It always starts the week before the previous year’s Halloween.  Once we’ve settled on the current year’s Halloween  costume, the options for the following year begin to be discussed. It’s because in the mind of a Drama Princess, who loves to “dress up” and eat candy, shouldn’t every day be Halloween?  And with so many choices, and only a limited number of Halloween nights, it’s just really difficult to narrow it down.  So there is always a hint of regret that we didn’t go with the Medieval Princess, or the Super Girl (princess), or the Snow Princess…which leads to the following conversation:

“Mom, next year I want to be a (fill in the blank ____________).

“Let’s wait and see how you feel about it next September, okay?”

“Okay, but I won’t change my mind!”

Well, last year, when The Daughter was “Ariel” the mermaid princess (thanks to a gift card from Papa Gene to the Disney Store) she was making plans for Halloween 2010 and thinking perhaps a fairy, again.  She was a butterfly-fairy-princess-all-in-one – in first grade.  She was a Native American princess in second grade.  A mermaid princess last year…you are detecting a theme by now I’m sure.  Anyway, she wanted a fairy costume, and she wanted me to make it.

What seemed a fairly simple process in August, became not so simple in October.  I won’t go into the experiences at the fabric store, the incorrect fabric purchase, the trip back to get the correct fabric, the indecipherable pattern jargon (turn out the facing and stitch down…what?) or that I haven’t sewed anything from a pattern since Ian’s 2nd Halloween doggie costume (13 years ago).   Suffice it to say that we achieved Fairy Costume, and it wasn’t that painful, and it was done BEFORE Halloween.

I think she looked absolutely ethereal!