We moved to New York on the night before Halloween, from a country who, at that time, didn’t celebrate Halloween with more than a single pumpkin in the window. In the beginning I stuck to my resilient thoughts and chose to see this special American holiday as yet another commercial day made special by the retail industry in another attempt to make more money. But then I participated in the amazing celebrations
that take place on the streets in our neighborhood every time the calendar says 31st of October. And I totally fell in love. I love Halloween. I love to see how more and more houses get decorated through the month of October. I love to see the excitement on my children’s faces, when they plan what to dress up as, and I love to walk out into those overcrowded streets on Halloween night and be amongst all the children and parents in from our neighborhood.
But where most Americans will go out and buy a new costume to their children every month of October, I still hold onto my DIY thinking and my attempt to not buy stuff that we really don’t need. So instead of just letting my children pick what they want to dress up as from free imagination, we start out by looking at the things we have at home and always creating a Halloween costume ourselves. Could we find inspiration in an old hat, a dress that’s already hanging in the closet or maybe some fabric we have laying around, that could be transformed into something else?
This year it started out with this lion bonnet that my baby was gifted and that my 5-year-old realized she could (almost) fit into. Then my 8-year-old realized that her new blue pinaforelooked a lot like Dorothy’s dress, a long black dress in my cupboard would be perfect for The Wicked Witch of the West and the idea of dressing up as the characters from The Wizard of OZ was born.
Yesterday we sat down together, and created those last little details for the costumes. Like wrapping a pair of ballerina shoes in red glitter foam to create the perfect pair of ruby slippers, made a tail, a bow and a medal for the lion and a black witch hat for me. With the soundtrack from Corpse Bride in the background, storm hauling in the streets, a test run of halloween costume, a taste of halloween candy and 2 orange pumpkins on the table waiting to be carved, it ended up being one of those perfect Sundays that you’ll keep in your heart for years. That day full of preparation, creation and excitement to see the final result was just as dear to me as any trick or treating would ever be and will always be reason enough for me to never go out and buy a finished costume.
If you want to see, what Halloween looks like in New York, then follow along on my Instagram stories tomorrow.
