A good time was had by all!

I'm a bum. I didn't make sure I had enough fabric to complete Jaala's Halloween costume.  What kind of bone head does that?  Such an amateur move.  I constantly underestimate her size, she is growing so quickly that my mind's eye measurement of her cannot keep up!

She was SO good about it.  She completely understood and was willing to brainstorm another idea.  This from the kid who generally becomes quite distraught when plans change last minute or when her ideas don't come to fruition. 
In the end, not having a costume exactly like her sister's, which is what the original plan was, allowed us to be really creative together.  We sat on the floor of the craft/kid's room going through my very substantial *shh don't tell Faron*;p  and varied stash of fabric and notions and came up with the makings of an elegant witch costume.  We had a suitable hat in our collection of dress up goods, and unbeknownst to her, her wonderful step dad purchased a straw broom for her to help complete her outfit.  She squealed with delight when she saw it, and declared it "perfect, THANK you!" he he he!  Those moments of glee are so much fun to be a part of!

I fretted that Jaala was being cheated on her Halloween costume, however, it turned out to be every bit as awesome as ever!
At the last moment, I created a costume for the dog, to accessorize Jaala's witch costume. Our original idea is on hold for next year *YAY!*  Instead, sewed and stuffed two black ear shapes with pink accents to a black velvet ribbon, then hot glued the whole shebang to a plain head band, leaving long lengths of velvet ribbon hanging off both ends.  Then I stole one of Faron's black tube socks, stuffed it with fibre fill and a paper towel tube, then anchored the thing to a platform of cardboard and stitched it to a black fabric belt.
All together, Thyme became the large black cat for Jaala's witch.  She was thrilled and in love with how cute her puppy was!  They were a huge hit at all the houses they went to together.
The dog is SO patient and so tolerant.  She wore the costume like a little champion, for over an hour!  There were a few times the head band slipped over her eyes and her antics trying to regain her sight were extremely comical!
At one point, we came upon a wee boy who stopped and stared at Thyme as though he knew something wasn't quite right, but he didn't know what it was.  I said "hello, would you like to pet my cat?" His mouth opened, then closed.  He looked at Thyme, then at his father, then at me and opened his mouth again.  Then he reached out and pet Thyme as he said, "hims not a kitty, hims a dog!"  then her reached out and touched the stuffed tail and his eyes got really wide.  He yanked his hand away and backed up and his father said "the puppy is wearing a kitty costume." the kid giggled and giggled as they walked away.  DELIGHTFUL!

 Leishabeth's mermaid costume turned out beautifully.  Even with all the cheating and detail skipping I did, it fit well and I just barely had enough material!!! 
My Grandma gave me a huge box of fabric last year, in it was this lovely, lavender coloured knit/velour fabric with scales embossed on it.  Lei saw it and declared that she wanted a mermaid costume.  It lent itself perfectly to that use!  She helped me dye some crinkle cotton to coordinate with the knit and I sewed it up for her.
A friend commented that these weren't just the run of the mill, walmart *dollar store* costumes.  True! I don't care about the meaning of Halloween or any of that hooey, what I care about is the memories made creating and brainstorming creatively, the connections and the joy and the principle of hand made goodness, that is what I want the girls to hold in their hearts when they remember Halloween in our home.

Here are the pictures of them being awesome in their costumes!