Why I Make my Child's Halloween Costumes

A couple of years ago, I started making my daughter's Halloween costumes. When she was one, I made a hat with antennae to go with her off-the-rack  ladybug costume. It got more compliments than the whole outfit. When she was two, I made her a flower costume. Last year, she went as her favorite feline, our cat Pixie. This year, I will be making a green crane costume for her. Making the little one's costumes has become something I look forward to, because it provides the unique challenge of bringing her wishes to life.

Three years ago when I started down this road, I imagined I would save money by doing it all myself. I quickly discovered this was not the case. Often, the cost of materials adds up quickly, especially if fake fur, feathers, or fabric is involved. Then there's the time-suck of making the costume. I tend to spend several hours drafting a plan for the costume, and even more time in the execution. In the end, it would often be simpler if I had just gone down to my local big box store and purchased a ready-made costume.

So why do I do it?

I love my child. Let me clarify: every mom has something she's good at, a unique way to express love to her

children. Some moms bake, some tell great stories, some leave notes in their children's lunch boxes. I happen to be decently creative in a way that allows me to make special costumes for my girl. When I say I hand make Halloween costumes because I love my child, I'm not taking an "I'm a better mom than you because I take the time to do this," stance. If anything, me doing this only glosses over the fact that in other areas, I'm actually a pretty crappy mom. I hope one day it balances out. Perhaps my daughter will look back through our scrapbooks and say, "Look at the time and effort Mom spent making sure that I got to be exactly what I wanted to be each year. You know, Mom might not have been perfect, but at least she cared." For now, pouring my heart into this is one of the best ways I have to show her I love her.

Her costumes are unique. When my girl comes to your door on Halloween night, she won't look like any other child you've seen. Even if she wanted to be a Disney princess or Batman or some other iconic character, her outfit will stand out because I customize it to her. However, it's unlikely that she'll want to be Cinderella or Wonder Woman, because she's wired a bit differently. If all her friends were dressing as Harry Potter characters, she'd want to be a snitch, or the painting of the Fat Lady, or maybe a blast-ended skrewt. Besides, my little one is oddly specific about how she wants her costumes to be. For example, I thought it would be nice if I took a little artistic leeway and gave her a yellow beak for this year's costume, but she matter-of-factly informed me that the crane's beak was grey, and that's exactly how she wants it to be. Last year, when she wanted to be our cat, that included having little pink pads on her hands and feet. When I make her costumes, she can be as detail-oriented and seek as much perfection as she wants, and that's okay, because she does get it honest, after all.

It's extremely satisfying for both my child AND me. I get an enormous sense of accomplishment when I finish a costume. It also makes me happy to see just how excited my little one gets during each stage of the creation. For her it's satisfying because she gets a say-so in the whole process, from concept to completion. As a four year-old, she has a lot of decisions made for her every day. This is something that's all her own, and it makes her very proud.

So that's it then. I encourage you to give it a try sometime. Even if you don't feel like you're the crafty type, there are plenty of fool-proof plans on the internet that can likely inspire you. (Check out my Halloween board on Pinterest for starters!) Watch out though; you might just get hooked!

Darkspear Tabard

Not much to report this week, but I do have a picture to show you. This is my tabard that will go with my Halloween costume. It's modeled off of the Darkspear Tabard. Not 100% the same, but I feel it's a reasonable facsimile nonetheless. It's probably the most in-depth sewing project I've undertaken to date. I'm feeling proud, and I think it'll look great on Halloween night.

My little one's Wandering Greenback costume is nearing completion, and I'll have some pictures of that up soon.

Tomorrow is another painting class, and this month, we're doing a lighthouse. What a great present that will make for my mother this Christmas!

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, see ya!

The Siege of Orgrimmar

Today is the day. Long have we bided our time, and now the final straw has been drawn. Patch 5.4 launches today, and with it, the Siege of Orgrimmar:

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Of course, there will be other content in 5.4, which Lore tells us all about here:

Down with Garrosh! For the Horde!

I was Completely Insane, but I'm Better Now

Take a look at the Shifting Camouflage Pants that I'm using as the basis for my Halloween costume. You see that grey area that looks like scales? Yeah, I saw it too. When I did, I had the bright idea to make some and sew them all on by hand. I even got a few done:

They look great don't they? Then I began to sew them onto my pants, and I realized just what a mistake I'd made. They looked awesome while laying flat, but they were going to have to cover my contours and be able to move with me. I just don't think they would be able to do that. This is not to mention the scale of the entire project. I was going to have to make hundreds of these buggers and sew them all onto not just my pants, but my gloves and boots as well. Given that I've been procrastinating a lot lately, I didn't think there was any way I'd finish in time, so the scales have been packed away for use on another project.

My next idea for achieving the look of scales wasn't much better. I had an old pair of Halloween fishnet stockings and thought, "Wow, fishnet stockings layered over my pants would look like scales. That should work, and it'll be simple." LOL. While the look was right, no matter how I shifted, pulled, pinned, or tucked, I just couldn't get the pants to stop wrinkling under the tights. Even if I did manage to get everything looking just so, as soon as I took a step, it was all undone. So, that idea got scrapped too. 

Frustrated, I went to bed last night wracking my brain for a way to get the look I need. I seriously considered just forgetting the scales and wearing plain grey pants, but my detail-oriented nature couldn't abide the thought. Finally, I had my light bulb moment. "Why not draw them on?" I thought. And draw them on I did:

Sometimes, the simplest answer is the best answer.

Painting Bob Ross Style

It's been quite a while, my lovelies. How have you been? I've been busy! Lots of goings on here, but today I want to tell you about the classes I've been taking.

Four months ago, I stumbled upon a display at the front of my local Hobby Lobby. It featured a large, beautiful seascape oil painting and a few flyers for an art class that was going down at the end of the month. Fortunately for me, the class was happening on a Thursday, right when my little one would be attending preschool, so I decided to sign up. That was three classes ago now, and I haven't looked back. I love oil painting!

I have a wonderful instructor, Melody Panneton. She is certified to teach Bob Ross's wet-on-wet technique (you know, the "happy little trees" guy?), and I'm certain she can help anyone paint something awesome even if they've never held a brush before.

I've painted before, but it's all been self-taught and mostly with craft acrylics. I've learned all about adding depth, how to use a pallet knife, how to paint tree branches, and most importantly, how to step away and leave things alone instead of constantly fussing over my picture.

I find oil painting relaxing, and have decided to take it up as a new hobby at home. My husband has been very encouraging; he recently got me an oil painting starter kit for my birthday. For now, I'll be using painting instruction books for inspiration, but I'm hoping after I get a little more comfortable with my abilities, I'll be able to create my own art.

Well, that's all for this week, my lovelies. Come back soon for some more updates from your happy little painting apprentice!

If you want to see more of Melody's classes, check out her Facebook page and take a look in her albums. I'm pretty sure I'm in one of them!

A Tale of Love and Loss: Ashley and the Tacky Mirror

Life has been hectic for me lately! A couple of weeks ago, my husband was contacted about interviewing for a job in Montana. Shortly after that, we had a visit from my parents. Then our real estate agent contacted us about an offer to buy our house that we've been trying to sell for three years. At the moment, we have all sorts of irons in the fire, so no long posts for me today. Instead, I will present you a cautionary tale about procrastination.

While my parents were visiting, my mom requested that we visit the Hobby Lobby in town. Mom loves Hobby Lobby, but she doesn't have one very close to where she lives, so this was a special treat for her. Once inside, my mom, my daughter, and I began strolling the isles on the hunt for treasures. To make room for the Christmas items (don't get me started on that, I don't feel like climbing up on my soapbox tonight), they had put several items on clearance, including several decorative mirrors. It wasn't long before I spotted it - the gaudiest, God-awful mirror I'd ever seen. It was large, oval, and surrounded by ugly brass circles with obviously fake gems in their centers. What was worse, you could just sense the cheapness about it. Boy, I wish I had taken a picture to show you all. I called my mom's attention to it, and together we made fun of how hideous it was. On a whim, I checked the price tag. They had originally wanted $200 for this atrocity, but it had been marked down to only $25.

I began to walk away when I felt a change come over me. Mirrors are pricey, and $25 wasn't a bad price for a mirror that large, even if it was ugly enough to be tried for crimes against humanity. I glanced back. On a second look, I felt the mirror somehow had a kitschy charm to it. Honestly, the mirror's frame had a good shape; it was only the terrible brass and plastic gems that made it unattractive. I said to my mom, "Actually, I think I kind of like that tacky old mirror. You know, you could spray paint that frame and it would probably be pretty nice." She nodded in agreement. However, being my normal thrifty self, I said, "But I don't really need it."

Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, the more I really did want the mirror. After wrestling with the desire for a week, I stopped in to see if the mirror was still there. Alas, it was not. So here's my story's moral - if you really like something on clearance, don't wait! Snatch up that ugly mirror and make it yours!

Catch you next time!

Patient Zero

Oh, my lovelies, it's been a long while since I posted for you. I recently caught the plague and have been fighting transformation tooth and nail. Not really, but that's what it felt like. Last Monday night, I began to have a sore throat. By Thursday, I had the full on plague - sore throat, runny and stuffy nose (I have never understood how those two conditions could exist simultaneously, but oh well), weakness, coughing, fever of 102. By Saturday, I was coughing so often that I couldn't really sleep more than a couple hours at night. Medicine did not help. Here it is now Tuesday, and I don't want to jinx it, but I think I might pull through. I'm still coughing, but not as much, and the coughs are productive (just what you wanted to hear today, I'm sure). My nose is still acting up, but I can kind of breath through it again! It may seem ridiculous that a cold almost laid me low, but to be honest, this is the first time that I've actually been truly sick in quite a while.

At any rate, the near week of feeling like the walking death has left me with a mountain of housework to catch up on, so there won't be any bloggy goodness from me for another couple of days at least. Sorry about that, guys. Well, anyway. Catch you later!