A Disnerd Halloween Adventure

I've made an executive decision (and since I'm the only one running this blog it was pretty easy to get a unanimous agreement) that this year I am going to make all of my holidays Disney-themed. Why? It gives me a reason to post more fun stuff on here, as well as make this blog a community experience, getting other people involved in the Disnerdy-ness. And what better holiday is there to do this to than one where you're supposed to dress in costumes?

It was sort of a big deal that I decided to do something for Halloween because I haven't actually dressed up in a costume for Halloween since I was 6. That was around the time my family moved; the new neighborhood didn't have sidewalks, the houses were much more spread out and it would have been hard to go trick-or-treating. And we lived off a big/busy road so we didn't get any trick-or-treaters either. I didn't actually mind so much, because our mom still bought as candy and that was really the main draw for me as a kid.

So anyway, this year I broke my 23-year-long refrain from wearing a costume and hosted a Disney Halloween costume party! It was actually just my normal Sunday night Disney movie viewing (and as fate would have it, we watched The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad - the most Halloween-ish movie on the list!), but it was a great reason to get creative and have fun.

I'm sure you just want to see the pictures already...in fact you probably scrolled past all of what I just wrote and skipped right to this part of the post. If that's the case, I will forgive you, but only because the costumes are so awesome.

Me: Snow White

 

The breakdown of my outfit: 

• short black hair & brown eyes - got it. probably the only Disney princess I wouldn't need a wig for. (Even Mulan's boy-cut hair is longer than mine!)
• yellow dress - already owned this
• blue velvet jacket with puffed sleeves - already owned this
• red shoes - so, Snow White actually has yellow flats with bows on them. I was tempted to buy a pair but decided my red ones would work just fine. 
• red ribbon - $2.50 at Michaels
• safety pins - $3 at Michaels - used these to pin the red ribbon to my jacket.
• red headband - $1 at the Dollar Store (it actually came in a 6 pack so I also have pink, blue, dark blue, purple, red sparkly, and yellow headbands that I will probably never wear.) 
• white flexible foam - $.89 at Michaels - I tried to make a white collar using the foam but ended up not wearing it cuz it just wasn't working.
• shiny red apple - approx. $.50 at Copp's grocery store, I actually forgot to take this out during my party!

Total Cost: $8! I was super proud of myself for pulling off this look at such a low cost.

Mimi: Muse, Hercules
Mimi was the first to arrive - here she is looking all fabulous as a Muse from Hercules. Notice that she went conservative and did not decide to put a huge slit up the side of her costume. haha. Good thinking, Mimi. I also want to give her points for dressing as an animated character as requested (she was initially planning to come as Jack Sparrow, her favorite Disney character ever.)

Becky: Minnie Mouse 
Becky came as classic Minnie Mouse. Apparently she based her entire costume on this pair of yellow shoes she found at a thrift store. Nice job!

Christopher & Tiana: Mickey & Minnie, The Brave Little Tailor
Christopher and Tiana were Mickey and Minnie from fa Disney short called The Brave Little Tailor. (Actually none of us had even seen it so we all watched it after the main movie - it's super cute, I recommend it!) Their outfits were completely homemade and totally spot on - complete with 4-fingered gloves, as well as a needle and thread in Mickey's brown pouch!

Kylene & Vicki: Aces, Alice in Wonderland
Kylene and Vicki were aces! Ace of Hearts and Ace of Spades, that is. :) Their costumes totally cracked me up! Apparently they had to hand-sew the felt fabric because the iron-on glue stuff they bought didn't work. I'm so impressed! We all decided their costumes were the most Trick-or-Treating friendly - very warm and comfortable!

Grete: Lumière, Beauty & the Beast
Grete's costume was possibly the cleverest of them all! Of course for her, finding gold clothing was not a problem - she already had it all in her wardrobe. I loved the cream-colored legwarmers that she used around her wrists as the wax candles, and gold-spray painted styrofoam bowls around her wrists and neck. 

One of the reasons I decided to have this party was because I knew I could pull off a Snow White costume fairly easily. But I was totally blown away by how everyone else went all out for the occasion -- each and every costume was homemade and super creative! It genuinely warmed my heart to see my friends voluntarily dressed up as Disney characters in costumes that they spent so much time making. And having everyone keep it a secret until I opened the door was pretty awesome (not my idea but it was perfect)!

To top it off, I added a few extra touches to make this an actual party. From the Disney family website, I found instructions to make Mickey Mouse bat decorations, and Mickey Mouse mummy cupcakes. It was a scramble getting them finished before the party (I was in Chicago all weekend and got home just 2 hrs. before the party started) - but totally worth it!

I dunno, this was so much fun I may have to make this an annual tradition.We've already started talking about costume ideas for next year. :)

group pic! shout-out to Abi who did not come in a costume but came to join the fun anyway! :)

some of us wore our costumes to work the following day. i got to carry my apple around since i forgot to take it out at the party. we paraded around the office and some people gave us candy (as well as earplugs and nuts). haha