You're Never Too Old to Play Dress-Up

There once was a sweet little maid, much beloved by everybody, but most of all by her grandmother, who never knew how to make enough of her. Once she sent her a little riding hood of red velvet, and as it was very becoming to her, and she never wore anything else, people called her Little Red Riding Hood.
–Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, page 140

It has been a busy last few days and this post is hardly relevant anymore. But this is the first second I've had to myself, so grab a piece of Halloween candy {if you still have any} and pretend this is two days ago.

I love Halloween. I love making costumes. And I love dressing up. But I have a serious procrastination problem, which presents itself the worst during the month of October. After my second or third year in a row of pulling an all-nighter to get costumes done, I made a “rule” that I was only going to make costumes every other year and my kids could wear something they already had on the in-between years. This year was an “off” year, but we all know rules are made to be broken. I decided that I needed a new costume. After all, I haven't had a new one since 2005. I think it was about then that I decided that I wanted to make a Little Red Riding Hood cape and this year seemed like the perfect year to do it.

10 days before Halloween, I went fabric shopping. I'd seen the perfect fabric at JoAnn's last year, and JoAnn's being what they are, I figured they'd still have it. But I guess their costuming fabrics are not like most of their other fabrics, in that they go out of print. Since I couldn't find what I wanted I decided not to make a costume. But 5 days later, when a costume contest was announced at work, it was back on. A tight deadline always makes things more exciting, right ?

{Back row, L to R: Mad Scientist, Luigi, Pioneer Woman, Dr. Who
Front row, L to R: Steam Punk Vampire, Little Red, Amelia Earhart, Space Cowboy, Nudist on Strike}

It surprised me how many people dressed up and how clever the costumes were! The Steam Punk Vampire, who got my vote, won the costume contest. Besides the costumes here, there was a soccer player, a “newsie,” a witch/Marilyn Manson/Severus Snape, a baseball coach, Sally {from Nightmare Before Christmas}, Strawberry Shortcake, a mobster and a mummy. The person who got my “most original” vote put on a yellow satin gown, some beads, a sweater, scarf, boots and gloves and said, “I was playing dress-up, but my mom made me go outside.” I'm thinking that is one you had to see and I'm wishing I'd have snapped her picture.

Besides all of the fun at work, I helped with Grasshopper-Potter's classroom party, made our traditional Halloween dinner, chili with breadsticks and Jell-O, and took the Little Bugs trick-or-treating. The weather was just beautiful for traipsing around the neighborhood demanding free candy with a thinly-veiled threat.

The batteries in my camera were dead first thing, and it was a busy, fun day. I finally managed to snap photos of LadyBug and Grasshopper in their costumes {I stuck with the wear-something-you-already-have “rule” for them} just before bed. The lighting isn't that great, but when it gets dark by 7:00 pm, you work with what you've got.

Officer LadyBug handcuffed me for making her eat chili for dinner and we haven't been able to find the key. It's made getting around interesting. And Grass-Potter still owes me a detention.

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