Halloween Costumes

Fall is fun! And with Fall comes Halloween and a big part of Halloween is, of course, the costume.

Costumes can be tricky. You need to find that perfect balance between fun and festival and functional. You also have to decide how much you want to spend or how much work you want to put into the costume. First Halloweens are pretty easy since you, as the parent, are pretty much in complete control over your kid's costume. Client One was a ladybug for her first Halloween. It was cute and adorable. She really didn't use it much, though, but it made for some cute pictures. The only other time I think she wore it was when we went trick-or-treating to each of her grandparents' houses. (Yep, she only wore it to two houses!)

The second Halloween can be a bit trickier. Client One was around 18 months old for her second Halloween, so she was starting to develop her own little opinions about things. She liked things that sparkled and one step into Dollar Tree that year and she knew what she wanted to be: a fairy. She spotted a pair of sparkly purple wings with a matching wand and crown and nothing else would do. We paired them with a hand-me-down costume from my cousin for a cute little fairy costume. (You can't beat only spending $3 on a costume!) The costume got more wear that year, too. We hit up a couple of fall festivals with some friends and started our yearly tradition of Boo in the Zoo (which remains our favorite event to date). Even though we lived in an apartment, we also did a little trick-or-treating in a near-by neighborhood. Once Halloween was over, the fairy dress got added to the slowly growing dress-up collection and still gets worn to this day!

Now, last year, Client One's third Halloween, she was full-on into dress-up so she knew a thing or two about costumes. She had gotten a pretty nice Cinderella dress over the summer, so I was planning on that being her costume, but that was before her best friend decided to be the Big Bad Wolf. And what would a cute little two year old be when her best friend is the Big Bad Wolf? Little Red Riding Hood, of course! They made the cutest little duo at all the festivals and events we hit up that year. We even did a super adorable photo shoot with the two of them! They were a hit! In addition to all the fun trunk-or-treats and other events we went trick-or-treating in our very own neighborhood since that was the first fall in our new house. We didn't go to a ton of houses, but it was enough to assemble a decent haul of candy! This costume also still gets used constantly as dress-up clothes.

This year, Client One was going to come up with her costume all her own. At first, she wanted to be Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls. (Major facepalm moment there.) I was going to just throw her hair up in pigtails and make her a blue dress out of a large t-shirt and blue duct tape. Then, thankfully, she started thinking up other ideas which included a bunny, a princess, Batman and a cat. Then, we were looking through the dollar section at Target and we found a pair of pink cat ears with a hint of sparkle and she was sold. She was going to be a pink cat. I simply paired a pink dance leotard with pink tights for the cat look she wanted and completed the look with a little facepaint, the ears, and a tutu from the Dollar Tree I got her some pink leg warmers for her arms should it get chilly. We were set. Then her October Citrus Lane box came and it had a pink cape in it. As she loved super heroes, she decided to incorporate the cape and become a pink super kitty. She is definitely easy to pick out of a crowd! We still have a few events left to go to, but her costume is definitely getting some wear this year!

This year was, of course, Client Two's first Halloween and my first Halloween with two kids in tow. At first I debated making both clients costumes coordinate. I thought Batman (Client One) and Robin (Client Two) would be cute. Then, Client One decided to be a cat, so I thought Client Two should be a puppy. But I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a costume that wouldn't get much use, so I started looking at Hoodies that could double as a costume. That's when I found a cute little dragon outfit from Crazy 8. I got it a little big so Client Two can wear it all fall, winter and maybe even into the spring. They were also having a sale when I bought it and I had a coupon so I got it at a pretty good deal. I topped the outfit off with some cute slipper socks from Target and we had a bundle of adorable on our hands!

So, Halloween is here! Or, well, it will be in just a couple of days. My clients are ready to go! I might throw on a pair of black cat ears and some black clothes and go as a black cat (Client One's request), but no matter what I do, I know we will have fun!

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