Who here likes to dress up for Halloween? I like to dress up and there was a costume party coming up that I was planning to go to this last Halloween. I tried to think up creative ideas or look things up on the Internet and try to decide what I wanted to be. Do I want to be sexy, scary or just cute (or all three plus some other adjectives)? Dressing up is like when I was a kid and I went into my mom’s closet and wore her clothes and shoes. It is a land of pretend.

As you know, economy isn’t so great right now. I really don’t have the money to buy anything new so I decided to try to make my own Halloween costume this year. I had spent some money on a lingerie outfit and that was a big splurge so I wanted to get use of the outfit. However, I wore it at a party a couple weeks ago so I wanted to mix it up a little just in case I saw someone that had already seen me in the outfit.

I decided to search through my closet and see what I could come up with. I figured I could wear the top from my lingerie but I wanted to mix up the bottom. I wasn’t even sure yet what I wanted to be. Maybe a munchkin? Maybe a fairy or pixie? Oooooh – I love the pixie idea. I think I want to be a pixie.

I found a broomstick skirt in my closet that had orange and maroon in it. The top I was planning to wear is black and merlot colored (basically purple) with white lace. What if I can mix up some white lace with my broomstick skirt? Let’s see – where do I get white lace. A ha! In my closet is a white lace dress that I had broke the straps on. Perfect!

So I took the white dress and I got out my sewing kit and I took the dress apart. I removed the top of the dress and the lace and I decided to sew the lace over the broomstick skirt. I got out my orange thread (the skirt is orange) and I hand sewed the white lace over the skirt. It was wonderful. It is so relaxing for me to sew and I watched Heroes and just relaxed stitching in and out. I had to cut the lace and that left a seam open. That’s ok. Maybe it will be sexy or maybe I can sew it later. Still, I was so proud of my creativity and my accomplishment of finding things in my closet that I could put together. I tried it on and I wasn’t sure I liked the way the lace fell but it was still cute.

The afternoon before the party, I went to visit a lady from the Desert Sage Auxiliary who was going to teach me to sew. So I brought my skirt with the lace and thought maybe she could help me. She has a sewing machine. Learning to sew on a sewing machine is really fun. So I sat down that afternoon and she taught me how to sew the gowns for the memory boxes for the Desert Sage Auxiliary. Then I asked her to help me with the skirt.

First I sewed up the open seam on the white lace. Then I tried to figure out how to bring the hem of the skirt up to make it a knee length skirt instead of a floor length skirt. I had a great idea but I could tell the lady I was with had other things to do than to bother with my skirt so I did a quick fix and I thought it looked really cute. It poofed the skirt out and shortened it to knee length. I knew it wasn’t perfect but How fun!!! I asked my parents for an early birthday gift. I asked for a sewing machine. They bought me one and I can’t wait to use it.

So I went home to take a nap and then get ready for the party. My friend Laura was coming over to get dressed and go to the party with me. I went out and found Angel wings at Big Lots for $6 and I went to Wal-Mart and bought pink, purple and gold glitter spray for my hair and my wings. I even knew I was going to put my hair in pigtails. I bought ponytail holders with little bows on them in pink and purple. This was so exciting.

When Laura got there, I showed her my wonderful skirt and as I looked at it in the mirror I realized a few things. One, the skirt is too big around my waist, two, the lace looked awful and three, the colors didn’t match with my top. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was fun putting it together. However, it really didn’t work for the purposes I was looking for. Funny how great I thought it was, isn’t it?

So I wore the same lingerie outfit again, without the stockings, with different shoes but a whole new look to it. I put my hair in pigtails, I put on my wings and Laura painted designs on my face in pink and purple. I sprayed my hair with the pink and purple hairspray and sprayed gold glitter through my hair and all over my body. I felt good and I looked good. Then I looked at my bathroom.

There is gold glitter everywhere on my counters, the faucet has turned pink and there is a pink and purple outline of wings on my carpet. OK – so I am not very bright sometimes. The carpet needs to be replaced anyway. The faucet will clean (if I ever get to it) and I look cute.

So my finished product was my lingerie outfit with wings and pigtails and a lot of facial paint.   I may not have sewed it myself, but I felt good about the finished product. As for the skirt I put together, I took it apart. I took off the lace and took out the stitching I did on the skirt. I cut it and made it into a knee length skirt. I got a new sewing machine and was able to hem the skirt all by myself. I tried to make my son a costume but I think that will have to wait until next year. The sewing machine is a whole new adventure….