Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween! I love that the weather is finally cooling down (usually), Fall is near and we know we are sliding slowly into Thanksgiving and Christmas! I also love the costumes, trick-or-treating, and having a night where kids fill the streets looking so cute, crazy and different. In August, I asked Sofia what she wanted to be and she said a mermaid, so I went on-line and ordered a mermaid costume for her and picked out a Little Red Riding Hood costume for Olivia (it was on sale). Once they arrived, I was a little annoyed at how cheaply both costumes were made and decided to make my own. Plus, CK had a great idea that it would be fun if Olivia's costume went along with Sofia's....thus, the mermaid and goldfish costumes started taking shape in my mind.

Although my Mom was a genius with creating and especially sewing, I don't think I inherited much of her sewing prowess. However, I do think I have a little creativity in me and I soon found that anything is possible with a hot glue gun and a little bit of time. I did a little on-line research to get ideas then headed to Jo Anne's to buy fabric for their costumes.

For Sofia, I decided to use an old pink t-shirt and add a sparkly pink tail to it and embellish it with a shell swimsuit top and sparkly "straps" made of jewels. I also decided she needed a crown and bought shells to add to it. For Olivia, I created my own pattern going off of how tall she is and decided to use a white swim cover-up that her Grandparents gave her for her birthday since I knew she wouldn't be able to use it for another swim season. I cut strips of "scales" out of three different fabrics and layered them on the back and made a swishy fish tail and fins. Honestly, Olivia's came together in my mind a lot easier than Sofia's did at first. Altogether they probably took a few hours of time, mainly spent on two Sunday afternoons and I think they both turned out pretty cute, even though they are so obviously homemade.

On Halloween, Grandma helped me get the girls ready and we took pictures before we started trick-or-treating!

Our mermaid

She makes a beautiful mermaid!

Mermaid with Grandma

Showing off her costume

Grandma with her fish and mermaid...the fish just woke from her nap and wasn't too keen on getting her costume on and getting pictures taken...

Our girls

Our little goldfish

She kept her "head" (the hood) on for most of the night, which I was surprised by since she doesn't love things on her head.

Our sweet goldfish!