Late Nights

Last night, when I should have been asleep, I thought, "Maybe I should sketch everything out for my (get this) Halloween costume so that I don't forget anything." It's eleven at night, and I was worried about a costume for a holiday that is 7 MONTHS AWAY. Do you see what I'm getting at here?
Anyway, I sketched and made notes for about a half hour. I could not fall asleep until I was satisfied.

They are crappy, but here are things I've found online (cough-mostly Pinterest-cough) that are close to what I've been seeing in my head:

Curly-toed boots!

Aren't they just perfectly witchy?

P.S. FOUND THEM!
Not what I expected though.

Striped Tights

A staple for anyone riding a broom.

Rag Skirt

Pretty and feminine, but not too much!

And I would probably add a tulle skirt under it,

just to add a tiny bit of volume.

Asymmetrical hoodie

Here is a VERY rough sketch of

what I'd like to make. ^

This is the closest I've found. ^

Her tutorial is a great start!

I think I'd be able to modify it

enough to make what I'm thinking.

I'd like to sew it so that the buttons are just decor

and it just slides on over my head.

Also, mine will be fitted under the bust

and then gathered over the bust

for a rouched effect.

Fabulous Eyes

Not the mouth. No zombies here today.

Note: Found on Pinterest by someone who found it on Tumblr which means

NO SOURCE and that bugs me.

If you know, let me know so I can credit them please!

Accessories:

Goggles

I don't want any bugs getting in my eyes now, do I?

(Does anyone else think of Russell when they think of goggles?)

Owl studs

For luck! You can never be too careful on a broom.

And a ring too...

Perched and waiting.

Hair thoughts:

Messy side braid

Great for keeping hair out of the way.

or

Crimped hair

Adds volume and a bit of craziness

so it looks windblown.

And last, but definitely not least:

The Broomstick!

I love that she painted it black.

I think I'd get a crooked branch

and straighter twigs though.

Yep. It's the end of March and I just planned out a Halloween costume.

That's how I roll.

What have you been up to lately?

Freak: It's all in the family... Circus Party!

I have two kids with fall birthdays. Instead of having two friend parties and two family parties, I've decided to have just one of each. That way, my girls each (kind of) get a party, but I'm not inviting everyone twice two months in a row. I'm totally fine with having tons of cake, but four parties in two months would just be ridiculous. (Hubs has a bday in November, so I guess technically we'll be having three parties.)

This year's theme is A Day at the Circus! I'm excited because the decor from this can be converted to Halloween decor. The colors are maroon/burgundy and black, with bursts of golden yellow mixed in. I have found so many fantastic ideas and I'm really excited to get started.

Invitations will look something like this:

I searched all over the internet for free circus fonts, but I was a little worried about downloading anything because all of the sites I found looked a little shady. Then I looked in Microsoft Works Word Processor, which was already on my laptop, and found the fonts you see above. The maroon writing is in Rosewood Std Regular and the black is called Playbill.

For the door, I thought I'd make a sign like this:

Once the kids come in through the doorway, I'll have maroon streamers hanging down. When they enter, I'll have more streamers hanging from the light fixtures to where the wall and ceiling meet. I'm hoping my tiny apartment will look more like the inside of a big top tent.

On the food/dessert table I'll have a maroon tablecloth. I'm going to make a cut in the front, and then use black ribbon to pull it to the sides so it looks like a miniature tent. The menu will consist of hot dogs, buns and condiments, popcorn and cotton candy, colorful swirled suckers, animal crackers, and strawberry lemonade.

(Photo above from a party featured on Kara's Party Ideas)

I found this gorgeous material at a thrift store the other day. I'm debating whether to use it as the backdrop for the photo booth or the food table.

As you may have read on the invitation, the kids have been encouraged to dress up. I'm a little more than excited for our costumes, which will be used for Halloween as well.

My husband will be a lion tamer. He'll carry a whip and have scratches and scars on his arms and maybe even his face. I was giving him options and he chose this. Why he didn't want to be a dancing bear, I'll never know...

My oldest daughter will be a tightrope walker. She'll be wearing a little black dress I found at the DI, creme tights, black shoes, her hair up, and she'll carry a parasol. She wants to be a "switch" a.k.a. a witch for Halloween, so this will be the easiest to convert. Trade the parasol for a broom, add a pointed hat hair clip and we'll be good to go.

My second-oldest will be the ringmaster. I found a little maroon swimsuit that will be perfect! I'm going to make her a little black jacket to go over it, complete with a tulle bustle. Add some creme tights underneath, black shoes, a felt black top hat hair clip and she's all set.

My little boy will be the strongest man, complete with fake brown mustache and little barbell. Easy AND cute. Did I mention easy?

I think I will be some sort of doll that's come to life. I'm not positive yet. I have a black tutu/skirt I wore to Witches Night Out last year and I found a tutorial for a great corset-looking shirt (without the squeeze) here. Add a few embellishments and it would look kind of cool for really cheap. I really like the eye and lip makeup shown below. (But no chola brows for this chica.) I don't think I'll do the stitches though because this is a kid's party. There is a great doll makeup tutorial here by Michelle Phan. The eyes look a little different, but not much.

For the kid party, I was thinking they could watch Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! whilst eating hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy. I know that movie is not really circus-themed, but there's a monkey, a wizard, and an elephant in it. That's close enough, right?

Later we play games and the girls can open presents. After we sing and eat cake I'll send the kiddos home with sugar-highs. Birthday parties are great, aren't they?

If you have any ideas, send them my way! I still need ideas for games in a small living room (besides pin the something on the something) and party favors.

I'll keep posting to show my progress along with regular programming.

Wish me luck!

{:

P.S. The winner of the Lovable Labels giveaway was Sally!

~SALLY~ said...
I follow you both on Twitter @coupons4moms

Congrats!