit was a costume he found cheap somewhere, and D's shirt came from our "stock supply".
2008--A whole new world...
I loved these costumes! D was Aladdin, I was Jasmine, Jeff was the Genie, N. was Jafar, and J was Raja. I made my costume and D's. We had to dye a turtleneck for Jeff's costume, but he either had those clothes or found them at a thrift store. N's costume was easy...just a robe we had in our stock of Halloween goodies and a piece of black fabric wrapped around his head. Jeff found J's tiger costume at a thrift store.
If you look closely, you can see that the little triangles where you're supposed to match up the collar for the vest are still on D's vest. This type of thing is Halloween hallmark #1: I work and make myself crazy to make costumes just right (when good enough would do fine), and then at the end say screw it had just throw whatever else together. And I shouldn't say just "I". I'm the one who sews, but Jeff does a lot to get stuff together for the costumes, too.
You would think it's so much cheaper to make costumes instead of buying them, but it's not. This was actually one of the cheaper years...until I put the ribbon and beading onto my top. Halloween hallmark #2...poor priorities. I mean...we wear these for maybe an evening. Often, we take them off shortly after pictures. Is it really worth the sewing time? Is it really necessary to fancy up the top for 15 minutes worth of wear? At the time, it certainly seems like it.
2007--Royal Family
I made N's knight costume, Jeff's robe, D's jester costume (I think without a pattern even), and J's dragon costume. The dragon costume had actually been D's quite a few years ago (obviously...look at him now!), and J fell in love with it. So, we build the family costumes around the dragon.
My dress and the rest of Jeff's costume were store-bought. Again, noting the details, you can see that Jeff's boots aren't finished. N has a pair, too, but they're harder to see. I ran out of time and we had to just pin them on. I had planned to finish them up later. I'm still planning to. :)
2006--We're off to see the Wizard!
J loved The Wizard of Oz that year. I think he watched it about a hundred times. And he so wanted to be a flying monkey.
My mom came as the Wicked Witch of the West (completed with striped socks), Jeff was the Cowardly Lion, I was Glynda the Good Witch, niece K was Dorothy, D. was the Scarecrow, N. was the Tin Man, and J was the flying monkey.
I made Jeff, J, and D's costumes. I also made my Dorothy costume. Yes, I realize I'm wearing the Good Witch costume. That's because I put on my Dorothy costume and realized I looked like fat milkmaid Dorothy. So we made a last minute switch: K wore my SIL(aka Skinny Bitch)'s Dorothy costume, and I wore an old bridesmaid dress.
Halloween hallmark #3: It doesn't matter how cute the costume is; I am not going to look like that character. One day I'll remember this and not be disappointed when I get dressed up, only to look like Kate, in a costume.
2005--Bit of a mishmash.
D. wanted to be a mime. Easy, easy costume. You might note that the shirt he's wearing here is the same shirt he wears in 2009 as Pugsley. All I did for his costume is sew a red pom pom to a beret. And paint his face. N. was Horus, the Egyptian (?) god of...something. He had to make the head for a school project. I'm sure you can imagine how long he left this costume on!
J's little devil costume was borrowed from my sister-in-law (not SB, but that could be her nickname as well). I made the Cleopatra costume. Jeff and his dad made his "leather" armor thing, and Jeff also fashioned his helmet out of cardboard, wood, foil, and gold spray paint. I think his white dress and cape were things we already owned.
The Cleopatra dress was (is) beautiful. Nice fabric, fairly well made. It wasn't cheap but has been worn by friends of mine several times since I wore it, so at least someone is getting use out of it.
2004--Giddyup!
This year, too, was before we had a whole-family theme going. D's magician costume was super easy. All things we already owned (who doesn't have a black top hat lying around?).
Jeff and his dad made the vest/chaps. N's uniform is an old one of my brother's (I think)...that uniform has made several appearances on different family members over the years! The only thing I made for this year was my Indian costume. Another costume made expensive by the trim. I think it looks pretty good in the front, but the v's of ribbon on the skirt don't match up quite right in back. This is another costume that has made the rounds of my friends.
2002--Beetlejuice
His costume is a lovely white polyester suit he found at Goodwill. He made the stripes with electrical tape. It looked fantastic! He had them so evenly spaced.
We were a very well-coordinated couple, as we were both in black and white. Hopefully I can find a picture with me in it, as well.
1998
Before we got married and he moved in with me, Jeff and his sister lived one behind the other. Every year they put together a haunted house (in both of their houses) and Halloween party bonfire. You think "homemade haunted house" and it's not so impressive, but theirs was scary.
We had just started dating this year, and I think he had, at this time, barely acknowledged that we were, in fact, dating. Just a little fear of commitment, folks. So when he peeked out the window and saw me walking up the driveway in a wedding dress, he was a little freaked out. Once he saw the slashed neck and bloody mouth, he was much happier.
Bride? Scary.
Bride of Frankenstein? Good. Very good.
P.S. The dress is my actual wedding dress from when I married my ex-husband. The only things I chose for that wedding were the dress and the husband, and both were mistakes.
1996--
Both costumes are homemade, but not by me. My former mother-in-law made these.
I think that D. is almost 4 here and N is 2. D. had his heart set on being a pumpkin. He choose the pattern, the face on it, everything. He looked so cute. But N's Cat in the Hat costume was so adorable. Everywhere we went, people would make a huge deal about N's costume: "Henry!! Come here! You have to look at this costume!!" "Oh, my gosh, this is the best costume I've seen all night!" Etc.
And D. would pipe up: "And I'm a pumpkin!"
Side note: look how fat my face is here. I showed this picture to a friend at work, and she said, "Wow, you used to be a lot heavier." I was, too. The ex-husband wasn't the only ugly weight I dropped in the divorce. :)
It's been fun getting to see all the different costumes that people have posted on their blogs this Halloween season, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kids wore for trick or treating. After all, we need to figure out what we're going to be next year!
I LOVE that you do themes!! :) I might have to steal this concept for the future!
ReplyDeleteYou have a beautiful and FUN family!
Love this post and your pics - and you haven't changed one single bit!
ReplyDelete