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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Decorating for the Holidays...

In my bleary eyed stupor of the morning I was reading an article in my local newspaper - and the writer of said article actually had the audacity to call Halloween "pointless"...  Now yes, I can see her point that all other holidays - regardless of their current commercialism - have some underlying religious or memorial purpose.  I get that - but I still enjoy the Halloween preparations!  

You see, I enjoy making my kids' costumes...  I am a self professed "Halloween Seamstress".  To use this title for yourself you must first understand a few things:
The kids wear the costume once... "durability" is optional
It is dark when trick-or-treating... straight seams are wasted
In most areas of the country, it is cold Halloween night - and a coat covers a lot of mistakes
The costume is GOING to get dirty...  don't put lots of effort into it!
Oh, and the fact that I barely use my sewing machine the rest of the year...  Practice makes perfect - but since we're not going for perfection - Ta-dah... "Halloween Seamstress Extraordinaire"

So there's the 40 minute Tinkerbell- made from my hubby's old t-shirt (a gift, he didn't BUY something that color).  And the borrowed Dorothy, because my neighbor doesn't deserve the Halloween Seamstress Title and her costume has survived a few years.  The Classy Vampire(minus the makeup job), because after reading Twilight I just can't envision vampires not dressed nicely.  (and we're going to pretend that the blurriness of the photo is all about my kids' privacy and has nothing to do with my lack of photography skills or my sons lack of ability to Hold Still For A Second!) The Roadkill... actually 2 pictures of that because you just had to see a close-up of the fly buzzing around the skunk.  And T - sporting his cousin's name-tag...  I'm sure if he wears this costume to school it will be the name of one of his friends instead.   I have earned my title this year for sure!

As a general rule, October 1st has my kids rummaging through the boxes of decorations looking for the wooden skeleton and the brick Frankenstein - and then arguing about where best to display these creepy fellows.  As loyal blog readers will know, that particular date was a tad busy this year and we have yet to decorate our home... even the "coffin" which used to be a guitar box is still downstairs in the holiday closet.  I just can't bring myself to go all out for such a short time - I'm thinking I will just go straight for the wooden turkey and save myself a lot of effort.  Hey, at least my blog is all "Halloween-y" (yes I'm aware that isn't a word... and even if it were we'd all think it was a funny sounding one at best)

So - Early though it may be... aside from the Extreme Candy Consumption - I'm done with Halloween... and no hate-comments please, it's not like we're skipping Christmas!

24 comments:

jewelstreet said...

I'm done with Halloween as well, at least for this year. There was no time for decorating, and the house is being remodeled. So, no hate comments from me.

There is always next year.

Becky said...

What!? You're giving up on Halloween!!? I'm appalled and shocked and dismayed and...

Ok, not really. Everyone is under the impression that I love Halloween, but in reality, I think I only like it because it's one step closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Is that bad?

Went to Walmart yesterday and the Christmas decorations are out. I got a little giddy. :)

Wep said...

You are so talented :)

Shelle-BlokThoughts said...

YOu are one step above me!!! I hate trying to think of creative costumes...

I LOVE your blog...you are so witty! :)

Jennw6kids said...

Love the costumes, very ingenious ( ok sorry I know I didnt spell that right but lack for another word there you have it misspelled, Im sure its not the first and for sure not the last) Love your blog I rreally like this one, love reading your snappy blog, and I need to talk to you I have a couple of questions for ya!
Jenn

Anonymous said...

I think those costumes are AWESOME! And I believe you are right, none of it needs to be perfect, it's not like they are re-wearable and you did such a GOOD job! Im serious, they really look good! The kids look so cute! And the roadkill one is soo funny! I am very impressed with the creativeness!!

Sandra Evertson said...

Adorable little trick or treaters!
Happy early Halloween!
Sandra

Anonymous said...

Love the costumes! And how can someone call Halloween pointless? I love it!

Chelsi said...

I guess I can't call myself a Halloween Seamstress Extraordinaire. I love sewing my kids costumes (why would I buy those cheap, ugly things?), but I spent two years working in a costume shop. Durability was trained into me--and it has to look nice. Beyond that, Halloween doesn't mean much at my house. We have three decorations that I still haven't found this year. Jack-o-lanterns will have to be it this year...

The Gibsons said...

Your costumes look great and I love your page. I am finally going to always have my mother in law make ours because she is a Halloween Seamstress since she makes about 15 a year for all the grandkids.

TisforTonya said...

oops - Chelsi just reminded me that I also spent some time working at a costume shop (college theatre major here...) BUT I'm still claiming the title because I have ignored all of my teaching (oh great... PLEASE don't let the costume shop ladies be closet bloggers!!!)

Megz said...

So do you just hang up a sign on your door saying "At least my blog is Halloween-y!"?
You really do make the rest of us look bad with your fore-thought on costumes no matter how crooked the seams are. (seams?? that requires more than a glue gun, right?)
I'm all for T's costume this year, btw. Nametag stickers are right up my alley.

mariann and Tory said...

Ha! I remember road kill! That was the best! I love Halloween!

just the five of us said...

My kids decorated the front porch, and I helped with the crafty halloween decorations inside,but Mike is really getting into the decorating too! Infact he is welding some scary creature to put out in the yard! I haven't sewn costumes for a couple of years now! Infact Calla doesn't want "Homemade" costumes anymore Tear, tear :(

LC said...

Great costumes! I got to see them in person and I didn't see any crooked seams--not that I would look that closely at your kids costumes--they'd think I was creepy.

Anna Lefler said...

Those costumes are awesome! I bow to your seamstress-ness.

And I can relate on the decorating. There's been a pile of crepe paper crap outside my office door for two weeks now. The decorations are in a heap - unhung - and I feel like a loser every time I step over them. But I keep stepping over them...

Have a great weekend...

:^) Anna

Becca said...

Well you are doing better than me T... I've got one Princess Leia costume done (white robe not gold bikini) and we are working on a "dark fairy" whatever the heck that is.
Your kids look great!

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Jenny said...

Love your blog design - very cool. Creative costumes. I think road kill is my favorite.

Anonymous said...

Well you certainly get the creative award. I always wanted to have a box of costumes and props for my kids to go through and design their own.
They always thought differently.

AndreaLeigh said...

Stopping by from SITS. I love that Dorothy costume.. I'm all about the sparkly mary jane's though. ;)

Unknown said...

Hi stopping by from SITS - I agree Halloween is not pointless (and there are religious backgrounds to it I believe... maybe) I usually get the house ready for Halloween, but have done nothing this year - I feel bad.
Great costumes btw, loved the roadkill and little Tink

Tara Bennett said...

Cute costumes - Happy Halloween!

Amanda and Katie said...

Cute costumes! And yes, I am done with Halloween too and ready to eat lots of food on Thanksgiving :) Stopping by from SITS!