Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Halloween Mix and Match

I'm not really cool with the whole purchasing a Halloween costume thing. I get tired of seeing the same five costumes all night. I remember one year where it was all superheroes and princesses, and I vowed that I would give my entire bowl of candy to the first kid that I saw dressed like Mini Me from Austen Powers. That poor kid didn't know what hit him; I leapt up from the front step, screaming and doing the patented Carrie Happy Dance (tm), dumped all of the candy into his pillowcase, and went inside.

I'm sure he's in therapy now.

But son is determined that he wants to be a superhero every year, and he doesn't want a lame homemade costume any more. No, he wants to go out and buy one. Which is a blessing in disguise, because after Halloween last year, he said he wanted to be Ghost Rider, and I wasn't sure how I was going to make that happen short of immolating him. Which would probably be bad.

My solution to this is to combine store-bought costumes in new and interesting ways. Like the Yoda Gangsta. Start with a Yoda costume, accessorize with a bling bling necklace, gold teeth, and roll up one pant leg. Say things like "Bust a cap in your ass I will."

Now THAT's original.

Or be the Batgeek. Start with a Batman costume (because you knew I was going to bring up Batman, or you should have), and attach a pocket protector to one of the Batnipples. Put thick-rimmed glasses on over the mask and maybe add a bow tie, because hey, it's a holiday.

Again, original. You will attract attention and make friends. Of course, they're probably all weirdos, but at least you will be popular. Because I've got a keen perspective on what's important.

Or try Captain Jack Cheerleader. Be Zombie Potter. (Quiiiiidich!) Princess Wolverine from X-Men: The Crossdresser Musical. I could go on and on, but I'm pretty sure you already think I'm nuts so my work is done here.

As for me? I've decided that I'm going to put together a bunch of pieces from our closet and will be the Queen of the Ninja Cheerleaders.

Oh, and if you peruse the sidebar, you will notice that Google happily recognizes my expertise in two new subjects: "snarf snarf indeed" and "freaky jumbled up words thing." Which actually makes me feel proud-ish. I think I need to get out more.

28 comments:

Hanna Banana said...

Ha Ha! I successfully talked my nine year old son OUT of wanting to be Ghost Rider. Reason being, he didn't necessarily want to be set on fire. So, now he's going to be some wounded/half dead soldier/hunter thing but only after he decided dressing up as a girl wasn't such a grand idea. My eight year old daughter is going to be a "pretty" vampire even though I told her Pippy Longstockings would have been sooo much cooler and my eleven year old son is going to be a metal faced demon lord something or other. I remember when Halloween was what you found at home and how much makeup your mom could cake on your face.

Hanna

Unknown said...

Princess Wolverine is genius. I think that's what we are going to dress the dog as this year.

My kid is going to be a cowboy. He wants me to be the horse.

Vikki said...

I, too, dread buying packaged costumes. I found a Hermione Granger costume the other day, but she looked like a hooker. Ruffled panties exposed and everything. Ummmm...no. Just, no.

But my son has costume rage. I guess he's still too young to appreciate the fun. Last year he flipped out when I dressed him as Yoda (the pre-thug years), so this year I'm just putting a Ralph Lauren shirt on him and giving him fangs (zombie vampire Macy's mannequin!)

Tiny T said...

Love the mix n' match! My brother is going as toast this year... Yes toast. He made his costume himself too with a little help.

My friends want me to dress up as a guitar hero chick. Purple pigtails, lime green leg warmers, combat boots.... you get the idea. Maybe I should mix that with ninjaness. Instead of boots make it tobi, etc. :)

What are your twins going as this year?

C.R. Evers said...

OK, it's a little early for me to think this creatively, but since this topic makes me giddy, I'll give it a shot. Love your mix's BTW

how about

Hannah Montana Death-Bot

elmo-frankenstein

Storm tropper-witch

That's about all I can do for now. Must find coffee. but no doubt I'll be thinking about this all day (darn you carrie!) I'll be back if I think of anything else.

Christy

PJ Hoover said...

Nice suggestions! I need to make a spider. But how to make it more interesting.
Hmmm...

Adrienne said...

One year I dressed up as a bag of mixed vegetables. Not the same, I know - but it was one of my favorites!

Jamie Eyberg said...

In college we used to give out milkbone dog biscuits for Halloween candy. I couldn't believe how many people ate them.

Unknown said...

I'm totally with you on the evilness of store-bought costumes -- at least this year. i seemto go back and forth between loving them and hating them, usually based on how much work I put into my handmade costume the year before. Anyway, this year: handmade for me and Trixie Implausible.

Bit in terms of awesome mix-ups, I was at a zombie flash mob thing this past weekend (yes, I am that cool), and there were some very cool zombies: Zombie Jack Sparrow, Zombie Cheerleader, Zombie Surgeon, and my favorite, Zombie Monkey Cheerleader. Oh yeah.

Carrie Harris said...

hanna: I'm glad I'm not alone in the Ghost Riderness. What on earth will you do for a pretty vampire?

Jeremy: If your dog is Princess Wolverine, I want pictures.

vivi: A Hermione prostitute? ACK! Although the zombie vampire mannequin thing is made of awesome. Seriously.

Tiny T: Now toast is awesome. I'd give him the whole bowl too. Guitar Hero ninja is mighty cool too.

The girls are going as pajama fairies. No, seriously. :)

Christy: Oooh! Didn't think of Hannah Montana. How about the Hannah Montana Fembot? She could be the Death bot's date. Elmostein is snarftastic too.

PJ: That all depends on how scary you can get. How old is your spider to be?

Daphne: Rock on with your homemade costumes! And I shall have to throw a zombie flash mob thing, whatever that is, when I finally get the Zombie House. And you shall be invited. I don't really expect you to come because, duh, it's far, but I shall invite you nonetheless. :)

Keri Mikulski said...

Love your ideas.

Hmm.. Okay, I was thinking of doing this with my daughter's costume this year, but I'm lacking creativity in this area.. You should do this as a side job, Carrie. :) Dress up packaged costume..

Any ideas for Pablo from the Backyardigans? :)

K.C. Shaw said...

I have three nephews, dressing as: pumpkin (2 yr old), batman (6 yr old--I'll ask him about his eyebrows), and the 11 yr old wants to dress as an IRS agent. I'm so proud of him!

I usually dress up with my dog. Since he's a Newfoundland about the size of a sofa he's fun to dress up. My favorite was when we dressed as hula girls. I couldn't get him to dance, though.

Aaron Polson said...

I love Gangsta Yoda. I can see the album now, with special guest appearances by Mix-master Obi Wan, Tu-Pac Han Solo, and Luke Sky-moon-walker. Good times.

By the way, the students loved your sentence (...kiss my abyss.) I just hope they didn't tell the principal.

Hanna Banana said...

To make my daughter a "pretty" vampire, I found parts to some devil diva thing and am pairing that with a lot of glitter powder, black hair spray stuff (which will really stand out as she has pale skin, blue eyes, blonde hair and freckles), vampire teeth, fake blood, black boots, and who knows how much makeup.

Kelly Polark said...

LOL at Gangsta Yoda!

My boys are Star Wars dudes this year...my daughter, Sharpay from HSM...no originality there!

Carrie Harris said...

Keri: Oh, the Backyardigans would be fun! Because they always dress up like things. You could do Tutankpablo with Egyptian accessories. Or Pablo the Kid with a cowboy hat and lasso. Or Surf Dude Pablo. I could just keep going... and going...

KC: IRS agent? SNARF. That's priceless.

Aaron: Luke Sky-moon-walker? I hear he's a really good dancer. LOL And I hope I didn't get you into trouble. The good news is that they darned well ought to remember that word.

Hanna: Oh, glitter totally works for a pretty vampire. :)

Kelly: It's okay. I feel your pain.

Brenda said...

So does that mean if you wear a cape and dress like Dolly Parton you can be Super Boob?

C.R. Evers said...

OK. I have another. How about Dracula-Bo Peep. "I Vant to suck your curds and whey"

Ok, not scary, but a funny visual (to me anyway.)

Ray Veen said...

Sounds like lots of parents are planning on dressing up.

I stopped about four years ago, so, I guess this means I'm old now.

I always knew this day would come.

Hanna Banana said...

Super Boob, love it!!

Carrie Harris said...

Brenda: That. Is. Perfect. SNARF.

Christy: You know, I have a Bo-Peep costume, complete with shepherd's crook. Now I know what I'll be next year. ;)

BPV: I'll probably be 80 and still dress up. I'll be Superprune or something.

Hanna: Hilarious, ain't it?

C.R. Evers said...

Crap! I can't get these stinking mix-n-matches out of my head.

how about: The Incredible Hulk and a Princess. Hulkcess. Or the Hulk and Cindrella: Hulkerella.

Carrie Harris said...

Hulkerella is a good one. :)

Kristin Joy said...

Love the mix and match..! I love Halloween and I can't wait for it to get here.

Hanna Banana said...

My son came up with this one....Napkin Man!! Lol, he's just as twisted and only 9.

sruble said...

"My solution to this is to combine store-bought costumes in new and interesting ways. Like the Yoda Gangsta. Start with a Yoda costume, accessorize with a bling bling necklace, gold teeth, and roll up one pant leg. Say things like "Bust a cap in your ass I will." "

I just told DH this was his costume for this year. hee hee Thanks for the inspiration, or torture, whichever it ends up being.

BTW, can I steal the Ninja Cheerleaders? Sheila is having some competition soon, and I didn't think of ninjas (but I wish I had).

Carrie Harris said...

Kristin: Ditto! My absolute favorite holiday.

Hanna: I totally want to see a Napkin Man costume. Heck, I want to write a book about Napkin Man! ;)

sruble: Are you serious about the costume or just joking? Because that would be hilarious. Well, it's hilarious either way now that I think about it.

Absolutely use the ninjas. I hope you'll post them too! Shiela was tres fun.

sruble said...

I just asked him if he would wear the costume (not that I know exactly what the costume would be). He countered by asking me what I was going to be/would wear. So I don't think he'll wear a costume, unless I can find something easy for him to wear, but he will probably talk/act like Gangsta Yoda all night long. He really likes the idea.

I'm going as a vampire princess, all I need is a tiara. I have the fangs, and lots of black (I live in NYC). We're going to the mall today, so I should be able to find a tiara, or maybe sparkly bobby pins or something :)

Thanks for letting me use the ninja cheerleaders! I've got big things planned for Sheila and the other cheerleaders. There will be stories and pictures, and everything! Mwahahaha