Happy Halloween! 

I must confess, I simply thought about my costume all week.  I didn't actually put together any of the details until last night.  Knowing that I would be hanging out with my niece and nephew for part of the day, I wanted to be comfortable.  That is how Suburban Wonder Woman came to life.

I didn't want to spend any money, and I didn't want to ruin my skinny jeans.  (Although the stars are pretty fun.)  For my shirt, I created a freezer paper stencil and glittered a Wonder Woman logo on an old shirt that was from the clearance section of Target.  A Wonder Woman shirt is cool enough to wear after Halloween - ya know?

My jeans were decorated with stars I punched from freezer paper.  I simply placed them shiny side down and ironed them.  I knew that they would be very temporary - especially since I would be chasing a toddler.  But, that is just what I wanted.  Sure enough, the stars I left the house with were mostly gone by the time I returned.  However, I quickly added more stars.  These are staying nicely, since I am doing less running!  It will be nice to pluck them off at the end of the day and not worry about any sticky residue being left behind.

My crown was quickly made with glitter paper, a glue gun, and an old headband.
The bracelets are just more glitter paper and tape.

The red shoes were a mini splurge from my birthday a few weeks ago.  They are so fun, I want to wear them every day!

Did you dress up for Halloween?  How about your kids?  I was able to see my Niece march in her school parade.  She was a lovely princess.  It was so much fun seeing all of the kids dressed up in different costumes. 

A friend of mine said that Suburban Wonder Woman's weapon of choice would probably be a credit card.  I just love that idea, don't you?  Woohoooooo!  This could be dangerous.

Have a terrific Halloween! 

Hello my darlings!  I have missed you.   Real life always takes a priority, and we have been doing a lot of living lately.  Now it is already the last week of October.  How did that even happen?  As I work on final details for my Halloween costume this year, I thought it would be fun to look back on my costumes from previous years.

It has actually been a few years since I have been to an actual costume party.  However, I tend to invent excuses to dress up on regular days, so obviously, I must embrace the opportunity to dress up on Halloween!

A dear friend recently reminded me that we grew up in the days of plastic costumes.  Remember those?  Basically a plastic pinafore with an image on it.  Every costume included a plastic mask whether it was necessary or not.

These days, I tend to root through my closets and see what I can put together to create a costume.  I am spoiled with tons of second hand clothes (not to mention a ton of my own clothes!), so it is fun to see what I can create without going to the store.

I have rambled enough.  Here we go!

This Mime costume was super last minute.  This was the year that I learned that cheap costume make-up is harder to apply than it looks.  That was the only thing I purchased that year.

This dress was my Mom's when she was young.  My 3rd Aunt designed it!  I am totally in love with the dress.  I need to find more excuses to wear it.

This was one of my favorite costumes!  I won the plain back hat as a prize at a party.  For Halloween, I decorated it Mad Hatter style.  The jacket and vest used to be my Mom's.  The pants used to be my Dad's.  The bow tie was made out of felt.  I used safety pins to add lace to the jacket.  A few more details found while rummaging through my closets and my costume was complete!

I found a Pinterest photo of a girl with braided cat ears and knew I had to try it.  It was actually quite simple with just a bit of floral wire and bobby pins.  As an ode to my new home state of New Jersey and a silly conversation I had with a friend, this costume was born.  The vest was a wedding gift.  The necklace is one that I made years ago.

Another favorite!  I reinvented the plain back hat I had used for my Mad Hatter costume.  A house, a tornado, a yellow brick road, and I became the Wicked Witch of the East.  Apparently, I didn't look wicked enough.  I was having too much fun!  I took a fun long skirt I had and pinned it randomly to make it more witchy. 

Did you dress up for Halloween this year?  What has been a favorite costume of yours?  I love that Facebook gives me the opportunity to see so many great costumes throughout the month of October.  Have a safe and fun week!

Why, hello there!

i hope that you have been having a wonderful week.  I spent my week enjoying time with family and friends.  The weather has been so perfect for play and fun.

Today is Taiwanese Father's Day - the perfect opportunity to brag about my Dad for a little bit.

There is no doubt that I am my Mother's child, because I look just like her.  However, my personality and all of my craftiness comes from my Dad.  My Mom is a fierce cook, but crafting is just not her thing.  She has created lovely things in the past, but usually under coercion from a craft-loving friend.

My Dad is goofy, laughs a lot, and always has a camera with him.  That's me!  Friends who meet my Dad for the first time always say, "so that's where you get it from."

My Dad is crafty and talented.  When he was young he led a church youth group.  He has these memory books that he created for each member back when mimeographs were high tech.  Every page was handwritten and included his own illustrations.  It's pretty crazy. 

When I was in 7th grade, I had to make an Egyptian headdress and collar for school.  It was my Dad's idea to use a carpet-y toilet bowl cover as a base for the collar.  Are you old enough to remember when it was cool to decorate the toilet to match the floor mats?  Even though we bought a brand new cover from Hills, I was initially mortified by the idea.  But of course it was a genius idea, and I got an 'A' after adorning the cover with a bunch of gold trim.

One of my Dad's funniest creations was a window knocker.  While eating lunch, my Dad's seat offers a perfect view of a bird feeder he set up outside the large picture windows in an adjacent room.  One year, he was frustrated that squirrels and large black birds were eating up the seeds and scaring off the smaller birds.  My Dad set up other feeding areas for the larger birds and squirrels, but they loved the feeder right by the window.  My Dad created spiked rings from plastic containers to deter the squirrels.  But the squirrels loved the fancy new obstacle course they felt was created just for them.  He tried to create slippery covers for the bird feeder that would make it too difficult for the larger birds and squirrels to reach the food.  It only helped temporarily.  Finally, my Dad created a window knocker.  He had a pull string next to his seat that traveled up and across the ceilings over to a ball that would bang the window.  That worked.  It only stayed up for a month or two, but it sure gave us a laugh while it lasted.

My Dad also sews.  He doesn't sew regularly - only when inspiration strikes.  However, it makes me proud that he sewed me an outfit when I was a roly poly  baby.  It gives me hope that I will master a sewing machine one day! 

I could tell a gazillion other stories about my Dad's talents, craftiness, and goofiness, but with Father's Day twice a year it's best to share a few at a time.

I love you, Dad!  Happy Taiwanese Father's Day!

P.S.  My Dad's nickname is Blue.  That is part of the reason why I'm bluegirl.  :)