So this year we are taking the little monkeys to Disneyland for Halloween, yes, for those of you who know me know I am more excited than my kids. I love me some disney!!!! :) Well, so I thought it would be fun to plan for the kids to wear Disney costumes, so at first Audriana was going to be Minnie and I was trying to find Mickey for Donnie and Pluto for Gio, but no such luck, so then I saw a costume on craigslist for a monsters inc costume for Sully and my little mind started to take flight to a new idea....oh no, what have I done??!!!! I then thought it would be perfect for the boys to be sully and mike (the one eyed guy) and Audriana could be Boo, cute right?! I mean common, Audri will make an adorable boo. So being the complicated woman I am I could have had Audri be the simple version of boo in the pajamas but the one where she is in the monsters costume in the movie is so much cuter so I went with that idea!
People I just entered myself into a nightmare of stress ohhhh boy! So I started searching for costumes, well, there is no boo costume from disney, they were no help! But there are boo "homemade" costumes on Ebay so I started to get a little excited until I saw the price, $50.00 and all the way up to like $80 bucks for these costumes, r u kiddin' me? What do these marvelous costumes come with?! So then I thought "i could make that, so easy". This is coming from a girl who knows how to make a simple stitch, people I can sew a button on a shirt or sew up a tear, whooopdi freakin' doo! That's it, that's all! So the cocky side of Ali got ahold of me and took over myself -the good and humble part of myself ;) So I went on a journey, I went to Joannes and tried figuring out all I needed. I got some fabric that I thought could work, got something to go over the fabric to look a little like monster scales or whatever is on Boo's Costume, I got a mop head for her head, some white fabric for the monster teeth, and so on and so forth. I went on a lot of trips to that Joannes store, they know me all to well there! I'm costumer of the month, they blew up my picture, they shake my hand when I enter, people come up and ask me if I can help them find something since I know it all too well...okay so it's not quite like that, but honestly and truly I went there too many times. The poor ladies who had to keep cutting me fabric, all I can say is I'm sorry. It went a little somethin' like "i'm not sure how much I need, let me see how a yard looks...okay lets do a yard...no better make that two...wait make that a yard and a half, a yard and three fourths", blah blah blah!!! I shoulda tipped the poor ladies something for putting up with my indecisiveness and my multiple personality disorder...I did a little talking to myself, the ladies just smiled and nodded as if I had that little blue sign that gets ya great parking spaces, stamped right there on my forehead!
I then attempted to get out the ol' sewin' machine that's only been sitting in my garage for ohhh let's just say 10 years or so, yah I said 10 years. See Sergio, you said I never use it, and you wanted me to get rid of it, well look at me now!! Or maybe not...I got the old girl out dusted her off, cleared out the few dead spiders that made a home in it, that is after I jumped like an idiot after seeing them! Then took one look and said "WTF" that's "what the flip" for you that are wondering, common would I use such language? I then attempted to thread the darn thing, like I knew what I was doing, people my son Giovanni laughed at me and said "mom are you sure you know what you are doing?" No son, I do not, I have no flippin clue! But I did not say that, I said "well sure son, doesn't this mother always know what she's doin'!!?" It wasn't long after that till I hit the computer hard, I mean I went as hard core as it gets, I watched videos step by step, paused it, ran into the other room to do the darn step then ran back to watch the next step (I have to simply pause this and hope no one walks in on this conversation in the middle here, i understand this could sound...well...like something completely different, so please read the whole story!) anyways, it would have been easier if I would have brought the sewing machine into the computer room with me, but I didn't think that far. Yah I'm smart like that. Sergio thought I'd gone on speed or something, and he actually asked me after hysterically laughing "why are you running back and forth like a mad woman?" I stopped, laughed, and actually thought for a minute and said "I have no idea why". So on and on I went trying to figure out this "wonderful" and "easy" sewing machine...sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm...Only this time I walked back and forth, I didn't want to frighten my family anymore than I already had, seriously if you saw the look on my husbands face, you'd die laughing. Did I mention that this sewing machine is Vintage? Yes, Vintage, meaning old and confusing as hell! Sorry "heck"...I called up the lovely woman who gave me this thing, my mom and said "who invented this thing and how in the world do you work it? What's "thread" and how do you do it?" She couldn't remember either, so she said she would come over in the next few days to help me, well I was on a mission and this girl doesn't stop for nothin or no-one when I'm on a mission, I didn't even eat! Hi My Name Is Ali and I'm Hardcore! So on and on I went on my sick mission. I said sick because I may have been unhealthy at that point, mentally I think I just went off my rocker.
After watching more videos and reading step by step guides that might as well have been in another language, since it made no sense at all, I said "Screw It!" I decided to hand sew the sucker. I grabbed the material, took one look and thought to myself, "what and how do I do this? Oh my goodness, what was I thinking? Well, I then just kinda went for it and little by little this costume seemed to start looking more and more like something that came outta the school for the mentally challenged (I mean no offense here please), but heck they probably could have done better! So after un-threading what I had sewn and trying again and again, it came together!!!
My little Donivan was my Manichean since that little Audri person wouldn't try it on, stinker! Do not ask me how I am going to get her to wear it Halloween night...cause I haven't any clue. Well, the arms are really too low, Audri is smothered by her costume so I just cut out two holes above them and decided to leave it be! R u kiddin' me? I wasn't about to fuss with that thing again! The head part was a whole other disaster that could be a whole other long story, but I'll save you from having to listen to that!! The first version of the hat didn't really work out so well, Audri couldn't wear it, it was too heavy. I basically did it, ripped it up, screamed a little, maybe even cried, (NO I DID NOT CRY, WHAT DO YOU PEOPLE THINK I'M MADE OUT OF??), then I did it all again with a coat hanger, some suggestions from my husband, ping pong balls, and a lot of love! Waaaa laaaaa I finally finished this thing! It will look better on Audriana though, don't judge!
So at the end, I realize I should have just bought her the darn costume or had her do the pajama outfit costume, I went through too much stress, it was probably more stressful because I am the one planning this thing, getting the hotel, getting tickets, trying to plan outfits (that's a big deal people!) and so on and so forth, so not a great decision to make a costume before a trip, but I did it and even though it didn't turn out quite how I would've liked and far far far from perfect, I am a little proud of myself for making my first costume!
So did I mention that I had decided amongst all this madness that Sergio & I needed to be apart of the costume monster inc idea? Yes I did, so Sergio is gonna be one of the yellow guys that come swipe you if you get touched from a child "2319!" And I'm going to be Cecelia, the one eyed snake girl. These costumes are just as much of a headache as Audri's was, but I'm going a more simple route with them. They may not look great but I might still have half of my mind left! The only thing I really can't figure out is how I am going to do the head? It's a daily process! We'll see!
