Halloween Costume Planning GO!
So I know it may be April, but it’s never too late to start planning for Halloween! I also happen to be surrounded by students dressing up in Brazilian Carnival themed outsides for an upcoming variety show (feathers, lots and lots of feathers), so maybe costumes are on my mind. Here are a few suggestions culled from the Ghost of Halloween Past.
My friend J and I went as spring holidays one year, she the Easter Bunny and I, a leprechaun. These Halloween costumes could also work as the Trix bunny and the Lucky Charms guy, but we didn’t get around to buying the cereal boxes, so we just stuck to the holidays.
Easter Bunny costume: bunny ears, whiskers painted on, a white springy dress, with a pastel pink shirt beneath it, and she carried around an easter basket filled with carrots (easter eggs would have been better, but we didn’t have any).
Leprechaun: I wore a big green hat, a green suit (that I already owned, thank you), which I cuffed below my knees. I added a pair of white knee high socks and big black shoes (Mary Jane Doc Martens—clearly, a grunge Leprechaun). On my shoes, I taped gold paper with gold glitter glued to it (say that five times fast). On my face, I painted a shamrock and I wore a lovely green eyeliner from Sephora that I highly recommend even when it’s not Halloween. I had originally intended to carry around a pot of gold chocolate coins, but I didn’t get around to stopping by the store, so then I was going to paint a rainbow and a pot of gold on my other cheek, but after my attempt with the shamrock, J and I agreed it was best to let the face painting go.
It reminded me of the time when I was Pocahontas at a birthday party and the parents had a face painting kit. Now, I didn’t know how to face paint then either, but I figured, how hard can it be? Heh. One kid wanted to be a shark, so I dabbed the gray coloring and went to work. My finished product looked more like a gravestone than a shark. So I added a dash of red to it and told him the shark had just eaten fresh kill so there was blood on his mouth. His reaction? “Cool!” Then EVERY kid wanted the bloody mouth shark on their face. Oh yeah. I was a real hit with the parents at that party.
But back to my Saturday night party tomfoolery (ballyhoo! Irish words! Yea!).
I’d have to say, the luck o’ the Irish was certainly with me that night. First, there was the good doctor (he wore an operating smock with the words “Dr. Feel Good” written on the back). He ‘accidentally’ fell on me while I was sitting on the couch and spilled a drink on my left leg. If I had brought a shillelagh, I’d have hit him with it.
Then there was the girl wearing my award for Most Clever Costume—Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Rain (she had on a blue shirt with cottons balls glued to it and carried around a spritzer bottle that said ‘rain’ – her husband wore a poncho and one of those umbrella hats). She spilled a good ¾ of her drink on my right leg a few minutes after Dr. Feel Good didn’t feel so good. In addition to the drink spillage, I also managed to get a Velveeta-y concoction on the lapel of my jacket. Perhaps I was channeling my child’s approach to food and revelry?
Other notable Halloween costumes included the hostess of the party who dressed up as SuperGirl but thought she was Wonder Woman. Her husband was dressed as Batman and his shenanigans at the party would have made an excellent home movie called “Batman does the Grind.”
A couple showed up as Dog the Bounty Hunter and his wife, Beth. Unfortunately, I asked if they were supposed to be Anna Nicole Smith and Ted Nugent. I don’t know, I’ve never seen that Bounty Hunter show, and they’re all a bunch of so 5 years ago. I hope they weren’t insulted. And, as with all parties, there’s always someone who shows up in the Creative Political Costume. This year being an election year ought to make for some fine artistry.
The winner for the weirdest costumes choice of the night, however, goes to Batman’s father, who was dressed as an angel. Gold dress, wings, blonde wig with a halo. Yes, nice angel costume. But then, for reasons unbeknownst to anyone, he pulled a stocking over his face, cut out the eye and mouth holes, and then painted BRIGHT RED lipstick on his mouth over the stocking. This resulted in him looking like Leatherface dressed as an angel. I don’t know what this means. I just know, I’m a scared of it, and it takes a lot to scare a Leprechaun.
**This post co-inspired by a visit to Halloweenmart.com SO can’t wait for October!
