Halloween 2010

Since Mike was going to be out of town for all of the Halloween festivities, I didn't want to come up with a new theme for our Halloween costumes.  I decided to add to our Alice in Wonderland costumes. 

The debut of Alice and the Mad Hatter was in 2006. I'll re-post a picture from back then just for fun (and because I was skinny).

And for the sake of comparison, here we are in 2008 with our sleepy little White Rabbit.

The highlight of this year's version was the Queen of Hearts.  Eliza was thrilled with her costume and so was I!  It turned out pretty much how I had pictured it.

While Mike was gone, we stayed plenty busy with Halloween festivities.  Unfortunately, Mike had our camera with him in South Dakota, so I had to rely on my friends to get proof of our Halloween celebrations this year.  Thanks Monica and Shelly!  

 Trick-or-Treating at the mall

 Party with Law School friends

 Kids of the LDS Law Students

My kids are looking especially cute here... Eliza has a little too much "eeee" in her "cheese" and Caleb looks like he's late for a very important date with his pillow.

 I kept telling myself that when he got home we would all put our costumes on and take a picture together, but by the time he got home (on Halloween Eve) we had already put our costumes on 4 times (and it showed-- dirt, drool, candy, snot, etc), plus Mike's costume was crumpled up in a bin in the garage.  You'll just have to use your imagination.

Or just wait until Halloween 2012 when a rerun is probably scheduled.  Check back to see what character will be next!  Any suggestions?


For those who are interested in the creative aspect of the costumes, here are the crafty details:

A while back, I picked up a girls size 14 stretchy red velvet dress at a rummage sale for about a quarter because I knew I could use the fabric to make a dress-up dress for Eliza out of it.  When I decided to make a Queen of Hearts dress, the fabric was just perfect. On my way to the fabric store to get some white satin for the dress, I stopped by a yard sale and, I kid you not, found over a yard of quality cream satin for fifty cents!  What a blessing!  We headed home without even going to the fabric store.  The fabric for Eliza's costume cost me less than a dollar!  I did have to buy some red thread, though.

   

I didn't have a pattern, just an idea in my head of what I wanted it to look like.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I had a puffy slip/tutu for her to wear under in, but she thought that was a silly idea.  Although I completely cut up the original dress, I made it so I was able to use the original neck edging and the original hem, which was very convenient!  The crown was also an experiment that worked out well.

 

Caleb fit into the White Rabbit costume I made for Eliza in 2008.  I made him a new vest, though, since the original one never fit very well over the rabbit suit.  The new one is only a slight improvement.  Making vests from scratch isn't my forte and I'm just fine with that.  I think I've made 4 vest in my life and they were all for costumes.  I don't see the trend changing any time soon.