I have always loved the Little Mermaid since I was 8 years old, but I have never been happy with the costumes on the market. They are either too skimpy or too plain or too cartoon. I wanted a more realistic version of the Little Mermaid. I had a friend Lisa create this amazing mermaid costume based on a design sketch and it came out wonderful! I sadly didn't get very many pictures of the details since my Halloween was spent on a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Rivera! There was 3,100 people onboard to compete with!





(My boyfriend paid tribute to MJ - a costume I helped him make)



(Posing for a professional picture on the ship)

The tail was made of a stretch swim material with layered rows of scales. The tail bad a hidden zipper in the back from the ankles to the knees to allow me to walk freely if needed. The top was made out of purple fabric sewn with holes and ripples to give a seaweed effect. A long red wig, stargazer lily I made myself from a craft store flower and along with tons of fun jewelry topped the costume.

It was so much fun to wear the costume I might wear it again next year!
Thanks for looking!

For those of you lucky to live in California, Arizona and Nevada, you have heard of In-N-Out Burger. (Sorry East Coast)They started in Baldwin Park California in 1948 and they are my favorite place to eat since I was a little girl. Their menu is simple and oh so good. This year my costume was based on their uniform. It was pretty simple to put together and I got a lot of positive reaction. I even won best overall costume at the party I attended on Halloween.

I found a white Dickies dress online and had it embroidered with “Quality you can Taste” (their slogan) “Since 1981” below. Even though they were established in 48, I was born in 81. I figured that was a nice touch.

I got a good deal on red heavy polyester fabric at Wal-Mart and made a simple apron. Their aprons doesn't have any strings, but are held by giant safety pens. This made sewing the apron super easy.

For the name badge, I simply went to my local In-N-Out and asked them for an old name tag. They gave me a former employee’s badge that I covered it with my name printed on a printed sticker. The employee's at the location were excited to hear my costume idea and gave me one of their paper hats. After adding some white socks and black shoes, I was ready to go!

Why not dress up like John Lennon? I see you have his picture as your main one and he has passed away.
You can throw on some jeans, New York t-shirt, jean jacket, vote for peace button, round glasses and leave your hair down and wavy or roll it up under a hat. I bet you would fool a lot of people.

Why not go for a Burlesque costume? Top hat, fishnets, black heets, gloves, ribbons, feathers etc. Something out of Moulin Rouge? If you have ever seen that film, they have a song about how diamonds are a girls best friend - you could class it up yet keep it suitable for school.

I agree that the store costumes are too commerical pushing the sexy factor a little too soon. I have seen crop tops, short shorts etc on the smallest of girls. My boss had to struggle with her 7 year old daughter last year with wanting a too sexy devil costume. 

I like the idea of doing something with history with your daughter. Make it a learning experience for her. The roman toga idea is great - it is comfy and cheap and she can learn about ancient Rome. If not Rome, Egypt, the roaring twenties, the 70's etc, a beautiful Geisha, etc?




What way she can about other times/cultures as you help to create her costume. See what she is learning in school and she what sparks her interest.

See if you have any black yoga pants - you know the kind that have really wide legs? If not, do you have a long black skirt? You can make yourself a girlie pirate. Here is some examples.







See if you can find a scarf or a wrap that you can tie around your head. If not, borrow from a friend or take a trip to Walmart. They have some cheap ones in the women's section. Add some cheap hoop earings - also at Walmart.

Do you have any boots or can borrow some from a friend? If not, you can wear tights with black shoes to give the look of boots.

The key part is the eye patch - take some black string or ribbon and make one of out of fabric. You can paint a skull on it using paint or even white out.

The best thing about Pirates is they are not suppose to the Disney perfect stereotype. Pirates are a jumble of everything and that is what makes them pirates! See if you can raid your friends closets or thrift store and put together something. Oh and be sure to rock the pirate lingo too!

Oh my! What a FANTASTIC job you did on the costume! The first and last photo is my favorite! You did such a wonderful job on the costume - NOTHING like you can get in the stores. If you are in a contest this year - hands down you HAVE to win. Great job on the makeup as well. I think you are going to fool a lot of your friends this year.

Gee....when I think of someone wearing a cloak....I think dark and mysterious. You could almost do anything with it - you don't have to be a character from a movie or something....

But what about Arwen (Liv Tyler) from Lord of the Rings? She had a couple beautiful cloaks in the movie.



You could almost wear any one of her dresses from the movie as long as you have the pointed ears, long brown hair and necklace.

Honestly, stick with your original idea! Be Sweeney Todd! Don't freak out if you think everyone is going to be the same thing this Halloween - at one single party - how likely are you going to run into another Sweeny Todd? You know your costume will be 10 times better because you are going to put a ton of thought into it! I think come the 31st, you will be happy if you did.

I wonder if you can find fabric similar to the dress you bought and stain that with blood. Then cut them into shreds and attach them to the actual dress. This could be the "tattered" dress from the car accident without ruining the dress. You could also use bandages and blood stained gauze to look like you were treated but didn't make it.

I think the tiara, sash (ribbon & glitter to give that H.S look) and maybe dead flowers would for sure show you were the prom queen. See below: