Since I was stuck in the hospital on bed rest last year while I was pregnant with Connor, I never got to take Haley trick-or-treating, instead I laid in bed and watched Man vs. Food and ate a whole bag of candy myself (I had a favorite nurse who kept me supplied - it's good to have connections.) This year though, it's on.
For Halloween this year, I made an iPhone costume for Connor, which turned out to be a ton of fun to make. Then, I had to figure out what to do with Haley. She's been obsessed with Rapunzel, so I considered making her a Rapunzel dress but the more I thought about it, the less excited I got. There are so many talented bloggers I've seen who made adorable Rapunzel dresses (here, here and here are just a few great ones) but it just looked like so much work.
After working all day, I come home and want to just lay on the couch, but there's dinner to make and kids to bathe and so really, I wasn't looking forward to sewing on tiny rick rack and puff sleeves. And I felt a little...guilty.
As a craft blogger, I feel pressure to make everything rather than buying stuff from a store. I feel the need to sew every costume, to blog about all my meals, and to make each and every birthday completely handmade complete with little tags and color coded food.
But you know what, who says I have to?
It's OK to buy stuff from stores, that's why there there! It's OK that I didn't make 1, nope not 1 Halloween decoration! It's OK that I didn't throw a Halloween party with themed food. And I'm completely OK with buying my daughter's costume from the Disney store (well actually my in-laws bought it for her, which I'm VERY OK with ;)
So here's Haley in her 100%-not-handmade-Rapunzel-costume. And it's even taken with my iPhone.
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| I told her, "If you smile I'll give you chocolate!" What a little ham :) |
You're not alone! I haven't made one decorative item, no party and two of my kids have store bought costumes. The third would too if it wasn't so much cheaper to make hers. Great costume and smile. Even if it was just for chocolate. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. Somewhere along the line, buying anything from the store became 'cheating'. We all can't be good at everything and while I'm sure it would be lovely if you made it, she is ridiculously cute in this one.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh.. wish I had the ability to make costumes for the kids.. but um.. nope. .not that talented! Love that you didn't make all the costumes or lots of decorations.. buying from the store is not cheating.. it's fun to go shopping sometimes too!
ReplyDeleteYou´re so right! You do so great things, you can be proud of them instead of always thinking about more, more, more.... And shopping is fun! So do it! Have a great halloween! Greets, Britta
ReplyDeleteBrava, Jen! You're not alone! Repeat after me, "I am a woman, a mom, a wife, a daughter and (possibly) a sister first, and a craft blogger somewhere last-ish." Ask me how I finally found my common sense, too. Buy stuff! Buy stuff! Don't make it all-only the bits you really think are fun. Keep some stuff secret and refuse to blog about it just because that's fun too.
ReplyDeleteAnd your little Haley looks wonderful and happy in her unhandmade Rapunzel dress!
P.S. I hear you about the chocolate. The ways I've had to bribe my girls to let me photograph them in clothes I've made, especially when they'd much rather play with their (store-bought, plastic) toys........