Halloween!

You might remember that Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year was kind of strange for me in terms of decorating, however. One huge box of Halloween decorations was never located in our very disorganized storage space, and we've been going back and forth with the decision of whether or not to move before the end of the year, so I was dragging my feet a bit on getting things out. Anyway, a lot of the decorating I would usually do didn't happen this year, but it was still a very sweet Halloween.

Elisabeth and James were fairies (Elisabeth's idea, of course); their costumes were inspired by the work of Daniela Drescher, whose illustrations I would gladly inhabit. In fact, I tried to make Elisabeth's costume look like one of the fairies from In the Land of Fairies.

James's jacket and hat are made using patterns from Bend the Rules Sewing. The "Woodland Elf Hat" was super easy. I used some wool/rayon blend felt that I got on clearance at JoAnn last fall, and I didn't even have to pin around the curves because the felt stayed nice and still for me. It was really easy. I'm not sure if it's because I used a fabric so different from the one suggested in the book (no stretch), but the "Sweet Wee Jacket" turned out much shorter than I'd hoped.  But no problem for this project ... and when I make it again (I'm certain I will -- it's so cute!), I'll just cut the body longer.

The wings are made with coat hangers and pantyhose. I've been thinking about trying this ever since I first saw some like this in a store five years ago (one of those "I could make that" moments), but was never sure how well it would work with an actual hanger. Well, it did, and was much easier than I expected!

James's bag, new this year. I made one like it for Elisabeth when she was this age, even before I was sure if I'd ever allow my children to trick-or-treat. Simple, small, doesn't hold too much, sweet, perfect for little ones.

We had a really fun evening. We trick-or-treated at just a few houses and in our small city's downtown, and then we spent most of the evening at my sister-in-law's house drinking spiced cider and eating chili while my wee ones and their big cousins (10+) were in and out (it was freezing). My children got just enough candy -- but not too much. It was perfect.