I love Halloween!
I always have.
I love scaring people, watching spooky thrillers, carving pumpkins… the works! While, for our family, it is certainly not all about costumes and candy- I would be lying if I said I didn’t love dressing up every year!
In fact, the only time I didn’t dress up for Halloween was right after I had our baby girl in 2009. But I sure dressed her up! She went as a guitar ;)
Last year, we did a family costume…Andromeda was Little Red Riding Hood, Lucas was the huntsman and I was the Wolf! ;)
This year, in honor of us moving to Gloucester and because Andi seemed to develop an interest in The Little Mermaid, I decided she would go as… a mermaid. Then, I decided I was going to make her costume myself!
Well, with the help of this blog, my mother-in-law, Diane and my imagination, I did just that!
I started with the crown. I used an old princess crown, that she wore for her first birthday party, as the base. I decided to make a seashell topper for the crown, using glitter and layers of paper.
Once I had my shell, I set to work on the rest of the crown, and securing the shell. I pulled out the big guns… well, just one gun really… my glue gun! This thing has become as important to me as an extra limb, since my performance art days… I simply cannot exist without it!
I pulled out a shiny gift bag that I had been holding onto for years and decided to steal the “jewels” adorning the bag for the tank top portion of this costume. I also decided to steal one of the ribbon handles, to give the crown some extra padding and depth. I used an old “dress up” necklace of Andi’s for some “pearly accents”.
Next, using an old turquoise tank of Andi’s, I set to work making a sea-worthy tank top.
I found some cheese cloth and some old lace scraps in my sewing bag and decided to dye them with food coloring to give them a seaweed look. Then I sewed the dyed lace around the straps of the tank and started spreading bits of the cheese cloth around, securing with my trusty glue gun.
This is where I got to be really creative. I used the plastic bling from an old gift bag, sea shells (found right here in Gloucester) and the rest of Andi’s dress up pearls and… voila!
Then I realized… October in Massachusetts…. Chances are a tank top just won’t cut it in the cold. So, I rummaged around in my closet and found an old turquoise scarf of mine that I never wear anymore. Instant Cape! I just sewed it to the tank straps, leaving some slack for it to hang properly. To decorate it, I draped left over cheese cloth and secured it with glue, and placed a few more sea shells and “treasures”.
Then came time for the TAIL! My mother-in-law, Diane, brought her sewing machine down from New Hampshire and she and I took a trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics in search of sparkly fabric for the tail and organza for the fins. One of the first things we saw was shiny, scale patterned fabric! It was too perfect for words!
Diane and I worked for a while, cutting out the shape of the tail and attempting to measure a squirmy two year old ;) Keep in mind, it had been years since I had last sat behind a sewing machine! Diane helped guide me through the first steps of sewing the body of the tail.
After this point, I relied on the tutorial I got from the blog I mentioned and my own instincts. The most difficult part was working with the organza because it’s very slippery and once you cut or pin or sew into it…. it’s very fragile.
Here is the first shot I got of Andi wearing part of her costume. I promise I will post more after this weekend. We’re going to Salem on Saturday for some trial trick or treating and other ghoulish good times ;) See the wig in this picture? It’s only a headband with strands of hair hanging down from it. Guess where I got it… The Dollar Tree! How’s that for thrifty business?
Well, see you soon with more photographic evidence of a real little mermaid! Have a happy and safe Halloween weekend, and a blessed Samhain!
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