Holidays: September 2008 Archives

September is winding down, and soon all the kiddies will don their finest, scariest, furriest, most heroic garb and make that time-honored pilgrimage for the ultimate sugar high.  I have to admit, even as an adult Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I simply cannot pass up the one time of year where I have the opportunity to play dress up without the risk of looking like a complete fool.  I love costumes, but not in the way or for the reasons most people do.  I have never been to a Renaissance festival or a any of those over-the-top comic/anime/video game conventions.  I don't do reenactments and I'm not a member of any historical or costume-centric society.  Some might consider me a fairly normal adult, even boring.  My love of costumes goes back to my younger days.

I come from a very large family, and I have a lot of cousins my age.  We spent summers trying to find new and creative ways to fill the time (without killing ourselves or losing too much blood in the process).  One of my personal favorite pastimes was digging into my grandmother's huge chest of various costumes and accessories then running around like complete idiots as we acted out our own little plays.  These were costumes that our parents and aunts and uncles wore on Halloweens-gone-by.  Some were garments that had been found at garage sales and edited down (the 60's and 70's were great for this!).  Some were simple outfits made with spare fabric that had previously been taking up room in a stash and needed a new home.  Some were intricate and fun, while others were nothing but a sack with strategically placed elastic.  All provided hours of goofiness, fun and pure magic.

One Halloween my grandmother agreed to send me an "Arabian Nights" princess costume she made from an old garage sale steal.  Unfortunately, she didn't insure the package.  I spent many days waiting by the mailbox for it, then many weeks mourning its loss.  That wasn't just a costume; it was grand masterpiece of carefree fun and imagination lost forever. 

As October peaks its head around the corner and you start considering making a costume for your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, friend's child, random neighbor kid, etc., think a little longer before you decide you are "too busy."  While it maybe easier to just run down to your local megamart and grab an inexpensive, simple, mass-produced, polyester costume, will that costume stand the test of time?  You don't need the most expensive fabric, best sewing skills or even a fancy-shmancy pattern.  A couple hours of creativity and a few yards of fabric are all it takes to create days, weeks, months or even years of fun and magic.  That's all it takes to make memories that last a lifetime.