Christmas goodies

I'm pretty proud of the Christmas gifts I've made so far. Recycled crayons. There are tutorials all over the place...

I had to do some shopping to find girly colored corduroy, I've been eyeing a pink pair of corduroy my daughter is growing out of. But since she's still wearing them, I wasn't allowed to cut them. This is your typical circle skirt. I used a button hole elastic for the first time.

Halloween Costume Horror

I wrote this at the beginning of October, when our family starting talking about Halloween. Since then more blogs and news sources have brought up the issue. I've added those links at the bottom. 11/28/2011

Last year I was appalled to see the Halloween costumes on toddlers at the mall on Halloween. We accidentally went there during a special trick or treat event. Little tiny barely walking girls wearing... french maid likes ladybugs, french maid eats a fairy, french maid morphing into a green witch. Perhaps the parents didn't interpret the outfits that way... but they sure as heck don't look like real costumes anymore.
Back in my day (lol when did I get so old?), the goal was to really LOOK LIKE something/someone. We dressed as a lion, not a short girly tutu with the hint of a lion added in for flair. Sexy was for the grownups when they went to their grownup parties after the kids were done scarfing their candy. We were about realistic. Kids won prizes for most realistic, most unexpected, most humorous. Now the child costumes are sexier than I *ever* dressed in public.
This gem comes in Child's small, medium and large. Complete with fishnet 'arm warmers' and leggings. Now I'm not a vampire book/movie aficionado, but I'm pretty sure female vampires don't dress like that.




I found the 2T Dorothy costume picture on Target's website. The changes are subtle... but someone decided it would be cute to put Dorothy in a very short corset dress with poofy fabric where an older child would have breasts. Compared to the more innocent grownup Dorothy costume I found elsewhere, that only had the skirt shortened.

The following are all "Child costumes" (from spirithalloween.com). The fourth is for "tween" which I understand is now considered to 8 to 12 year olds. The other three I'm guessing are for girls up to about 8 or 9 years olds. The pink witch is available in 2T to child Medium.

I'm not alone in my horror... More parents and child advocates are up in arms:

• Peggy Orenstein: Here's my 8 year olds halloween costume
• Pigtail Pals: Here's why little girls sexy halloween costumes are terrifying
• Responsible Men: I've a feeling we're not in kansas anymore
• Don't let your angel fall in the gutter on Halloween
• CNN article
• An Eleven Year Old's Perspective

Suggestions for avoiding the consumerism that is now Halloween costumes:

• Common Sense Media: How to carve consumerism out of your Halloween

Article and resources for grownup ladies who aren't interested in dressing as sexy kittens:

• Great Historical Costume Suggestions
• Jezebel: If you're going to wear a sexy Halloween costume at least be creative about it