The Big Reveal: Halloween 2012

Did YOU guess what we were going to be for Halloween?

Several of you guessed correctly what both Eric and I were going as, but nobody guessed correctly on Pearl's costume.

Here it is. The moment you've all waited for since first clicking on this blog title two seconds ago.

Eric was. . . . . . . .

MC BAT COMMANDER, FROM THE AQUABATS!

For this costume, Eric ordered the cap, goggles, and shirt through The Aquabats website. He made the belt with blood, sweat, tears, and discount material from Joann fabric and craft. The shorts, socks, and Converse are all out of his wardrobe. And lastly, you can't forget the mustache (face paint) and missing tooth (tooth black-out).

Funny story about this costume: Pearl was trick-or-treating with her mom on Halloween night. Eric wanted to make her night (because she LOVES The Aquabats) by surprising her and fooling her into believing he really was the Bat Commander. As we drove down the street and found Pearl, we were both pumped and imagining that she would always remember the time she met her favorite superhero. As Eric ran up to where she was, scripted monologue in his head, she saw him and came running over yelling, "Daddy!!" Lol.

UPDATE: When Eric made his surprise appearance, he also took with him a letter he'd designed on mock Aquabats stationary. It read something like "Don't eat too much candy! Listen to your mom and dad! And don't forget to brush your teeth! -Love, Ricky Fitness."

Even though Pearl knew better than to fall for Eric's impersonation, she TOTALLY believed the letter was real because of the "authenticity" of the stationary. Apparently, she slept with it all night. Lol.


Pearl was. . . . . . . .

PUSS IN BOOTS!

Pearl's costume came together like a dream. I lucked out by finding an old Tigger costume at the thrift store. Two days, and an additional $5 later, my seamstress decapitated poor Tigg. Since the weather ended up being 5,000 degrees outside that day, I also ended up cutting off the mittened portion of the hands and turned the legs into shorts.

The thrift store provided the floppy, sun hat (still had the original tags from Charlotte Russe) and braided belt. I added a small stitch to the hat to keep one side up and I affixed an ostriche feather (from Michael's). The "boots" were pirate-type boot covers. I used fabric glue to add red ribbon trim and attached them to the Tigger suit. Those, along with the cape and fencing foil, were all from the Halloween store. The final touch was face paint. Eric took over on that part because my attempt the night before looked a lot less "Puss in Boots" and a lot more "Oompa Loompa on crack."

(Oompa Loompa on crack, doing an impersonation of Guy Fawkes, while firing his agent.)

Pearl and her "cousin", the Ninjago (my nephew, M, from Original Thoughts of an Unoriginal Thinker) 

Pearl was entered in the 4-6 age division of the costume contest. We made sure to tell her over and over how it doesn't matter if you win a prize or not, just have fun, yadda yadda, whatever, all those other things you say when you know you're going to win. We told her all of this knowing fully well she was going to clean house. And then the unthinkable happened. SHE.DIDN'T.EVEN.PLACE. She lost to a soap bar/ loofah combo (it was creative and homemade, so I concede they deserved it), Alfalfa from The Little Rascals (again, homemade and cute so it totally deserved it too), and the first place winner was. . .
. . .
. . .
fucking Jack Sparrow.
As in, the store-bought costume that's been played out for the past nine years. I was shocked when they announced his name, especially considering that when we first arrived all the kids were like "Look! It's Puss in Boots!!" AND she was the only Puss in Boots there. AND when we went trick-or-treating afterward, everyone was oohing and ahhing over her costume.

I should totally just be proud that Pearl was cool with not winning a prize and had fun regardless. But I'm not. Clearly, we know who needs to learn the meaning of "sportsmanship."


And lastly, I was. . . . . . . . .

MARY POPPINS!

I had been wanting to try this costume for several years, but for one reason or another, never got around to it. Surprisingly, it was easy to put together. I found a long, wool skirt and a white button down shirt at the thrift store. The hat was some kind of vintage, short-fur covered derby hat from Italy that I also snagged at the thrift store. I just crushed the top down and glued on the flowers and strap. The bow tie was from the Halloween store. The bag, umbrella, blazer, gloves, and boots were out of my wardrobe. I also made sure to part my hair down the middle and pin my bangs down, ala the Pringles mascot.

Surprise of all surprises, I ended up winning third place for the adult costumes! I guess that makes me feel a little better about Pearl not winning. (Not really, she was robbed.)

Graciously accepting my prize. 

Also, my sister and her other son, L, went as the Kia Hamsters. She made their heads out of paper mache and furry fabric and glued witch nails onto furry gloves. She wore giant sweats and stuffed the hips with canteens. (Based on this picture, you'd never know she's stick thin.) L ended up winning a prize for his age division. Yay!!!  (Again, Pearl's group was rigged.)

And how could I forget Biscuit, the latest addition to The Harlem Globetrotters??

So those were our costumes this year.

What did you and your friends/ family go dressed as??