Halloween Costumes

I have never been much of one for Halloween, as a kid I didn't like the scary parts, and honestly when you don't eat the candy it kind of looses the charm. That all aside, Halloween has sort of become one of my favorite holidays because of the fabulous fun of planning costumes with my kids and challenging myself to make them just what they want. This year we had Medusa, a Mutant Shark, and a Turtle, and oh my goodness what fun! Jenny's costume was simple, green long-johns and play silks with rubber snakes tied into her dreads, and some seriously fabulous scary snake makeup. We used this organic face paint, then carefully pulled a fishnet stocking over her head before applying a heavy coat of blue and bronze shimmery makeup...(seriously I have no idea how this is a normal makeup color pairing for any skin tone, but as it was exactly what we needed I'm glad they make it!), crazy green and gold eyes and orange lips and she was done. 

Bobby's costume was actually quite simple, felt was on sale 50% off and is so easy to work with that his costume was totally done in an hour. I used the really heavy sew-in interfacing for the teeth so they would be a bit firmer, but it was really just a matter of making his picture into a costume. I want to make another more traditional looking shark because it would be such a great dress up piece, don't you think?

 {note the "bite" out of the second dorsal fin, because of course mutant sharks have two... to go with their eye patches...}

 Nomi's turtle costume was a very last minute decision, (think Halloween morning) because he kept changing his mind. Thankfully I had green velour on hand for making waldorf-style gnome dolls, and I had the perfect thrifted afghan for the rest of it. I don't seem to have a picture of the shell, but I'm sure you can picture it. I based the pants off of the pants he was wearing, it's such a great simple way to make children's pants, I could do a tutorial if anyone is interested? I made him a simple jacket inspired by the one in The Children's Year, although I had to modify it for the fabrics I was using and how big his sweet head is. But it turned out adorably and he stayed warm and toasty all night. I want to add some fasteners to the jacket so he can continue to wear it, the pants are already a new favorite.

We gathered with my brother's family and and made the usual rounds for trick or treating, although the next day the candy disappeared before anyone broke out in eczema from all of the corn and chocolate. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice! The fun of dressing up and going around is really where it's at anyway. Now it's November and I'm excited to dive into holiday planning and making, I'm getting a late start this year, but for some reason I'm much calmer than I usually am. Hopefully that will hang around for the rest of the year. Oh! And a new month means new contributors to the Spark! photo project, this month we have two wonderful mamas joining us and you wont be sorry you stopped by!