A Bayside Halloween!

This year, our Halloween plans were more low key than in the past, but I didn't want that to stop our traditional couple costumes! I'm normally the one who picks out several ideas and then we discuss which ones we're actually going to dress up as. The minute I suggested Zack Morris & Kelly Kapowski, he was on board.

When we were originally planning, I had wanted to be Kelly (Well, let's be honest.. I mean who didn't want to be Kelly?) But as we were getting ready last night, I had forgotten how damn blonde my hair was! And as several people pointed out to me, with my big curly hair, I was looking more like Jessie Spano. And thus my Kelly Kapowski costume turned into a Jessie Spano costume. :) Either way I didn't really care because I just love dressing up and being someone else for a moment or two.

Here's a few of my Halloween costume tips that have helped our last few choices be such a success:

1. Use items from your or your friend's closet! Most of the stuff we're wearing are pieces from our closets! You just kind of have to think outside the box - i.e. rolling the khakis for a total 90's look. Not sure you have something? Ask your friends! Ours have helped make both of Billy's Justin Bieber & Sonny Bono costumes rock!

2. Always check Goodwill before heading to the costume store. There are some things that you will have to get from an actual costume store (like wigs - yikes definitely don't want those used...) But Goodwill can be a GREAT source to find costume options that won't break your budget. They will often have a costume section set up, but make sure you peruse the regular racks too!

2. Don't spend tons of money on accessories - try to DIY! See that phone up there? Homemade! After spending way too much time at every thrift store in LA I came up empty on the Zack Morris phone - something I thought would be pretty easy to find. Did you know they're going on Ebay for about.... 150 dollars or more?! Yikes.. thank goodness for DIY's! I grabbed a box, wrapped it in construction paper, drew some buttons, poked a pen through the top for an antenna and voilà! The Zack Morris phone was created! :)

Did you guys dress up last night or over the weekend? What were you? Do you enjoy Halloween costumes..? I personally just love to have fun with it.. especially if you have a partner in crime to enjoy it with. :)

Super Rad Pumpkin Carving Stencils

I'm a huge pumpkin carving lover - Growing up it was a big deal in our house. My dad showed my brother & I how to scoop out the seeds, transfer the stencil, then we watched as he carefully took a Michael Myers sized kitchen knife to carve our pumpkin. Ah memories... :)

It's really no surprise that I continue this tradition now - putting on a scary movie, eating some candy and carving away. What is surprising is how late I've waited this year to start. In fact, we don't even have a pumpkin yet! Normally, I love the traditional templates like a mummy, spooky spider or a haunted house. I just think that they're more in the spirit of Halloween. However, I found some super fun and unique stencils that just tickle my fancy. If you're like me and I haven't started yet - maybe one of these options will inspire you to head out to your nearest pumpkin patch!

 

who wouldn't want a Ryan Gosling pumpkin glowing in their house.. I wouldn't complain about that! :)

 

Ariel has always been, and will continue to be, my favorite Disney Princess. The Little Mermaid pumpkin stencil would be any little girl's favorite!

 

I'm a huge Owl fan - this cutesy guy would look so adorable on a front stoop!

 

When I saw these Dog Carving Templates, I'm not going to lie. I went bananas. Then when I saw they have a Jack Russell option, I went even more bananas. Love, Love, LOVE! See if they have your pet here.

 

Okay, I couldn't resist a scary Jack Nicholson carving - The Shining's most famous scene on an orange-lit pumpkin? Super Awesome!

 

 

images via one, two, three, four, five

Halloween 2011 Part I: Sonny & Cher Costumes

My Cher Costume

This past weekend was a great one. I spent the first half of Saturday with some fabulous friends and their adorable kids. Then in the afternoon I cleaned up around our apartment and caught up on my neglected DVR. By the time Bill got home from work all of our friends had officially said they were spending a quiet Halloween at home. I was a bit sad and worried we wouldn't be able to wear our costumes! But thanks to my lovely husband we rallied and went out just the two of us! It was actually tons of fun bar hopping in our area and we got to do some major people watching.

P.S. he posed on his own FYI :)

This year our costumes were the glamorous Sonny & Cher. I have this gorgous vintage dress that my mom bought for me a few years ago while we were shopping at a thrift store. It's definitely a bit big and was slightly long for this look but it still screamed Cher to me. I'm also so terrified of getting it tailored and taken in for fear of ruining it. It's literally a million of those shiny sequin discs individually sewn on. I can only image the price tag of getting it fixed... Anyways it was still a major hit and everyone loved our costumes! We were told twice that if we entered the contests we would have won... I paired my sequin dress with the gorgeous Versailles earrings from Jewelmint {get them here} and the Wyld platform pump from Sole Society. P.S. Check out Bill's furry vest! Thanks to Dana & Steve for letting us borrow it... it was a major hit! As was his faux mustache. Though I must say I hope he never really grows a real one! :)

Hope you had a fabulous Halloween weekend! I also dressed up for work yesterday but I'll have more on that later on in the week... xoxo

Halloween 2010: Lady Gaga Costume [DIY]

I'm completely obsessed with Halloween. It's by far my favorite time of the year [well.. it runs a close second to Christmas...] I love when the weather starts to change, the leaves turn colors and everything gets that "crisp" feeling. October means scary movies for the entire month and by the time the 1st rolls around, I am usually waist deep in our costume plan. This year is no different. I can't wait to share this year's selections with you guys but I normally never tell so that it won't ruin the element of surprise. So I thought I would share with you our 2010 outfits.

I started working on them around mid-August which may seem extreme, but allowed me to slowly get a fabulous finished product. I find that DIY Halloween costumes are always so much more fun than buying that generic one in a plastic bag. And I couldn't be more proud of what I created. Let's take a look:

DIY Lady Gaga Costume

I love dressing with the hubs in a matching or relating costume and this brilliant idea of Lady Gaga & Justin Bieber hit me in the middle of summer. My favorite part about wearing this costume is that I created half of it! Those crazy glittered crystals are actually 10+ mini crystals glued together. They took a bit of time and perfecting but the final product was amazing and I probably spent a total of $3.00 on them. The crystallized sunglasses were another DIY project. The glasses cost $2.00 on eBay and the crystals probably $3.00.

Lady Gaga Crystal Sunglasses

The only thing I actually did purchase specifically for the costume was the glitter bodysuit and the wig. Each were $14.00. I had just planned on wearing a plain dancer's leotard but I came across this bodysuit while shopping in Forever 21 one day and thought it was perfect. The rest of the items were straight from my closet. The bottoms were from another DIY Playboy Bunny costume as were the tights. Those shoes are one of my favorite pairs I have! Lastly I borrowed the bow from the amazing Pursuit Of Shoes who was Lady Gaga the year before that. Billy's costume is all completely borrowed with the exception of the sunglasses ($3.00), t-shirt & necklace (his own) and the wig ($8.00 on Amazon)

So all in all I saved so much money by completing these projects and scrounging around my closet. The total bill for me $36.00 (Just as an example the Lady Gaga costume at the store is $50.00 for the dress not including the $20 wig, $15 bow, $10 sunglasses, $10 accessories, shoes or whatever else you want to add) If you haven't thought of a costume yet - don't worry! You still have time and I'll give you some tips.

1. Hit up your local thrift stores and Goodwill. That's where we found a good amount of Bill's costume for this year and so many of my past costumes.

2. Ask friends! Chances are they might have that one item you've been looking for {a la Lady Gaga Hair Bow} that can save you some extra $$ and they'll feel good about their pieces being used more than once

3. Be creative! Do a bit of research. Check out blogs. I discovered how to create those glitter crystals by watching a 15 year old make them on YouTube!

4. Lastly, have fun!! Go crazy and enjoy yourself. It's the one time of the year you can dress up so take advantage!

What DIY costumes have you done? I want to know. Send me some photos and you could be featured! bedazzlesafterdark[at]gmail[dot]com. Happy weekend everyone!!

p.s. if you want to know how to make the above just comment below or email me and I can tell you!