Ugh. That was a bad pun, wasn’t it? But sometimes I just can’t help myself. I can’t resist a bad pun, and I can’t resist the opportunity to dress like a maniac and eat tiny chocolate bars. And in this post, you’re going to get a big dose of all those things.
(Note: In this picture I am both eating mini chocolate bars and I look like a maniac)
One of the first posts on this blog featured my 100% thrifted Halloween costumes from 2011. In Halloween season, people who ordinarily resist thrift stores flock to them in droves, like a hoard of decaying zombies to an unsuspecting group around a campfire (sorry, I can’t resist The Walking Dead, either).
I’ll admit, it’s nice to see my thrift stores so full of hustle and bustle, but I also get a little possessive. That said, I fear neither zombie nor man, so I faced down the hoards with a willing determination to thrift a costume worthy of another post. It took a little more time than my average thrift trip, and the end result is a combination of elements from Talize, Valu Village, and the Salvation Army. Since we all know zombies are best taken on with some back up, my sisters Adele and Laura accompanied me in this task. And we all ended up with some pre-tty fantastic Halloween finds.
Last year I went as Cruella de Vil, and had way too much fun making crazy faces and threatening to turn people’s pets into coats. This year, I stayed on theme and selected Medusa, so I could continue to make crazy faces, and threaten to turn people’s pets into stone.
My costume started with this sparkly, cheap little tube dress from Valu Village. I thought the pattern was reminiscent of a snake, plus: SPARKLES. I then found a lovely little snake in the toy section of Talize to use as a necklace, except he was bright orange so I painted him with some more menacing colours. The last addition was this fun vintage bolero from the Salvation Army. It has these great “evil queen” shoulders, and tassels that make noise when I shimmy (and I tend to shimmy a lot on Halloween). I pulled it all together with some green make-up on my face, Dollar Store snakes in my hair, and more bobby pins than I can count, and behold: the wrath of the great and terrible Medusa!
(Also, sorry for the blurry pictures – my Medusa stare must have damaged the lens)
Anyways, onto a different fantastical character. My sister Adele went all Babara Eden and put together a pretty grand genie costume for herself. It started with this hat from Valu Village, which she then ingeniously cut a hole in, so her I Dream of Jeannie ponytail could come straight out the top. She also found herself a cute little lamp from the VV housewares section. I was hoping Robin Williams might pop out and crash our party with song and dance, but alas, he did not. I have to take some credit for this costume too, as I did find her genie pants (which are awesome and billowy and sheer and amazing) and sparkly top!
Haha! She does the Medusa stare better than I do, actually.
Next up, Laura looked adorable as a retro stewardess. She thrifted this cap, painted it blue, attached a wee-little airplane to it, then thrifted the gloves and scarf, and borrowed my navy blazer to pull it all together. I sort of hate her because she looks pretty and I look ridiculous. But I made my choice.
A shout-out to my friend Amie, as well, for her incredible Corpse Bride costume. Tim Burton would be proud! She found this wedding dress at the Salvation Army for $25, and hand-dyed the whole thing her self. Best dressed!
I’m also throwing in a few other instagrams into this post, because A) I used thrifted vases for much of my decor; B) I made lots of food for this party and that almost never happens, so I want proof of this rare occurrence; and C) My pumpkin!
Oh! And I can hardly do a thrifty Halloween post without one more snap shot of my lady friend and thrifter extraordinaire Jentine. Is she not the chicest viking you ever did see?
And that’s all she (or I) wrote for Halloween 2012! I suppose it’s time to start thinking about evil lady costumes for next year: Maleficent? Bellatrix LeStange? Ann Coulter? Shudder. Now that would be scary.