Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! This is what our dining room table looked like, at least until the pumpkins got all moldy and collapsed onto themselves five days after we carved them. Every year I buy a few more decorations to add to my collection - this year I picked up the spiderweb tablecloth, which I love. My Halloween decorations are nowhere near as awesome as Emily's, but maybe someday they will be. (A skull is definitely on my wish list.)

I thought I'd do a quick run-down of how I put together the Katy Perry costume I wore to our party on Sunday, because I love it when bloggers share their DIY experiences.

This was my inspiration...

First off, here are the things I already owned:

-The pink wig

-The pink cardigan

-The heels

Altogether, this costume only cost about $10 and took two hours of work. And I have to give almost all the credit to Josh here: even though I came up with the idea, he actually made almost everything. I sewed the skirt and cut out the green and yellow shapes, and he did everything else. Yes, my husband is awesome.

My grandma gave me the box I used as the hat, and Josh just glued some cheap yellow fabric onto it, and stuck a headband through it to hold it on my head.

I cut the green and yellow shapes on my chest out of felt and just pinned them together.

For the heels, Josh wrapped blue painter's tape around the bottom, and taped yellow ribbon around the top.

The skirt was the trickiest bit. Because I decided on this costume kind of last-minute, I didn't have time to search for a black pencil skirt at a thrift store. That would have been the easier option. Instead, I bought some fabric and a 99-cent pattern at Joann Fabrics. I opened the pattern at 10 p.m. the night before the party, and spent twenty minutes staring at it, trying to understand it. Eventually I gave up on that idea. I may know the basics of sewing, but apparently I don't know how to read a pattern. So instead, I just sewed two pieces of fabric together, added elastic at the top and a hem at the bottom, and Josh glued the white felt shapes all over it.

As my niece Emily pointed out, when you looked at the skirt close up it kind of looked like a Project Runway piece gone bad, but from far away it looked reasonably similar to the inspiration photo. Overall, I was pleased with the way my costume turned out, although next year I may go for something easier.