Happy Friday, guys! As is the annual tradition, we thought we’d share what Clara and Burger are going to be for Halloween this year, especially since I DIYed Clara’s costume for the second year in a row (without crying or cursing!) and I love how it came out. At first when we asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween she said “a lawyer!” True story. And we laughed and pictured her walking down the street with a little briefcase. Then a few days later she said “I want to be a jellyfish!” So asked her a few questions like “what color jellyfish do you want to be?” and that’s when she came out with her full request: “I want to be a pink jellyfish… and I don’t want to be a regular jellyfish, I want to be A FAIRY QUEEN OF THE JELLYFISH!” So here’s where we ended up.
I just decked out a clear umbrella with some pink tissue paper, fabric ribbon, and that thinner plastic ribbon that you can curl with a scissors. And then John added some battery powered cold-to-the-touch LEDs to make it glow (tech nerd hubby FTW). Clara could not be more smitten (this is her attempting to hug her costume). Burger, by contrast, abhors his, but we’ll get there in a second.
As for how I made it, first I hit up Sir Google to check out other jellyfish costumes (guys, there wasn’t a single Slutty Jellyfish costume, which was both comforting and surprising). As for the costumes that I did find, some were of the stuffed hat variety (like this) and others were made from umbrellas (like this), which I thought was a good choice for Clara because she could hold it and swing it around if she wanted, but not have to worry about balancing it on her head like a giant hat. So we grabbed a clear umbrella at Target.
The first step in my umbrella-to-jellyfish conversion was sticking some pink tissue paper into each of the umbrella’s panels (those metal arms held each triangle of it in place) so the entire thing wasn’t see-through. I did this because I wanted the bottom to be clear so Clara could walk and see, but thought the top would look more jellyfish-ish if it were more solid. Next I tied some long strands of thick fabric ribbon around each of the spines inside the umbrella that holds it open so those could hang down around Clara. I saw all sorts of fun tentacle ideas when I Googled (using bubble wrap, ribbon, fabric strips, etc) and loved them all, so I decided to just work with the things we already had around the house (like ribbon leftover from this tree) and see how things went.
Lastly I just cut a whole bunch of long pink lengths of curl-able plastic ribbon (the one umbrella-decorating item that I ran out and bought for $1.50 at Michaels) and tied them to each of the metal spines (I did six lengths of them hanging down on each of the eight spines). Then I dragged the edge of a scissors down them after tying each one in place to make them curly.
When Clara came home from school and saw it, oh man, I wish I had it on video. There were lots of wows and even a coveted “it’s AMAZING!” Then John added his little battery powered LEDs (fairy lights he found on amazon for $6.99) and Clara really went wild. Since it gets dark so much earlier these days we actually think they’ll come in handy. Just look at them glow in the darkest spot we could find in our house: our closet.
It’s a bit ambitious to think that Clara will hold the umbrella the whole time, but she gets to wear a little costume of her own (just a fun tulle skirt that she got for her birthday and other general fairy-slash-queen-ness) so in the event that she’s over the umbrella she’ll still have her fairy costume to go door to door in – and heck, I might just tuck a wand and a crown in my purse for added bling. Yes, I still use that word.
As for Burger, well, he’s never a fan of anything on him. Ever. This goes for all sweaters, boots, hats, and costumes. So he was not amused when he magically became a seal thanks to this costume that we found at Target. We just couldn’t resist – especially since it’s a tradition to dress him up with Clara every year (heck, we’ve been dressing him up since way before she was born). We joked that he just needed a crown and a scepter so he could be a King Seal to match Clara’s royal sea-creature status. Still kinda bummed Target didn’t carry the lobster or shark costumes they had in previous years, but he does make a pretty cute seal.
And maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe Burger loves costumes. Because he certainly seems to take immense joy in shimmying around to wriggle out of them. Wish we caught that on video too.
And this year John and I actually have a costume party to attend, so after a little “uh… what should we be?” pondering, we came up with a theme of our own. Some people say that I look like Kahleesi from Game of Thrones (and who am I to argue with the idea of dressing up like a chick who HAS DRAGONS?). So a cheap blonde wig from Target and a green dress that I already had (you might remember it from Clara’s party a few years back) became my somewhat completely ridiculous costume…
Oh and I used a strategically placed ten cent placemat from a yard sale to make a gold belt and some little shoulder things. You know. For flair.
I just snipped it in half and cut off the curved part at the bottom and used the green rope belt that came with my dress to hold that in place in the front like a big ol’ gold front plate or something. As for the shoulder things, I just cut the remaining part of the placemat in half to create little triangles that I could tuck under the straps of my dress and pin them to keep them there (forgot to get a detail shot of those for ya, but you can sort of see them peeking out from behind my wig in the full shot above). Overall, it was really easy and only ran me $9 for the wig and ten cents for the placemat.
But I might like John’s “costume” most of all (ok, it’s tied with The Fairy Queen Of All The Jellyfish) because it’s so him. Keeping with the Game of Thrones theme, I actually proposed that he be Khal Drogo (to which he responded “have you seen me?”) so then I suggested Littlefinger (hello, he’d get to sport a mustache). He went silent for a second and then said “I have a better idea.” Any guesses?
Yup, that’s his pun-tastic interpretation of Jon Snow. Since he looks nothing like the character, he figured “well, I’m already John, so I’ll just wear a wooly hat and add a big ironic snowflake to my shirt or something and poof: I’m John Snow.” Not sure if it would pass muster at Comic Con, but it cracks me up. And if nothing else, at least the background of his photo brought of touch of Winterfell to it. Yes, that’s a deer just grazing about ten yards behind him.
As for how he made his shirt, it’s just white duct tape on a blue t-shirt (so he can peel it off and still wear the shirt the rest of the year when he’s being John Petersik).
It was pretty funny watching him place each strip of tape in the mirror… whilst wearing the shirt. I think he’s nothing if not dedicated (my version of a snowflake would have a lot fewer line segments).
We’re pretty low key about this stuff, so admittedly nothing that we made is super intricate, but we think it’ll do the trick nicely for the costume party. Now to figure out what dish we’ll bring. Ahh!
Also, if you watch Game of Thrones, this ridiculously inappropriate dubbed video of other things that match up with their lips has us walking around saying “Are you a fan of the pikachu?” and “I’m working on a gravity belt.”
Oh and the buggy pumpkins! Here they are. No, they didn’t get infested or anything, I just love unusual pumpkins and Clara loves bugs, so she helped me turn one into a spider and the other one into a caterpillar. Here’s how they started out (we got them here because they looked so bug-like, which spawned this paint-job idea).
I loved them as-is (yes, I truly adore oddly shaped pumpkins just as they are) but I couldn’t resist having some fun with Clara and some paint. So here they are after a laugh-filled little painting sesh with the bean:
She painted the spider with some craft paint (I just told her to go to town on the top and we left the bottom orange since we thought that would make it look more leggy and creepy – just like Clara likes ’em). Meanwhile I added a little dot for an eye on the caterpillar and swiped my paint brush around it to quickly make some rough little wrinkles, like the sections of a caterpillar. When they dried, we added some little painted on eyes to Clara’s spider (she loved the idea of four of them since I showed her a picture online of a real spider with four eyes) and we called them good.
We still have to grab some pumpkins to carve (there’s a field trip to a pumpkin patch with Clara early next week so we’ve been holding out for that) but one thing’s for sure. There will be some last minute pumpkin seeds baking at our house (mmm, my favorite). What are you guys doing with pumpkins and costumes? Let’s hear it.
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Psst- For anyone who wants to walk down memory lane and check out C & B’s costumes for the last few years, here’s the post about Jesse & Slinky Dog (my first attempt at homemade costumes).
And here’s the dynamic duo as a monkey & banana.
And here’s their very first Halloween together as a hot dog & hamburger.
Nicole B. says
OMG Princess Kaleesi!!! I love it.
My lil dude is going to be an elephant!
Sarah E. says
You outdid yourself! Clara’s costume is really amazing!
Jessica F. says
Haha! Those are so cute!
John should have one of those “hello my name is John” stickers right above the snowflake :P
I’m going as Mary Poppins and my boyfriend is going as Bert the chimney sweeper. We scored when adventuring at GoodWill. Found a great hat, hook cane, old bag I glued some tapestry material onto. I think we’ll be styling! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny, he was saying he might add one of those stickers for the party (since we don’t know everyone there so that will help, ha!). And Mary Poppins and Bert are such fun costumes!
xo
s
Kerri says
Cute jelly fish costume! Maybe I will change my costume…. Your spider pumpkin may have made a good jellyfish or octopus pumpkin too!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah! That would have been fun!
xo
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Sara says
ADORABLE!!!!!!
Katie says
I just started watching GOT this summer on HBO go, I always thought you looked so much like kahleesi. I also googled her and you literally look like sisters.
YoungHouseLove says
I see it more with her and her normal brown hair. I wish we were sisters as it would mean I’d have that killer accent. Haha!
xo
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em says
Sherry, I think you look like Kahleesi as well. But, I think that actress (Emilia Clark, I think?) is completely unrecognizable without her wig. It’s weird, but must be convenient for her to be able to live a normal life when she is not in costume. Anyway, fun to capitalize on the resemblance for your costume. Unfortunately, I get told I look like Katie Couric, which makes for a very lame costume.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw but Katie Couric’s so pretty! I love her! And you’re right about Emilia Clarke, I bet she gets to walk around without many people being onto her, which I think would be awesome. She’s incognito.
xo
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Sarah says
You do look like Khalessi, especially with the blonde wig! I think the jellyfish may be my favorite this year though :)…the LED lights and pink-ness are just awesome! I may be stealing this idea for myself haha!
Christine says
Love that girl’s imagination! I’ve got six kids–two of them are now adults–and no one ever thought of being a jellyfish. I guarantee you *I* never would have!
Stephanie Acker says
This post is just all kinds of awesomeness. Love that teeny tiny bump of yours!
Katy M says
I LOVE THIS! What fun for Clara! I kind of want to be a jellyfish now.
Megan says
If anyone asks you if you know what you are having (boy or girl) when you are in that costume, your answer has to be Dragons – 3 of them. PLEASE. Oh man, can’t wait for Game of Thrones to start again!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, and I’ll be dead serious and snarly when I say it. Maybe I should learn how to speak her language. Dracarus!!!
xo
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Sharon says
Cute! Cute! Cute! I love how random and wild Clara’s ideas are. Awesome. I still think my favorite year was last year…slinky dog had me rolling. Love. I have a fun Halloween in store. Heading to Walt Disney World and going to “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” and my costume is one I have YET to see. I’m going as a 1950’s Mouseketeer but not any Mouseketeer but a black and white, all grayscale, Mouseketeer. So, it’ll look like I stepped out of one of the old b&w original Mickey Mouse Club shows! I’ll share pics. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, would love to see pics!
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Susan says
Cute and then some :)
If you need a dish to bring, check this out-it’s super easy and I always get asked for the recipe :
Cannoli Dip
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/285767538829093109/
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Susan! Sounds delicious!
xo
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em says
I love all your costumes, but I think I actually like the grown-up costumes the best. Sherry, I can’t believe you don’t have a brown leather maternity dress! Isn’t that a staple in every woman’s wardrobe? But, you make an excellent Khaleesi (and your Target wig looks more “natural” than hers!) We’re still on season 1 of GOT, so I think you need a dragon egg purse to complete the look. And John Snow is excellent.
Every year our family does a theme- Mom, Dad, and the kids (6 and 3). The dog does not get involved because she hates Halloween. It’s great that Clara and Burger match, but I suggest you and John coordinate for Trick or Treating or parades or whatever you do. And, of course, the future baby as well.
This year we are characters from Peter Pan. I get to be Peter because my kids wanted to be Tiger Lilly and Captain Hook. We’re going to do the family theme costume thing until my kids think it’s lame, and maybe a couple years after that as well!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I do need to get a brown leather maternity dress pronto! And the Peter pan costumes sound adorable!
xo
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Krista S. says
Love the costumes! Whenever my fiancé asks me a silly question (like “are we all out of stamps?”) I look at him with mock scorn and say, “You know NOTHING Jon Snow!”
I’ll be parading around with a couple of my girlfriends tomorrow night dressed as loofas. There will be many yards of colorful tulle.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, best quote of that show! Also… loofas = genius. I love it.
xo
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kk says
I really love the LED lights on Clara’s outfit. Is the battery also taped to the top as well?
but i LOVE your outfit more! now that you say it..you really do look like Daenerys!
When i saw your posted, I automatically thought of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkBDRUO8hAo
My husband showed me this last night…haha
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s a small square pack so John taped it to the middle of the spine and just sort of draped the lights around in there. And that video is too cute!
xo
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KarinK says
So cute!!! Great job translating kid wishes into reality…sometimes the requests can be either downright impossible, or, well, not cool enough for the parents….LOL. But Clara’s request was extremely cool, and you pulled it off so well! I really wanted my kids to go as Dog and Beth, but then I decided I might just lose my Mom card if I sent my 12 year old daughter out dressed like Beth – only fans of the show would get it, and everyone else would think “hooker” or “Anna Nicole Smith in the fat years”. But your wig, Sherry – that could be altered for Dog. My son may not be off the hook yet….
Hannah H says
LOVE IT! I think this might be my favorite post ever. From the jellyfish to the Khaleesi to the spider pumpkin – love it all! Happy Halloween :)
Ann Marie says
I LOVE CLARA’S COSTUME!!!!!!! (yes, I am shouting.) Love. I need some YHL costume creativity. My 3 year old son has announced he wants to be an ocean wave. He is determined to be a wave. Any suggestions as to how to pull this off?
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh! I’d dress him in all blue and maybe have a big piece of cardboard shaped like a wave (sort of a triangle) that you could cut a face hole and two arm holes in and he could wear that? Then paint waves and stuff on it. Maybe add a shark fin in there somewhere sticking out? I’m having too much fun with this. Could you put a little felt fish or something dangling off the peak of the wave on a string or something? So much fun!
xo
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ann marie says
Thank you, thank you! This is perfect! He will love it and I love the detail of the fish! You have just made a 3 year old very happy! (And his mom). Now off to craft….. thanks again!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Send pics! And have so much fun.
xo
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Larissa says
Seriously, what is it with all the slutted-up costumes??!! I mean, who thinks to herself “I want to be an eskimo, but SLUTTY”? It’s one of my hot-button issues.
Your costumes are awesome. I don’t watch GOT so I thought you were a mermaid, but it totally went with Clara’s jellyfish. I was thinking an Under the Sea theme…
Kate S. says
Clara’s costume is epic. I died at the slutty jellyfish comment! And I’ve never seen GoT, but holy cow, you do look like her in that costume! So inspired.
Becky says
Every time I watch Game of Thrones, I think “Jeesh, Daenerys (Khaleesi)really looks familiar but I just can’t place who it is”. Haha, it’s you Sheri!
I have always been a fan of making my own costumes and I always gravitate toward characters from TV shows, books or movies that I’m into so I LOVE your costumes! Although John would have made a perfect Littlefinger, I do love his clever take on John Snow :)
P.S. I’m a little jellie of Clara’s jellyfish costume; the lights are awesome!
Miranda says
haha! Cute costumes, love Clara’s! But, I’m still stuck on Slutty Jellyfish…which led me to: “How do jellyfish mate? Do they?”
FYI – Jellyfish mate in their mouths…which just *seems* more slutty. lol
YoungHouseLove says
NO way. Mind blown. There will be none of that going on at our house. Haha!
xo
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Shannon says
I’m a newish reader and was watching Game of Thrones the other night (playing catch up) and when Khalessi came on, I instantly thought of how much she looked like you! Too funny that you would talk about (and dress up as!) her today. Love it. And John’s interpretation of Jon Snow is great. As are the fairy queen jelly fish and seal. You guys are fun. :)
Jaime says
Ummmm pretty much the cutest costume evar!!!! Too bad my munchkin is only 7 months old, so the jellyfish will have to wait, but its so awesome that I might have to use it for myself! I am going to have to do some last minute shopping since the costume that I bought for my daughter a month ago doesn’t fit even though I bought a size up! I should have known better to buy 2 sizes up since she is a growing machine!! (21 lbs, 7 month old in size 4 diapers #chunkybabythighproblems #thunderthighsarecuteonbabiesitsnotfair)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, she sounds adorable!
xo
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Cynthia says
My almost-7yo daughter seemed a little dubious at the first Fairy Queen of the Jellyfish photo, but gave a jaw-dropped “awesome!” when I showed her the lights. Hooray, Dad, for going the extra mile.
Carli says
You guys are the cutest! Can’t even handle how adorable this post is. Have fun Halloweening!!
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says
I always love seeing Clara & Burger’s costumes! And your are pretty great too! :)
Rebecca says
So cute! We’re doing a semi-homemade ladybug costume for our little lady. I found a super cute lady bug hoodie with matching ladybug flats (although rain boots would have probably been better at this point in Ohio) and hairclips at gymboree on clearance for 40% off and then I had a 20% off coupon which is awesome because it’s all stuff she can keep wearing. She’ll wear black leggings and I bought wings from amazon (thought about DIYing simple ones but I figured these would be good for dress up down the line).
It’s the first year she has been excited about dressing up (she’s 2.5). She tells everyone she is going to be a ladybug and her monkey (stuffed animal that goes everywhere with her) is going to be a monkey. I love it every time!
YoungHouseLove says
That sounds adorable! Oh my gosh and the monkey going as a monkey kills me. Too cute.
xo
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Rebecca says
Oh, I forgot about the real reason I was commenting. We saw some awesome dog fish costumes at Marshalls that would have gone great with the ocean theme. One was a nemo-like fish and the other was a sparkly blue, yellow, and green fish that burger would have totally rocked. They were so awesome and only $10. We wanted to get them for our dogs but they only had smalls and mediums. Alas, the life of a large dog. I might try to make it out to another Marshalls this weekend to check.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, that sounds adorable!
xo
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PartyofNine says
I think I’m going to have to steal the jellyfish idea! I have a kiddo in a wheelchair and it’s so hard to find costumes that work for her. This way I can just attach the umbrella to her chair!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I hope it’s easy and fun! I whipped the whole thing up in probably an hour :)
xo
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Alyssa says
Oh my gosh-Clara and Burger are adorable. BUT holy cow, you look like the Khaleesi! It’s actually quite uncanny. Great costume. And for the pun lover (and Game of Thrones lover) in me, I appreciate Jon’s very much!
Stephanie says
LOVE Clara’s costume. Creative!
Stephanie says
Love all the costumes! The jellyfish one is just perfect.
But I died with Jon Snow.
We went to Greece in May with an REI group and a guy on our trip is named Kerry Snow. The entire trip, my husband and I (and our Greek guides), called him Jon Kerry Snow. You know, John Kerry, Jon Snow. Anyway…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, John Kerry Snow = celebrity hybrid name.
xo
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Ashley says
Clara costume is adorable! I especially love the glow, that will be awesome when it gets a little bit dark while trick or treating! And I am soo digging the Game of Thrones theme!Khalessi is my favorite, so I’m a little bit jealous of your costume, Sherri!
lori says
Sherry..do you ever chuckle at your own writing…cuz you always say things that make me laugh at the quietest moments…at work….and people stare at me….oddly…
“I might just tuck a wand and a crown in my purse for added bling. Yes, I still use that word.”
Just wondering …if you chuckle to yourself? or out loud?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I don’t think I do. Sometimes I do this weird thing where I smile at the computer and type but it’s usually when I do comments and someone says something hilarious.
xo
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Annie says
I loooove Clara’s costume! I might steal the idea for my own costume… We have a party on Saturday too. And then I read the whole post to my husband to show him John’s costume. Love the GoT theme!
I’ve seen a craft where you make dragon eggs out of a styrofoam ball and brass thumbtacks – could be a cool prop!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
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Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
“Do you think they should make iphones for babies? Cause I do.” bwahahahahahahahhaha…..Can’t wait to show this to EVERYONE!!!
Have a great weekend y’all!
My best, Lynn
Janice says
Fabulous all the way around!! And YAY — baby bump!!!!!! Makes me smile SO big. :)
My chi’s are actually too small for any commerically made constumes – maybe I need to learn to sew. Cuz, um, yea, they’d LOVE that. lol
SArah says
You totally do look like Khaleesi! And the costume looks great! Good job all around. :)
Vanessa says
This post is exactly why I look forward to 10:00am everyday! I absolutely LOVE Clara’s costume and must admit I may force my little girl to be a fairy jellyfish next yr so I can copy the cutest costume I’ve seen in a long time!!!!! And you and John….priceless! Thanks for making me laugh out loud everyday!!!!!!
Pamela says
I knew exactly who you and John both were before I read the text! You look a lot like Danaerys with that wig. It almost makes me want to dress up – I never thought of Game of Thrones for inspiration. I could wear a big coat and hood and be Ygritte – and stay warm as a bonus.
YoungHouseLove says
I love it! She’s the best!
xo
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Kelly says
My favorite kind of costume making – use what you have! The Fairy Princess Jellyfish is awesome and Sherry, when I first saw you I thought you were a mermaid. Have fun!
Elizabeth says
That jellyfish lighting up is the greatest. It was easy to think mermaid after the jellyfish costume but you make a great Khaleesi! There is really nothing better than homemade costumes.
Dana says
Man! This takes me back to when my now 10 year old was about Clara’s age. She wanted to be “Princess Kitty”, so I blinged up a homemade kitty costume, sparkly shoes and a crown and clipped earrings to the kitty ears. Her majesty!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! So cute!
xo
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heyruthie says
The jellyfish = love.
Carla says
Cute! Don’t forget to take a photo of Clara and Burger together in their costumes to add to your collection of the dynamic duo!
YoungHouseLove says
Good point! Will have to see if I can get them both to not be a blur at the same time.
xo
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Starr @ The Kiefer Cottage says
Awesome Khaleesi! You do look just like her! Except she’d be wearing 2 square inches of strategically placed fabric. And nothing else.
YoungHouseLove says
True dat.
xo
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Donita says
You are so creative. I love Clara’s costume!!! Love your baby bump!!! :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Donita!
xo
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Melissa@TheChicDream says
Clara looks adorable! She will be the envy of all the neighborhood kids. I love a homemade costume. My son insisted on a store-bought Star Wars costume (not sure why) but wants me to make his baby sister a Princess Leia costume. At least I get to make one of them! I hope y’all have a wonderful Halloween!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cute!
xo
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Vicki M says
You did a great job – so creative and I bet there was a lot of laughter going on thru all of this!! Have a Happy Halloween!