A Bundle of Myrrh

This must have been the easiest Thanksgiving I’ve had in the last 11 years. I’m so thankful we were invited once again to feast with friends and we decided we would wait on cooking a turkey on our own closer to Christmas this year. It made a more relaxing day for me for sure not having to cook and I needed that this year.

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Earlier this Fall Lily asked if she could dress as Professor Dumbledore this year for Halloween. I was a little surprised by this and wondered if I could even pull a Dumbledore costume out of my magic hat but agreed to give it a try. Then it occurred to me that it would be fun to just go ahead and do the entire cast of Harry Potter.

I came up with the perfect character for each of the other babies: Clara – Luna Lovegood, Gerhardt – Harry himself, Esther – Hermoine Granger, Ephraim – Ron Weasley, Mercy – Ginny Weasley, Martha – “Fun Size” Hagrid and Josephine had to be little Dobby.

Cost for costumes for all these people adds up quickly. I decided I would need to get creative and make as much of them as I could. I think homemade costumes are nice and it was a good project for me. A welcomed change of pace to my days. Making something is such a sense of accomplishment and fun for me. I’m just glad I still know how to thread my sewing machine! All the robes I made from oversized black t-shirts from Hobby Lobby and some sheets I had on hand. The ties I made out of $.79 hankies from Walmart and paint pens.

I did have to end up buying some items of course. I purchased the scarves, the cheap wands and a couple more white button down shirts and black skirts from a used clothing store, both of which I knew we could use in our regular wardrobes anyway.

I found a $7 gown at Goodwill for Lily’s Dumbledore and decided I had to buy a beard and wig for her since what I’d come up with was not coming together. Her hat was fun to make using a cereal box, satin and a gold tassel. Luna’s Spectrespecs I made with some old sunglasses I had and a piece of pink foam paper.

Turns out that with a sewing machine and a glue gun you can work miracles!

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My funny babies. This year they really wanted to have a Halloween party. They decided on the Monday before Halloween. Lily and Clara worked for over a week planning games and everyone helped make decorations. I have always thought it would be fun to have some kind of party for Halloween but have never gotten around to it. So this year I decided I would help them and contribute the meal for the party, since I had to make supper anyway right?

Traditionally a night or two before Halloween is the night we carve pumpkins, so we did that first…as part of the party.

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