Halloweens Past and Present

Not too many years ago, these were our costumes:

Since then, the post I wrote about NOT sewing our Halloween costumes that year has been one of my most popular.  I think most of us feel caught up in that sewing pressure a lot of the time, and there are so many instances where we just don’t have enough juice left to do it.

And then other times, we do. If you follow me on the IG, you’ve seen this over the past few days and weeks:

I’ve been busy sewing dirndls for myself and our two younger girls to wear alongside my husband’s Munich-bought Lederhosen, and our son’s store-bought junior version of the same.  We’re doing a group Halloween again this year, and heading out as the Von Trapp Family.  We’ll keep it small and simple–a pot luck at the neighbors’ (for as little time as I can get away with it, because the kids get really wound up and it gives me anxiety) and then approximately 10 houses to trick-or-treat before heading home.  Nothing over the top, and no super-late nights.

We’ll let the kids max out on candy until their eyes twirl, and then we’ll pack the rest up–ALL of it–and send it off to our oldest at college and to my husband’s office.  The little ones can keep back a handful of their very favorite pieces to save, but the rest will be sent away and out of our house.  I think the fun of Halloween is that it’s special, and we want to keep that specialness to the single day as much as we can, without letting all the sugar and the excitement throw off our every-other-days.  Because those are special, too.

The littlest already wore her dirndl for the Halloween pageant this morning:

The dressing up and play-pretend is making her pretty happy.  I’m hoping we can make the candy and treats be an afterthought, and not the main event.   And then this sweet dress can go into the regular rotation as part of her wardrobe–with optional apron and kerchief for adventures and imagination time.