The Ghosts of HalloweenS Past

Our family has a tradition of semi-homemade group costumes. We love to craft something special, but also appreciate the ease and finish of a store-bought solution.

We started it in 2015, the year Magnus was born with Little Shop of Horrors. I was Audrey, Aaron was Seymour, and Magnus was Audrey II, we even dressed our dog up as Orin Scrivello D.D.S . It was fantastic. We made Magnus’s costume from scratch and it was so much fun! We ordered off the shelf for Totle, and Aaron and my costumes were pulled together from Amazon items, thrift store purchases and stuff from our closets.

In 2016, we were Super Mario Brothers. Aaron was Mario, Magnus was Luigi and I was Princess Peach. I remember vividly that Magnus screamed his head off when I tried to apply the fake mustache, so I settled for trying to draw it on with eyeliner, which he also fought. We did a combination of closet shopping and costume ordering. We had just found out that we were expecting Charlie, and I had hyperemesis gravidarum and I was SO sick that between my puking and Magnus’s mustache fit we didn’t get a great group photo, but we still have sweet memories.

In 2017, inspired by Magnus’s love of Buzz Lightyear and Charlie’s baby potato-like appearance we dressed as characters from Toy Story. We bought packaged costumes for Magnus, Charlie, and Aaron and I made mine from my closet (plus some purchased accessories.

In 2018, we went as the characters of Monsters Inc. We made my Boo costume, and Aaron’s Mr. Waternoose costumes and bought Magnus’s Mike Wazowski and Charlie’s James P Sullivan.

Last year with Clara joining our crew, we opted for Moana. We purchased Aaron’s Maui, and Clara’s Moana, and then DIY’d most of Magnus’s Hei Hei, Charlie’s Pua, and my Te Fiti.