Epic Family Halloween Costumes with Babystylista!

My Halloween game is pretty lame. I am the parent looking for the coveted costume two days before Halloween and having to talk a sobbing child into something not so cool. So instead of pretending, I asked my friend DeBalino to come talk. She does Halloween in a BIG way. Just wait until you see!

The husband and I have never been much into the costume world ourselves, but ever since our Little Mama (and her furry siblings) came into our lives, we can’t imagine a Halloween without fully immersing ourselves… as a family.

I have always loved Halloween. Loved. Obsessed really. And unfortunately, prior to Little Mama’s birth, my dogs were the only ones who were willing enough to surrender themselves to my obsession.

Year after year, we came up with ideas, perhaps not crazy enough for the online world (our dog as Darth Vader actually went viral, go figure) – but crazy enough for our neighbourhood. Soon we were known on our block, in our district, and later, in a big part of our city – for being the crazy couple that dressed their dogs.

2011

But it took on a whole new meaning for us when Little Mama came into the picture. We decided we would join in on the fun since she was barely crawling at this point and couldn’t exactly trick or treat on her own. However, I had two things working against me; a baby who wouldn’t let me be physically apart from her even if it meant a fun and lazy ride in her stroller.  And a metro dad who refused to be a matching fruit of the loom family. He would rather go bungee jumping with nothing on but his underwear and woolly socks before ever getting caught in purple tights prancing around dressed as a bunch of grapes.

So I had to do what any other desperate Halloween-crazed mom and wife had to do. I put my money where my baby’s mouth is.

COPS, ROBBERS, & GURGLING MONEYBAG

Meanwhile, back at the station, Kevin our pug, and Seth our pomchi, proudly sported their K-9 Unit uniform fully equipped with authority, quiet confidence, and a set of fluffy handcuffs!

We figured, since our pups never really got a chance to be tough-guy guard dogs for our household, they at least deserved one rendezvous in their dream role. My little one was more interested in taking a nap than notice the awesomeness that is Halloween. It made sense to keep her in her Baby Bjorn as she sported a warm cozy cover, that just happened to have a ginormous dollar sign in front of it. Black is Big Daddy’s favourite choice of apparel, so it really just meant a beanie, a mask, and a pair of gloves, and he was set.

2012

The following year, we sadly lost Kevin to old age, and had quite the transitional year of moving homes (both a new city and a new country!) that Halloween ended up being placed on the backburner. We were a little stumped for ideas so we decided to work from the ground up.

Literally.

We started off with our dog Seth. Finding costumes for pets is no easy feat, and time was no longer in our favour. Turns out, there were a plethora of outfits for pets, and I was just hiding under a DIY rock all these years. After we found his costume, the rest just followed seamlessly. He was to be a hotdog.

But what about the rest of us?

Well, the next obvious step was Little Mama. How can we possibly match our little peanut to a hotdog? Wait minute. Peanut. Hotdog.

OMG.

Let’s be…

PEANUTS, POPCORN, AND A HOTDOG!

When it comes to playing dress-up, Big Daddy, the normally “let-me-wear-what’s-in-my-closet-and-throw-a-hat-on-me-or-something” kinda guy, was more than willing to roll up his sleeves, throw on a striped vest we bumped into at the thrift store (did I mention we were also in-between jobs?), a snazzy bow tie, and a cap from our favourite burger joint, all in the name of Fam-o-ween. With no time to lose, we grabbed the top of our ottoman cover, tied on a straggler gym bag strap, and printed out some pretend popcorn bags (filled to the brim with real popcorn – I mean, a family dressed up as food’s gotta eat, right?)

We won best family costume at a local Halloween costume contest that night – a shopping spree gift card (which we obviously ended up using to buy peanuts, popcorn, and hotdogs… naturally).

2013

We still had Seth, but at the ripe old age of 14, he was starting to feel tired. Tired of my Halloween shenanigans? Nah. Just tired of life in general. So we eased up on the poor guy. We decided, whatever we choose to be as a family, we would have to make sure it’s as little stress on Seth as possible. If it means we just throw a piece of material on him and call it a day, then I guess that’s what we had to do.

But our 2 year old? Different story. According to Big Daddy, she’s only had to suffer the wrath of my crazy costume ideas for only 2 years of her life, while poor Seth had to endure 14. In all fairness, she was resilient, almost begging to be thrown into a frenzy of Halloween ideas. In fact, she blatantly chose to tear apart the back of mommy’s closet just to get to my petticoat! (Yes, I have a petticoat – which just barely survived from being thrown into the purge pile.)

And then it dawned on me.

Let’s go closet shopping!

We started off with my closet (isn’t mommy’s closet always so much more fun than your own?), then her closet, then Grammy’s jewelry box, then daddy’s closet, and then of course, the kitchen cabinets. We found old gaudy pieces, unused chopsticks from last night’s take out, and wouldn’t you know it… Little Mama resembled something to the effect of…

Awww-drey Hepburn! Forget Breakfast at Tiffany’s – it’s Breakfast at Babystylista and co…

Since we came from a career of red carpets and live shows in the big city of Los Angeles, I have always had a fondness for Old Hollywood. I love the fabulous furs and shiny diamonds, long lashes and even longer gloves. I love gentlemen in perfectly fitted suits (mine in particular), and long slim-fitting dresses. A red lip goes a long way, and even more fabulous, a blown out white-blond wig and an equally fabulous scarf that drapes perfectly on a very exhausted old pup (otherwise known as “Elisa-Seth Taylor”). We were…

HOLLYWOOD STARTLETS

Looks like rolling the red carpet right into our closet proved to be an Oscar winning idea.

 

 

2014

This was our year of potty training for Little Mama. Any parent who has experienced this death trap, err… I mean, milestone, knows IT. IS. HARD. Little Mama spent most of her toddling years sitting on her potty reading a book, most likely a book about sitting on a potty. It was a never-ending saga. And it was painful.

I often felt like a prisoner in my own home because we kept telling ourselves it was worth staying in days at a time, as she navigated her way around the potty. Meanwhile, our cheeky little con-artist always found a way to keep us crouching next to her reading book after book, while she giggled in delight while the clock kept ticking.

Yes. We were prisoners. Much like the gals on one of our fave shows…

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

On a more serious note, we had just lost another baby and the last thing I wanted to do was put on make up and look cute for Halloween. Since my glasses were practically glued to my face, and my long, depressing hair was permanently styled flat against my head, I found myself looking a lot like Laura Prepon’s flawless character rendition of Alex Vause. So that was a no-brainer. And hubby? Well – since Seth already had his police uniform from Halloween’s of yore, the main male role was taken, so he succumbed to simply wearing orange playing his own role as another imprisoned parent, trapped in the confines of this never-ending story-telling potty saga. Besides, the cheesy moustache and aviators were much more suited for Seth than his human.

2015

The husband was the main inspiration behind last year’s Fam-O-Ween shenanigans. With his thick head of hair, lean physique, and ability to do a couple MMA moves here and there, he’s been mistaken as Bruce Lee’s other son or a distant relative at the very least. I think he secretly loves it. And it was even more apparent, when he suggested, ever so casual, “Hey – for this year, why doesn’t Little Mama go as …”

THE GREEN HORNET

After all, we know who’s REALLY boss around here…

This was definitely closet shopping at its finest. A little leather here, a little bad boy there, old masks from yes, Halloween’s of yore, a couple police hats from Little Mama’s dress-up stash, some mad backdrop photoshopping skills (Daddy’s contribution), and voila – we were The Green Hornet and his sidekick(s)… Mommy Kato and Daddy Kato.

We definitely saved ourselves the horror of the malls, a whole lot of cash, and kicked some buns while we were at it.

Stay tuned for what our Halloween-crazed family has in store for 2016! Enjoy Fam-O-Ween! As you can see, we sure do!

Think outside of the dress-up box,

DeBalino

www.BABYSTYLISTA.com

I’m a Stylist by day, Blogger by night, and a Mama 24/7. My 5 year old mini-travelista is my fashion muse. When she’s not busy showcasing trends, she’s playing with trucks, superheros, and her food. Come, take a peek into our dress-up box.