corey marie ♥ com » Celebrations:

Oct 30 2 comments

Halloween Costumes of Years Past

I thought it’d be fun to do an updated post about all of our Halloween Costumes over the years. I made one a couple of years ago, and I’ve looked back at it (and linked people to it) several times since! So let’s do an update!

We’re pretty big Halloween nerds, and ever since we met, Tod & I have been outdoing ourselves year after year. We usually dress up as characters from comics, video games, movies and TV shows, and we typically go overboard trying to nail down every last detail.

2003: Tank Girl & Booga

In 2003, Tod & I were dating long-distance, and met up in Vegas with a bunch of friends for the (ill-fated) Las Vegas Comic Con.

2004: Beetlejuice & Lydia

For Halloween 2004, Tod & I were living together in San Diego and we went as Beetlejuice & Lydia. Fun Fact: Beetlejuice only actually wears the stripey suit for about 40 seconds in the movie. But this was a fun year. I think Halloween was on a Sunday or Monday, so we ended up going out all weekend long in costume.

2005: Bjork & H.I. McDunnah

In 2005, Tod and I had just gotten married, and were living in “the YAC-partment,” a 400 square foot attic apartment in Lansing, MI. I went as Bjork, and Tod reprised his role as H.I.McDunnah from Raising Arizona.

2006: Katamari Damacy

Halloween 2006, we were in Richmond, VA, and we went as The King of the Cosmos and the Prince from the video game, Katamari Damacy. This was the year that we learned that giant cardboard heads do not make for a fun time at a party. But we looked awesome!

2007: Milk Chan & Dirk the Daring

Halloween 2007: I was Milk Chan from the cartoon Super Milk Chan (which no one ever saw.) I'm a tiny bit pregnant here, but couldn't think of any fun pregnant costumes to do that year (and didn't really have enough of a belly yet anyway.) Tod was Dirk the Daring, from the video game Dragon's Lair.

2008: Mario, Toad (and Dwight)

For Halloween 2008, Jonah was about 6 months old. I went as Mario and dressed him up as Toad from Super Mario Bros. We just pulled the little Toad vest out of the costume box the other day and couldn’t believe how tiny he was. (PS: Mamas: the overalls this was the best costume ever, because I was still nursing & still had baby-weight!) Tod went as Dwight Schrute, from The Office, complete with the stapler in Jell-O.

2009: Skeletor, He-man & She-ra

For Halloween 2009, we went as Skeletor, He-man and She-ra. Jonah was a fussy little He-Man, and Tod & I rocked what is probably our most detailed costume to date – I sewed everything & Tod made us all cardboard swords & sculpted his Skeletor mask (it glows in the dark!!)

shera skeletor

2010: Beaver Boy, Scott & Ramona

2010 was the first year that Jonah picked out his own costume, he wanted to be “Beaver Boy” from the PBS Show, Peep & The Big Wide World. Tod & I went as Ramona Flowers & Scott Pilgrim.

2011: Scooby-Doo, Margot & Richie

This year, I got off easy: Jonah’s costume didn’t require much sewing (actually, most of it is just his Beaver Boy costume with some spots & a new hat & tail.) He’s going as Scooby-Doo.

Scooby Dooby Dooooo

Jonah’s costume was timely this year, since my sister Jordan and her husband, Theo went as Velma and Shaggy, and their friends went as Daphne and Fred. We went to Theo’s parents’ Halloween Party on Saturday and had so much fun. Don’t they all look great?

Here are Tod & I as Margot & Richie Tennenbaum from The Royal Tennenbaums. As I said, I sort of got the year off this year – I didn’t have to sew anything for our costumes – this was all out of our closet & costume box.

Happy Halloween!!

Oct 28 1 comments

What I Wore: Face Paint Party

Yesterday, Tod drew caricatures, and I did Face Paint at Consumers Energy for their Holiday party. We both had so much fun, and all of the kids looked so stinkin’ cute in their costumes.

I painted my own face for fun & wore my skeleton leggings (thanks for the link, Dainty Squid!) OK, seriously, I love these leggings. I have worn them pretty much non-stop all of October) with a black pinstripe dress that I’ve had forever. (I actually bought it for a date night with Tod when we were first dating in San Diego!!) I also wore blue feather false eyelashes which match my hair and may be my new favorite thing ever and a PAPERCUTS Feather Lariat.

One of the first kids that I painted was dressed up as Bat Girl. She was so adorable and awesome. Her dad was telling me that she was totally into super heroes, dinosaurs and cars. I told him to check out “Tiny Titans” and told him to keep encouraging her. Hooray for little fan girls.

Here’s another shot of my sugar skull make up and the eyelashes.

PS: If you can’t tell, I finally re-dyed my hair!

Oct 25 0 comments

DIY Chalkboard Jack-O-Lanterns

Not feeling the usual carved pumpkins this year? Try something different, and make these cool Chalkboard Jack-O-Lanterns!

You’ll Need:

Pumpkins! I used mini-pumpkins, but a full sized one would work just as well!
Chalkboard Spray Paint
Masking Tape or Painter’s Tape.
Newspaper

1. Use the Masking Tape to cover the stems. As you can see in the photo below, this is a great way to use pumpkins that aren’t as pretty as the rest, though you’ll want a smooth surface to make it easy to write and draw on.

2. Spray Paint! Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Mine called for 2 coats, then letting them dry for 24 hours.

3. Remove the tape when the spray paint is dry, then embellish & decorate your cool Jack-O-Lanterns with chalk! That’s it!

Draw faces, write messages, or add your initial for a cool monogram. Best of all, if you mess up or don’t like what you’ve drawn, you can just erase and start over!!

Have fun! Let me know in the comments if you try out this fun DIY.

Oct 22 2 comments

Our Last Minute Costumes

We had been planning on going as Finn, Jake and Princess Bubblegum for Halloween, but Jonah decided that he wants to be Scooby Doo instead. So last night, Tod & I had to put together new costumes on the fly to go to our friend Josh’s Halloween Party. We finally got inspiration last night:

We dug through our closet & the costume box, and put together these last-minute versions of Margot & Richie Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums.

I love this movie. It’s so hard to believe it came out ten years ago!

What are you dressing up as?

Oct 18 2 comments

How-To Tuesday: Toad Stool Salads

Want to make these adorable Toad Stool salads? They’re a kid-friendly, easy to assemble veggie appetizer (If I were writing for a fancy magazine, I would call them a whimsical, canapé take on a Caprese Salad) that would be great at any party! I served these at my Birthday party last weekend and they were a big hit!

Toad Stool Salads

You’ll Need:

Grape Tomatoes
String Cheese
Leafy Greens (I used a store-bought assortment, but use what you like or what you have on hand.)
Cucumber
Oil & Vinegar salad dressing. (I used Kraft’s “Zesty Italian.”)
Parmesan Cheese (called “Shaker Cheese” at my house.)
Sharp Knife & Cutting Board
Tooth Picks

1. Wash cucumber. Slice off & discard ends. Slice cucumber in half length-wise, then use a spoon to scrape out seeds. Quarter, then slice into pieces not quite an inch wide.

2. Wash grape tomatoes, then slice each in half.

3. Slice String Cheese in half lengthwise, then into 1” pieces.

4. Assemble: Place Cucumbers on the tray so that they’re not wobbly. Stick a tooth pick into each cucumber. Add leafy greens. Pick up four or five leaves and fold them as necessary to make a little bed for your toadstools. Carefully slide the cheese down the tooth pick, then press the tomato on top.

5. Once you have a whole try complete, drizzle salad dressing and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve cold.