Wow, I don't know if everyone is, like me, recovering from the aftermath of Halloween. But this year it was wonderful and fun and... exhausting! To be honest, I have to say, Halloween kicked my butt a little. Designing and giving away 3 free Halloween collections, organizing the tablescapes and the photoshoots, as well as keeping up with everything else was a little bit more than I had realized it would be. But it was also OH SO MUCH FUN!!! It was so great to "talk" to so many of you about the fabulous Halloween (and actually many Halloween themed birthday) parties that you were planning. They all sounded soooo wonderful!!! I hope that after the planning was done, that you were all able to sit back and relax and enjoy them (as well as revel in the splendor of all of your hard work!) And of course, as I mentioned before, if any of you have pictures you would like to share please email me a few, I'd LOVE to see them!!
This year in the middle of all the other fun nuttiness, I made sure that I didn't loose sight of my priorities. My son is almost 2 1/2 and this the first year that he kind of "got" Halloween. (Of course he also picked the 2 weeks before Halloween, just as everyone is spook-ifying their yards, to decide that he is suddenly scared of things. Interesting timing!) So, I had to make sure that we made time to do it up properly.
My mother was/is a very crafty woman. When my parents first got married my mother made every single ornament on their first Christmas tree. (Man did she use a lot of turquoise yarn, egg cartons and gold spray paint!) And throughout my childhood we always made all of our birthday invitations and decorations, as well as many of our clothes. Back then I think it was known as frugal, but I have to say that I like our new kinder, gentler terminology... crafty and handmade. And I have to say not only was it great to have all that creative thinking instilled in you at an early age, but it also made so many occasions so very unique.
For many years, my mother made all of my Halloween costumes.
Yep, that's me. I'm Heidi!
But eventually she passed the task to me and let me run with it. And I "ran with it" with varying results...
In case it's not unbelievably obvious... I'm the bottle of Hunt's Ketchup.
As I now embrace my own motherhood experience, I've come to the realization that if this is a tradition that I want to pass along, I'd better get on the stick and start contributing to my son's costumes. So I'm ramping up slowly.
I have to sadly admit that the first year, I was a complete dud and made no personal contribution to his costume...
Last year I was a little bit better and crafted his "killer bee" hat from the bits of two separate hats...
I know, I shouldn't hurt my arm patting myself on the back too hard!
This year I went one step further...
Ta-da!! I made the vest and the hat this year. I'm getting there.... slowly. But the best part (and most important part) was that HE loved the costume and, quite frankly, never wanted to take it off. (In fact he slept in it last night!)
Do you help your kids make their costumes? Is this something that you did as a child? I would love to hear your stories!! Please share them if you have a few minutes. And, Happy Halloween... Recovery! (Now, onward to Thanksgiving, right?!!)
