Do you like Halloween? I like candy, decorating, and dressing up, so I like Halloween! Halloween may have a scary/spooky side, but I like to focus on the family fun we can have celebrating together.
I always dressed up as a kid, and even a few times as a teen, but I never did a group costume with anyone until I got married. Once we added kids to the mix, our group costumes became even more fun, and having a family costume is a tradition that I hope lasts a longggg time!
1. Waldo & Wenda
The first time we ever did a costume together, we threw it together at the last minute. A friend of mine inspired me with the Wenda picture she had posted of herself, and I already had socks and fake glasses that fit the bill, so all we needed was some red tape to make shirts for both of us!! If I were to do the costume now, I would definitely make sure to swap my pants for a skirt and add hats for both of us, but for the last minute, it turned out just fine :)
2. Cowboy & Indian
Knowing what I know now about how culture is not a costume, I wouldn’t choose this costume now unless I was being a specific Indian, like Pocahontas or Tiger Lily. But at the time, I thought we were so clever for coming up with coordinating costumes rather than having character costumes.
3. Pirate & Mermaid
I loved coming up with all the little pieces for this costume that truly made it mermaid-y — a shell ring, fishing net headband with a star fish in it, not to mention the amazing tail! I made that, and I’m still super proud of it!
4. Sailor Moon & Tuxedo Mask
Sailor Moon was my FAVORITE show as a kid (we’re talking, I set my alarm for 6am to watch it in the mornings at like 9 years old lol), so when my coworker gifted me a tiny Sailor Moon outfit at my baby shower, it made our costume decision easy that year! Plus, I already had the sailor collar thing because I made it when I was about 12 (lol again).
5. Alice in Wonderland
When I saw my friend dressed up as Alice the year before this, I started planning our family costume around being Alice. We gathered various green pieces from the thrift store for the Mad Hatter costume. Then for the Cheshire Cat, we bought light pink pajamas, taped them off, and spray painted stripes onto them! (Did you know you can spray paint clothes and it will stay on, even if you wash them? I didn’t, until this Cheshire Cat project!)
6. Circus People
Though this was in the heyday of The Greatest Showman, we were just regular circus people. We had bought the muscle shirt for Russ the previous year for a murder mystery party, so we wanted to put it to good use! Then when we found the PERFECT ringleader leotard thing for me and lion costume for Ada (both at the thrift store!) it was an easy decision! We actually won a prize at a costume party for this one :)
7. Cinderella
I was 7 months pregnant with Holly in 2019, so I had to find a costume that worked with my big belly. We originally thought we would be characters from Monster’s Inc (my big belly would have been Mike Wazowski), but Ada really loved Grandma’s Cinderella dress-up, so we made that work instead! Once again, we headed to the thrift store, where we found a dress for me, and a jacket and pants for Russ. However, I still had to add all the gold elements to Russ’s costume, as well as alter the jacket somewhat, so a trip to the craft store was also necessary! I love how the whole family costume turned out, but I’m especially proud of Russ’s costume!
8. Hocus Pocus
I had 2020’s costume planned out the moment I knew I was pregnant with Holly — if she was a boy, we would have been the Addams Family, and if she was a girl, we were going to be the Sanderson sisters. As soon as we found out gender, the fate of the next year’s Halloween costume was sealed! This is one costume that we’ll likely repeat someday — it’s just too good!
9. Star Wars
2021 was the first year that Ada had strong opinions about what we were — she was OBSESSED with Princess Leia at the time, so we went with it! I was pretty excited when I found the gold bodysuit at the thrift store for $7!! It made for the perfect C-3PO costume!
I think the key to having fun dressing up for Halloween is to really GO FOR IT! No need to feel self-conscious when the whole point of the holiday is to dress up!
Do you like dressing up for Halloween? Do you do family costumes? What costumes are you doing this year? I want to hear it all in the comments! :)