Halloween 2017.

Since Nico was 3, with his hair and wild personality, everyone has been saying he should be Peter Pan for Halloween.

Each year we’ve had an idea that was more fitting but finally this year he got his wish! We knew right away we didn’t want to do the shiny perfect

Disney version. The Hook grungy and shag look is way more visually appealing as well as a challenge for us to recreate! We

changed the stereotype with me playing Hook because it’s expected for dads to be Hook plus Adam really wanted to be Rufio!

BANGARANG! Plus Adam’s last minute touches. 😉

He was born for this role. <3 Prettiest little Pan I’ve ever seen!

They’ve been talking about being the Lost Boys for 2mths. They ask to watch Hook a handful of times a week so they can see who they’ll be and especially

to watch Rufio. Also pics this year were SO EASY! Amazing!

Ummmm that knee pop???? What in the world?!! They kill me.

Who is this gal with straight short hair?!

My shirt and belt were perfect thrift finds. I made lace sleeves with scraps. See hat details below. Had the rest! Oh, and that hook! Carly and her

internet shopping skills found it for me for a handful of bucks on Amazon with her free shipping. WIN. Thanks friend!

Rufio! Rufio! Rufioooooooooo!! Great work A.Pace! The wig was his biggest expense at over $20 but he used his creative license and did a mohawk

instead of the real style. I like it better! We did our normal trick or treating at the nursing home and they all just thought he was a punk. HA!

Nico asked to shoot both these scenes with us. He  thoroughly enjoyed his Pan role! <3

Here’s some process work of our late nights. I work/shoot or coach till 730 each day then come home to help Adam finish dinner. Then we spent the next few hours

working on costumes! He would also work or thrift shop while I was shooting on the weekends and during nap. Have to utilize every minute of every day, y’all! It truly

feeds our creative needs that we can’t fulfill in our daily work. Its super fun to be so inspired at Halloween time to get our hands dirty and create because

by this time of year I’m super over worked and the candle is burning out quickly at both ends. So yes, adds more stress BUT WE NEED TO DO THIS

FOR OUR CREATIVE SOULS! Adam was bending the wires for wings as I was cleaning up the kitchen. I was dragging my feet about the panty hose technique when

I opened the drawer and saw the Saran Wrap! YES! Genius!

I had to sew both Tink and Pan from scratch this year and that was fun! Thanks to my friend Brenda for lending me her sewing machine bc mine is broke and

I’m too lazy to deal with it!

The shot on the right shows my work station and life from 8a-till I couldn’t handle the back pain every night.

We used our own artistic freedoms on all the costumes but for some reason I felt compelled to make NoJo’s as close as possible without killing myself over it!

The babies shirts and overalls were from Once Upon a Child for a total of $7.50! I cut apart some scarfs to sew on patches and belts. Brought home some dirt

from the ball fields to smear on dirt for clothes and faces. 🙂 Hats were a couple bucks at Goodwill. Carly gave me a red pom for Ari’s hat!

Adam found some women’s jeans and a woman’s coat from Salvation Army. Few bucks each. He used two of my t-shirts to cut up.

Adam found a nasty old crushed velvet drape from SA for Peter Pan fabric! He colored the leaves and leather while I sewed. Teamwork!!

Practice. I mean, we really try and get in character around here. Jk. Mostly.

$8 jacket that I removed the collar, buttons and pockets from. Folded out and sewed lapel down.

So the past 3 yrs my character has been red, black and gold! The original spools of embellishment I bought for Queen of Hearts was finally finished with my coat

and hat. Then I had this other genius idea while wandering Hobby Lobby. I had a few rolls of gold ribbons and I was super not looking forward to hand sewing it since

the wool is too thick for the machine. Gold duct tape!! Holllller. Totally works well enough. Also, I didn’t want to spend $40 on buttons that I would still likely have

to spray paint gold. I found some giant gold sequins and outlined them in black to offset from the tape. GOOD. E. NOUGH! Glued that shiz down and called it a day!

My friend Liz gave me the “taco” pirate hat. I looked like a tool in that so I deconstructed it and opened it up, added wire framing, fabric and a 3rd point.

I saved the  red velvet scrap to later top my boots to separate the boot from my pant leg.

Makeup (and dirt) was so easy this year! Nori’s hair was my biggest achievement! I straightened, put in 3 ponies then layered over with pins until I had

the ugly shag Julia Roberts wore. HA! Meanwhile Adam spent an hour trying to do his eye makeup. “I’d rather get stuck with needles then get this close to my

eyeballs.” And he legit passes out with needles soooo.  ::eye roll::

Another year come and gone. SIGH. Weeks of prep, 3 hours of actual dressing/makeup/pics, and a couple hours of trick or treating. WORTH IT. 😉 Happy Halloween friends!

Heart, the cast of Hook!