(Belated) Halloween!
Hubby and I have a ridiculous Halloween party every year. It’s our favorite holiday, and we try and come up with something new whenever we can. This year, we may have reached the pinnacle. The whole house was decked out like a mad scientist’s lab, and we crafted things for months in advance.
Cthulhu monster!
Bloody thift store sheets!
This was so much fun. Bloody plastic sheeting!
Creepy staticky TV!
Shelf of specimens! (including baby parts in jars!)
Yard tools are so creepy in this context:
Bloody torso!!!
Failed escape attempt!
This is an underwear mannequin we own, and what better use for her?
Bloody teeth!!
Bloody surgery gloves and tools!
Torture table!! (Complete with Justein Beiber CD!!!)
More creepy medical things!
More decorations!
Unhappy dogs in costume! (Flapjack’s arrived later that night)
Evil surgeon and patient, with happier, de-costumed dogs!
And of course, an amazing cake by Brandy the Stew Rat.
Doctor Horrible!
A non-costumed person, vampire, hitchhiker, me, and Batgirl!
Brandy and her awesome husband James as old fashioned reporters!
Demon cat!
My wonderful Hubby was the robot David from Prometheus!
I was dressed as Noomi Rapace’s character, Elizabeth Shaw, which is why I was covered in blood. David is putting something in my drink labeled “Totally not Alien DNA”.
I even used my surgery scar as part of my costume! I super glued metal bits over top to look like staples. We had such a great time, and I have no idea what we’re going to do next year!
Halloween Recap
We had a hugely fun, spectacular Halloween party again this year, and our friends really brought it with their costumes! I wish I had gotten pictures of everyone, but once the box wine starts flowing I get a little less than reliable.
Here we have me as Elvira and Sarah as the Bee Girl from the Blind Melon “No Rain” music video.
Left to right we have The Crow, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, me, my sister the fortune teller, and the super hot amazing badass pirate that I married.
Here we have Inmate #38258 and an awesome monster!
This one is super clever, which I always appreciate: Schrodinger’s Cat! He came with a very friendly zombie, and you know I love zombies!
Death’s Lesser known cousin Gerald stopped by for a while…
…but Death stayed kind of aloof.
She gets mean if you try to take her vodka away.
A pimp/rapper, Jan Brady, and a tiny raccoon stopped by also.
Beans and I had a great time, as always!
Halloween Costume Ideas #3
I’m assuming if you’re still looking for costume ideas, you probably have a party to go to tonight. At this point, you’re probably scrambling through your closet, desperately looking for something fun and unique. I have the solution: ZOMBIES!! But not just any zombies. What costume do you have laying around already?
Prom Queen – Zombie Prom Queen! The Prom Queen of 1984 has risen to relive her former glory!
Bride – Zombie Bride or Corpse Bride! (Or you can add a samurai sword and be The Bride from Kill Bill).
Gypsy – Zombie Gypsy! Dance erratically, and maybe carry a skull instead of a tamborine, or just carry a skull.
Think about how your character might have died, and you can add a whole ‘nother layer of humor. Think deaths like the movie Beetlejuice.
Punk – Zombie Punk! Were you crushed to death at a concert? Or did someone force you to listen to Justin Beiber, so you killed yourself?
Cheerleader – Zombie Cheerleader! Maybe you fell off the top of the pyramid and broke your neck. You could wear a neck brace all night to hold your head up.
Geisha – Zombie Geisha! (Works for Oni as well, or a samurai) If you can find a plastic samurai sword and make it look like you got stabbed through the stomach with it, you will have my un-dying respect.
You could also be a famous person who’s dead, or a character who dies in a movie.
You could be zombie Citizen Kane! Dress in a suit and carry a broken snow globe. If you want to take it really far, carry around a scorched wooden sled. Sometimes I am so funny I can’t stand it.
Also, again if you have a geisha costume laying around, you could be Lucy Liu’s character O-Ren Ishii. And if you can find a way to have the top of your head cut off, I want to steal it.
Zombie basics: At Halloween stores they sell “zombie makeup”. It reminds me of Elmer’s glue. You put it on your skin in layers, then it dries, and you peel chunks of it open to make faux skin flaps. The trick with this stuff is you have to let it dry thoroughly between the layers, and do many, many layers. Read the directions on the package, and plan your time accordingly. Don’t forget you’ll need lots of fake blood!
Halloween Costume Ideas #2
I’m going to call this “Seemingly normal costumes with a clever twist”. These are mostly geared toward girls, since that’s how I tend to dress. Shocking, I know. At least I know my strengths.
Ghost of a Bridesmaid – This is a great reuse for that old bride’s maid dress in the back of the closet. If you can carry around a wilted or dried out bouquet, that would be awesome. I am all about props. Use black eye shadow to make big shadow under your eyes, and hollowed out cheeks. Streaked and smeared eye makeup and lipstick would complete the look, and you can wander around repeating, “Always a bride’s maid, never a bride”.
Troubled Teen – Slutty Catholic school girls are a dime a dozen this time of year. If you want a unique twist on it, add a giant fake pregnant belly! I made a super-realistic (like people were asking me all night if I was really pregnant) one for maybe $4. I used a gallon sized ziplock bag, filled it with polyfill (the stuffing from the craft store), and taped the corners down to make it rounder. I wore a stretchy, white tank top over this to hold it in place, which also helped round it out, and look more realistic. Then your basic white button up shirt, pleated skirt, and neck tie, hair in pig tails, and leather shoes. You can add knee socks, and a metal lunch box if you have them.
Surprisingly Hot Girl – How many eighties movies start out with a nerdy girl who turns out to be hot after a simple make over at the end of the movie? Start the night with your hair up in a bun, with glasses on, wearing a ratty, huge sweater and sneakers. Halfway through the evening, take off the glasses, take down your hair, and take off your sweater to reveal a super cute dress. Switch from sneakers to heels, and your transformation is complete!
Oni – If you have the makings of a geisha costume laying around (and who doesn’t??), you can become an Oni, or Japanese demon very easily. This one works for guys or girls.
You can google Kabuki makeup to get ideas for patterns. Add a fan or plastic samurai sword, and put your hair in a top knot.
Halloween Costume Ideas #1
At this point in the month, lots of people are running around like crazy attempting to get together some kind of fast, but interesting costume, without spending 80-bazillion dollars at the Halloween store. Lots of amazing costumes can be made from thrift store finds.
You could be a mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, or Televangelist very easily.
Mormon: Short-sleeved, white button-up shirt, ugly tie, navy pants, dress shoes, hair parted on side. You can make a name tag fairly easily, if you want to ge that detailed, and carry around a Bible or Book of Mormon if you have it. If you want to really get into character, ask people if they’ve heard the good news all night, and smile at everything. If you don’t already own most of this outfit, getting it at a thrift store should be very cheap and simple.
Jehovah’s Witness: Think really horrible 1980′s floral prints, and just really unflattering clothing. Also carry a bible, and act like a Mormon, as listed above.
Televangelist: You could be someone specific, such as Tammy Faye Bakker, or just a televangelist in general. You’ll need: a terrible suit (white would be fantastic, but work with what you have), a boring tie, carry a bible, and if you have a microphone, like for the Rockband video game, that would be awesome. You can also probably get one at a thrift store in the toy section. If you want to get into character, walk around speaking in an intense Southern accent, put your hands on peoples’ foreheads, and command them to “Heal!”. If can cry on command, you are golden. You could carry around rubber snakes also, if you want, but that’s a specific sect. You could also be The Farting Preacher, which might be hilarious, or disturbing.
For Tammy Faye Bakker: I really loved Tammy Faye for her early gay rights activism, and she was an amazing lady, so I hope anyone dressing as her will do it without making fun of her. The outfit obviously consists mostly of giant, clumpy eyelashes, and big hair. A brightly colored women’s pantsuit or dress suit should be easy to find at the thrift store. Big hair and bright lip stick will complete the look. You can always smear mascara down your cheeks for her trademarked just-been-crying look. You can also watch the movie “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”. It’s fantastic, and will show you what I love about her.
I’ll have more ideas coming, but the best way to get ideas, for me at least, is to go to the thrift store and dig around. Find some ridiculous garment, or something that reminds you of a particular celebrity, and use that as your jumping off point. If you’re completely broke, dig through your closet, and even friends’ closets, and try to look at everything with new eyes.
UPDATE: Beans contributed the idea of Jan Crouch:
I have never heard of this lady, but she’s another female Televangelist; the poor man’s Tammy Faye, if you will. That wig looks super fun!
