Day of the Dead - Halloween 2011

My husband, Jerry, and I went to an amazing Halloween party at a friend's house on Oct 22. Like always, I was the only one not dressed in a sexy costume. How is it that Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz morphed from an adorable young girl into a hooker-like tramp? It actually really saddens me that costumes have taken a turn to the raunchy.

For the past few years, I have really put a lot of thought and time into my costumes, but having a baby has taken up most of my existence leaving me little time for endless hours of sewing. So this year, I had to break down and buy a dress and just embellish it. I hoping to get a head start on next year's costume say, around July in order to have it completed by October.

I don't think that most people at the party knew what I was supposed to be. But that's okay. I just feel good knowing I stood out not because my boobs were peaking over a low cut Snow White mini dress but because I was completely covered up and my face was painted ghoulishly!

So without further ado, here is my costume.


My Hat with artificial flowers and feathers
Made a corsage from the same flowers
My necklace is actually a Christmas ornament
And my favorite part... my super discounted leopard print ballerina shoes with a big red bow from Payless!

I used the crinoline from my wedding dress to make this dress "poofy"

The bows are made from ribbon from the floral arrangements from our wedding!

(add pic)

Here I am wearing the final ensemble

I forgot how hard it is to use face paint! 

Here's Jerry and I heading out the door! 

Pics from the party

Don't know these people, but they were Lucy and Charlie Brown...So cute!

Olivia and Shane aka Navy and Army

Chester and Amy (she's pregnant!) 

Some candid shots by Chetty 

These are some baby pumpkins I picked up at Strawberry Hill  in Chesnee, Sc when I was visiting my Mom and Dan. 

Amelia's First Halloween

I'm already tired of dressing my daughter in pink and she's only four months old! So for her first Halloween I have decided to dress her as a Hippie and not a cute little winged bug or some fluffy animal (no offense to those that are or have).  To make sure no one says "What a cute little boy" I made her a giant bow for her head. Of course, my husband pointed out that it's blue and that it could be a bow tie instead of a headband.  But I don't think hippies wore big giant clown-like bow ties?

How I made this costume

1.     tie-dyed a long sleeve onsie and decorated it with glitter puffy paint

2.    sewed the faux leather vest from a pattern I found here and modified it to my liking, added two non-functional buttons, and "earthy" pins for decoration

3.  decorated a pair of thrift store jeans, added patches, and frayed the cuffs 

4.  boys size 1 plain white tennis shoes painted with acrylic paints, glitter puffy paint, sequins, and rhinestones and little peace sign charms (to be honest, these shoes started out really cute before I put the puffy paint on them. After that, I decided they would be part of her Halloween costume.)

5.  made giant bow and stuffed for fullness

6. And because Amelia is starting to teeth now, she is a drool bucket and basically requires a bib all of the time... so to keep with the hippie theme, she has her very own matching reversible peace bib!

Here she is trying on the bow!!

Tomorrow night is Halloween... so we will have to wait to see Amelia in her first Halloween costume! 

I can't wait!