Halloween 2012 - The Four Seasons

For our 14th year of dressing up for Halloween, we chose a theme that is ideal for a group of 4: The Four Seasons.

This is now our 14th year of dressing in costumes together. Our theme this year was "The Four Seasons" with Amara dressed as "Spring" (a butterfly), Jason dressed as "Summer" (a surfer), Felicia dressed as "Autumn" (a tree) and Blaine dressed as "Winter" (a snowman).

As always, all our costumers are completely homemade. Felicia sewed Amara's black shirt and leggings. Blaine constructed the butterfly wings using wire which Felicia covered in fabric. Notice how there are actually fore and hind wings (top and bottom). We then decorated the front and back with fabric and paint, constructed a harness from a deconstructed backpack and attached the wings. The wings were attached so that they could actually pivot back and forth like real wings.

Jason's shirt was sewn by Felicia using a shark-pattern fabric and matching fish buttons. Blaine constructed the surfboard using a foam core surrounded by cardboard, and added a tail fin to the bottom. The board was primed, then spray-painted yellow and finally the shades of blue and black were added. After all that dried, a final layer of urethane was applied to give it a nice glossy sheen.

Felicia sewed her vintage dress with a yoke and large scooping sleeves which were lined with a satin fabric. The dress was then decorated with strands of fall leaves. Felicia also constructed a headpiece with several additional leaves to complete the look.

Blaine's snowman costume started as embroidery hoops which were linked by curved wire. Additional wires were added to complete the shape. On top of that, he added felt around any wire ends and added two layers of batting with hot glue. Felicia sewed a couple of cylinders made out of fleece fabric with drawstrings on top and bottom. These were cinched up to cover each of the snowballs. The final details were a set of 3 large black buttons, a nose out of orange posterboard, a hat with added ribbon and winter berries and finally mittens and a scarf sewn by Felicia.

We won several individual prizes and as well as a prize for our group theme. Apart from that, it was just a lot of fun parading around and seeing people react. It was always fun when people finally put the puzzle together and figured out our theme.

Halloween 2011 - Early Explorers of the New World

Jason was the inspiration for this year's theme. He wanted to be a Viking, so we quickly thought of Early Explorers of the New World. We have Amara as a Native American, Jason as Leif Ericson, Blaine as Christopher Columbus and Felicia as an English colonist.

All told, it took Felicia about 3 weeks of constant sewing to finish up all our costumes. Columbus' outfit alone had four major parts with the white undershirt, the brocade doublet, the knee-length pants and the outer coat. Felicia's dress required lots of gathering, especially for the drapes. She made her bonnet and learned about millinery wire, iron-on webbed interfacing, more gathering, etc. For Jason's costume, I painted and detailed his helmet and created a viking shield while Felicia sewed the armor, shirt and pants and the bracing for his arms and legs. Finally on Amara's costume, I did the beading on her headband, Felicia sewed and detailed the costume and we both sewed on beads on to the fringe on the sleeves and the bottom of the dress.

We entered two local Halloween costume contests and we won first place and second place respectively in the groups and family categories.

Michael and Rosemary opted to "do their own thing" this year, so Michael dressed as "The Creep" from the Lonely Island music video, while Rosemary dressed as Princess Zelda from the Ocarina of Time.

Halloween 2010 - Chess Pieces

As part of our annual Halloween tradition, we come up with a family theme for our costumes. This year we went as Chess Pieces.

The idea for our theme started when Michael suggested he wanted to be a knight. After tossing around ideas like "royalty" or "knights of the round table," Felicia noted that the knight is one of 6 different chess pieces. It was a perfect match!

Blaine (Dad) was the King, Felicia (Mom) was a Bishop, Michael was a Knight, Rosemary was the Queen, Jason was a Rook (castle) and Amara was a Pawn.

We had lots of fun walking around taking steps like our pieces. Felicia was going diagonally (like the bishop), I was taking one step at a time (the King) and Michael was taking two steps forward and one to the side. The only disappointment was that it was pretty rainy during the two local parades we entered. Nonetheless, in both costume contests we won first place in the families and groups categories. Alas we did not come upon another family dressed as white chess pieces.

Felicia did all the sewing while Blaine did construction.

The King's costume had a lined robe made of panne and a faux-fur shoulder piece. I strung the livery chain and medalion and constructed the crown.

For Rosemary's Queen costume, both the dress and the robe were sewn by Felicia and I made and decorated the crown.

For Michael's Knight costume, Felicia made the faux-chainmail hood and sleeves. The tunic and the pants were made out of a soft-faux-leather material. The helmet, shield and sword were painted to match, and then I embellished the shield with the chessboard pattern and the chess piece emblem.

Felicia sewed all her Bishop's vestments which included the velvet robe, the white cotton alb, the rope cincture, the stole and the decorated black chausable. I made and decorated the bishop's mitre.

For Jason's Rook piece, the structure was made using embroidery hoops, poster and illustration board, a "pleather" material for the brick, and glitter paint for the grout.

Finally, Felicia did all the sewing for Amara's Pawn dress and a Juliet cap. The bottom of the dress had a hoop made out of plastic tubing sewn into the hem to give the fullness.

Oh, and did you notice the chessboard trick or treat bags? Felicia sewed those too. Each of us had a bag with our corresponding chess piece. I think that helped people figure out the theme.

Halloween 2009 - Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Michael came up with this year's theme of "Wonders of the Ancient World". We dressed as the Great Pyramids of Giza, Colossus of Rhodes, Lighthouse at Alexandria, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Extra credit if you know the seventh wonder without looking it up.

Halloween 2008 - Clue Characters

I'm sure many of you grew up playing Clue (or Cluedo outside the U.S.) and are very familiar with the colorful, iconic characters in the game (from left to right Mrs. White, Miss Scarlet, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum). Since there 6 suspect characters, split evenly between men and women, it seemed like the perfect Halloween Costume theme for us this year.

Like most years, Felicia spent many weeks with long days sewing all the costumes, starting with the idea in early October to completed costumes a week before Halloween. Apart from Michael's pants, everything you see was the result of Felicia's sewing talents.

Blaine's costume included such touches as a leopard-print ascot, epaulettes, a monocle and an embroidered name tag for "Colonel Mustard".

Felicia found a beautiful "feather brocade" fabric for the bodice and cuffs of her dress. Also notice the real peacock feathers on her hat.

Michael's coat was a purple herringbone pattern, fully lined and included four working pockets. The corduroy vest and bowtie were also sewn by Felicia.

Rosemary was thrilled to play a sexy Mrs. White and to have her hair up in a French Twist. Felicia worked up a flattering design that flairs out slightly at the knees. We have to think twice about letting her out of the house in this.

Jason, played the role of the rich tycoon in a green "smoking" jacket. His tie had a dollar sign pattern and his pockets were filled with wads of "Mr. Green money" to give away. I'm not sure if it influenced the judges, but it seemed that people were reluctant to say the Mr. Green was responsible for Mr. Boddy's murder, after that.

Amara was a stylish Hollywood starlet, Miss Scarlet. She was thrilled with all the details from the ruffles on the skirt to the fluffy/furry cover-up.

In the past, Felicia would have been sewing right up to Halloween. But this year we wanted to join two local costume contests which were held the weekend before Halloween. On Saturday we went to the parade and costume contest near Blaine's parents. We were proud to win first place in the family/group category. (This is in addition to the individual awards that Blaine and Michael received in their respective age groups.) Then on Sunday, we entered the costume contest downtown. Not only did we win first place in the group category but we received a special Best In Show trophy recognizing efforts both this year and in prior years. It was quite an honor.

We spent much of the time during the parade insisting, "I didn't do it" then pointing fingers at another suspect like "Professor Plum, in the Study with the Lead Pipe". Each person had somewhat shady alibis and really got into their characters. Rosemary couldn't explain why she spent an inordinate amount of time dusting fingerprints off a candlestick. Amara offered her autograph to anyone that would say she was innocent. And Jason was handing out

$100 bills to anyone that would side with him. Colonel Mustard tried unsuccessfully to deny that he could have used a revolver, so just kept deflecting suspicion over to Mrs. Peacock. I think the crowds liked getting involved too.

Halloween 2007 - Outer Space

Our family Halloween theme this year is Outer Space, with Michael as the half-Vulcan/half-human Spock of Star Trek fame, Amara and Rosemary as blue-skinned aliens, Felicia as a Saturn V rocket, Blaine as an Apollo 11 astronaut and Jason as a Space Shuttle Commander.

This year's costumes are dedicated to Felicia's Dad, who passed away not long before Halloween, as Felicia was busily sewing away. She still managed to pull everything together so that we had the costumes completed ahead of time and so the family could attend the memorial service out of town.

My astronaut jumpsuit was a faux white "pleather" and the girls had sequin material that required Felicia to go really slowly when sewing. Numerous times she had to deal with broken thread and needles. As always, I am proud of the final results.

Halloween 2006 - Holidays

As part of our annual Halloween tradition, we come up with a "family theme" for our costumes. This year we went as The Holidays. We entered in to two local Halloween costume contests and in both we won first place trophies and prizes for our group theme.

The specific holidays are St. Patrick's Day (Michael), April Fool's Day (Blaine), Easter (Amara), Fourth of July (Jason), Thanksgiving (Felicia) and Christmas (Rosemary).

Once again, Felicia deserves all the credit for her hours (weeks) of meticulous sewing of all our costumes. And each costume was varied in terms of fabrics, patterns, sizes, etc. A few of the costumes had no patterns (April Fool, Leprechaun) but that didn't deter Felicia. I am so proud of what she created this year.

Halloween 2005 - Doctors

Photos of our Halloween costumes are now online. Before clicking on the picture, however, see if you can figure out our theme. All our costumes are related if you look closely. Or if you give up...

Halloween 2004 - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

In her most impressive sewing to date, Felicia had us all clothed as historical figures, namely Genghis Khan, Billy the Kid, Napoleon, Socrates, Abraham Lincoln and Joan of Arc.

For any fans of a certain "most excellent" movie of 1989, you'll remember that characters Bill and Ted were in jeopardy of flunking out of history. Through the use of a time machine masquerading as a phone booth, they gathered various historical figures for use in their "most excellent" history presentation, for which they impressed their teacher and got an A+. I say that Felicia deserves an A+ for her sewing this year!

Halloween 2003 - Wizard of Oz

Halloween 2003 we went as characters from The Wizard of Oz. As always, Felicia (Wicked Witch) did the sewing. Blaine (Scarecrow) helped with props, fabrics and decorating. From left to right: Michael (Tin Woodsman), Jason (Lion), Amara (Dorothy) and Rosemary (Glinda). Click the photo above for more pictures.

Halloween 2002 - Angels and Devils

This Halloween we went as angels and devils. I don't know who decided that the ladies should be angels and the guys should be devils... by the way, be careful signing Michael's contract; there's some really small print at the bottom.

Halloween 2001 - Alice in Wonderland

For Halloween we went as characters from Alice in Wonderland. I'd say that Felicia did a great job sewing all our costumes, wouldn't you? Now if only Michael's ear wasn't blocking Jason...

Back row: Blaine (Mad Hatter), Jason (Dormouse), Felicia (Alice)
Front row: Rosemary (Queen of Hearts), Michael (White Rabbit)

Halloween 2000 - Greek Gods and Goddesses

Having recently returned from our trip to Greece, we convinced the kids to join us in dressing like Greek gods and goddesses. Blaine was Poseidon (god of the sea), Felicia was Athena (goddess of wisdom), Michael was Hermes (messenger to the gods) and Rosemary was Eros (romantic love).

Halloween 1999 - Magical Costumes

What do a genie, a wizard, the Tooth Fairy and a magician have in common? Well obviously they are all magical and that was the theme for this Halloween.

After numerous trips to the fabric store, measurements, long sewing sessions by Felicia, fittings, etc. we were all wearing "magical" costumes this year.