Tag: Costume Countdown 2014

Shirley Temple

My sister-in-law commented on how Stella looked like Shirley Temple. I can’t believe I had not seen it. But after she said that, I kept seeing the resemblance. Except for the hair of course. When my friend Katrina came over last night, I immediately put her to work. Her last task was to roll Stella’s hair. She said I gave her the hardest job. I did. She’s a tender headed girl. But she slept on her sponge rollers and woke up with beautiful little corkscrew curls but unfortunately our hairspray didn’t make it through pre-k. But even without the tight curls, I think she did an awesome job. Not to mention she wasn’t feeling too well.

And while this is probably a stage mom’s dream costume, I did not force it on her. I may have swayed by talking about how cute it would be but she ended up getting excited about it and has been going around singing Shirley songs. She started tapping during the shoot. Wish I had video:/

The great thing is that it was a $2.97 costume! Goodwill again! We had her dress shoes and bobby socks and I changed the original ribbon for a sash from an old costume. We ended up doing quite a few different Shirley versions using old dresses that are too short but perfect for this look. Once I get to take a breath (it’s been a busy day) I’ll post some more as well as a few of the twins in their costumes.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

October 31, 2014
The Mythical Cherokee Princess

I can’t speak for the rest of the nation, but down here in the south nearly everyone has a trace of Cherokee in them and many will tell you their ancestor was a princess. Well I recently learned this is but a myth. I haven’t done enough research on the subject to say for certain, but I’ve gathered that they didn’t have princesses. It’s possible it was a loose translation for a chief’s daughter. Don’t shoot the messenger here. I wanted to go with the mythical aspect because it has a fun and lighter air to it. Something that isn’t real so doing the whole pink and purple princessy theme kind of worked. I hope. It’s supposed to be historically inaccurate since she didn’t exist in the first place. See, costumes can be enlightening as well. I’m all about pushing the envelope but not into offending an entire race of people. Most of these costumes are based on an item of clothing already in the house. I really wanted to use these pink moccasin boots. Native American was the first to come to mind. While I’m sure it’s a minute little drop, I’ve always been proud to say I had a little Cherokee in my blood. As a child I was certain that the right side of me was Native American and the left, witch. Yeah. Totally normal=)

So the cute boots are from Zulily. We reused last years Daphne dress. I self-fringed some baby pants that weren’t worth donating and pinned and glued to the dress. I can’t sew. For the headdress I pulled out an old belt from high school. Let’s face it. I’m not going to wear that again so I went to cutting. Glued the feathers and the applique things on and attached elastic to wrap around her head. We used her Merida bow and arrow. I would say this has a total Disney theme but I guess they did Pocahontas so never mind.

As usual, I didn’t prompt this expression. I don’t know how, but she usually nails it. This solemn face was just right.

Hope everyone is getting their costumes ready! Only five days left!

October 26, 2014
Rollllll Tide Roll!

Just in time for tonight’s game (to be ending) we’ve got an Alabama cheerleader, Coach Nick Saban and our awesome mascot Big Al-y=) Last I checked we were ahead of the TN Volunteers so hopefully we’ll win tonight. It looks like Coach Saban is about to get mad and that cheerleader is hiding being the mascot. Haha.

Today’s costumes turned out to be a first world nightmare for me. I couldn’t find the cheerleader skirt anywhere. I could file a report saying that we had been broken into and no questions would be asked. I completely ransacked the entire house. Finally found it in storage in the 2T box saved for next year. I should probably take that as a sign to give it up but I can’t. This is our thing. It’s kind of an addiction for me. The photo was only supposed to be Big Al and the cheerleader but I started thinking we really need Saban. I had an old purse that belonged to my mom and I noticed the strap was breaking. It was perfect to use as the coach’s signature belt! Rob had the headset from doing some telecommuting work. Then I had the “brilliant” idea of wrapping our toy football in bubble wrap to make it the championship trophy. That’s Nick’s other signature accessory;) But of course, I forgot all about it when we started shooting. Like I said,brilliant, right? But I got him to pose for a quick shot with it at the end. I think if you spent enough time on it, it might not look so bad.

The cheer outfit was used back in our second year I think. It was a handmedown from a friend. I tried to get her to wear the giant bow in the individual pic. It got pictured. On the ground. Get what you get, right??? And the Big Al was a handmedown from my sister’s kids. We added a bow to that too because well, it’s the south. We like bows. Oh when I finally found that skirt, I also found an extra cheer dress. It just so happened to be just Twiggy’s size. I just want to say that she’s gotten just as good as Stella at this. I guess she should. She’s been doing it for five years as well. They’re veterans!

So Roll Tide!

October 25, 2014
Darla from Finding Nemo

“Why are you sleeping? Fishy! Fishy! FISHY!” Now, I’m not a big animated movie girl but I love Finding Nemo. Stella does too. And the image of that crazy little girl Darla shaking the poor fish will forever haunt my mind. She’s scary! So perfect for Halloween.

Her outfit is pretty easy to find in your closet. She’s wearing a very tarnished old silver necklace of mine as her head gear. The semi-braces were added post-processing to enhance the effect. I don’t recommend gluing anything on your teeth=) And thanks to hoarding I had that blue cloth from my maternity visit delivering the twins. Add it to a beaded necklace and some alligator clips and voila! That fish. We looked in the cat section at the dollar store for a goldfish and got nothing. So I grabbed an orange sponge from under the counter, cut a fish and glued a googly eye on it. Be sure to check your bag for leaks before adding water. We didn’t think to do that=/

I add all this extra info because some people actually ask about ordering some of the costumes. So I want to share how we came up with them. But I also want to point out that I’m not out spending hundreds of dollars doing this. It’s all about doing it yourself and I try to go for free to $5. It all evens out in the end when I go over though. Also, I’m super lazy and short on time because I’m so unorganized so I really do try to think of the shortest cuts for everything. Hope you guys are enjoying!

Another Flashback Friday here. Look at my baby growing up! From nine months for four and a half. Well, that makes me a little sad…

October 24, 2014
The Classic Witch

My favorite Halloween costume has always been the witch. Every year I had to be one. Some may say it’s unoriginal. I say it’s timeless. So here’s Scarlett looking like a mini Stella. It’s yet another outfit from a consignment sale. This costume is worth far more than the four bucks I spent. It’s Koala Kids and I must say that I’m very impressed with the quality. It’s big though so we may just get another year out of it.

Wicked!

I had to add this one. She’s casting a spell onto the flying pumpkin! Or pretending it’s a ball. Tomato, Tomato. (Writing that in no way gets the point across like saying it.)

Stella was back assisting again. See it’s always Stellaween even when she’s behind the scenes.

As you can see she’s a wearer of many hats=)

Silly girl and I love her.

October 18, 2014