Happy Halloween!

Yes, I really procrastinated this month but, believe it or not, it was on purpose! I had to wait until today to explain how proud of myself I am! I have wanted to be Belle for Halloween for so long and... I F-I-N-A-L-L-Y did it!!!!

I really was all set to do it last year but then we had a school-wide theme going on and I didn't want to break it. So minions it was. I took a long time to make the skirt (not that it was hard but it was time consuming) and was proud of the final product but it wasn't the 'Belle' I wanted to be.

This year I was determined to be Belle and the people who suggested otherwise were promptly shut down (It's amazing how many ideas are floating out there). I even added it to my 27 by 27 list (Number 20) so that I would have to follow through. Sometimes follow-through is not my best attribute...

I had the best intentions to get my Costume all set while I was off track but October turned busy. I had lots of unexpected subbing (Yay money!) and I had to catch up on my Book of Mormon reading in order to finish by November 12 for Stake Conference. Due to all of that my Halloween costume (and my car registration) fell by the wayside. Don't worry, it all worked out... I got my costume done and my car was registered tonight (Yeah, pretty last minute)!

The week I was about to track back on I decided I really needed to start looking for my costume. As luck would have it I was finding absolutely nothing! I was told to look for parts that would work and nothing was promising. I finally decided I would have to make my dress on my own. I searched the YouTube tutorials (What did people do without YouTube) and created an idea for sewing my dress. My wonderful roommate let me use her sewing machine and I finished the dress in one day (Before tracking back on)! I did the whole thing without a pattern so there are definite flaws (I don't know how well I would have done with a pattern anyway) but it worked and there was only a little injury (My nail has grown out well enough...).

After making the dress I had talked to a friend who sharpies shoes about doing some for me but then I slacked off (See? Horrible follow through). I finally texted to see if she would still do them and she said yes so I got the shoes to her and another part of my costume was in progress. I got the shoes back on Sunday and they are FANTASTIC! Rachel did a great job!

Monday I realized that all I had for my costume was a dress and shoes so I went in search of a shirt. I was able to find one at DI. I also found a pillowcase that I could use to make my Apron (That way I wouldn't have to worry about making it straight). I wore what I had for my costume to the FHE Halloween Party Monday Night and it was a hit!

I was close to being done but I really wanted a skirt/petticoat underneath so I went and got some more fabric after the party and went home to make the last part of my costume. This morning I did my 'newspaper nails' and borrowed a 'classic looking' book from one of my teammates. My favorite part is that the book is called "How to Read a Book". The kids, and parents, loved the costume and I'm happy to say lots of them figured out who I was supposed to be but a lesson on Disney Characters might be in my students future's...

In all I am so proud of my efforts! I am definitely not a seamstress but it is fun to say that I did it!