Yesterday and today I've been piecing together a Halloween costume for Zade and I.

There is something so nostalgic about imagining-up a Halloween costume as the weather turns chilly.

When my siblings and I were children, our parents ruled that we could choose to dress up as anything we wanted for Halloween - but nothing scary. Ha! Like that was going to be an issue.

I wanted to be....

a princess (of course)

a pumpkin

a Native American

Liesel (from the Sound of Music)

"a woman going to a ball" (my nine year old self felt gorgeous)

an artist

a hippie

a Scottish lass

a peasant (definitely a downgrade from princess)

Jane (of Disney's Tarzan)

Heidi

the "State of Indiana" (seriously)

and last year....

Hobbes (from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes)!

Do you have a favorite costume? If so, share it!

E-mail me a picture at bethany.joy.shaw@gmail.com by October 30th and I'll post it on this blog on Halloween!

My little sister Deborah's name means "bee" andwe like to come up with clever ways of reminding our De-"bee" of this. She's been cheered on at games with a basketball-dunking bee sign, gifted with a bee-transformed pool ring floatie, and sewn a bee costume one year for Halloween. So, it is fitting that mini beehive cupcakes were baked for her graduation tea party (we've got a theme to keep up with!) All the dainty tea food was homemade by my mom and sisters and was amazingly delicious.

There was:

Toasted Coconut Gooey Goodies

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Cucumber Mint Coolers

Cream Cheese Cherry Tarts

Aunt Alice's Dill Chicken Salad on Croissants

Mary Poppin Fruit Kabobs

and more......

Which is your favorite prop?

The Photo Booth was also a hit! Thank you to all who gave suggestions on props. My sister Melody and I donned mustaches and accents and became photographers extraordinaire! It's amazing what a mustache can add to one's sense of humor - recommended for all. I played a slow speaking English chap and Melody an opinionated Frenchman, though her accent humorously slid unconsciously into a mish-mash of Spanish, Italian, English, and French....she must have had an interesting heritage.

Below are some of my favorites of family:

One thing's for sure, we love our Debbie

I made the "Hip Hip Hooray Debbie!" fabric banner with tips from this papernstitch post. Debbie kept the "Debbie" portion of the banner to hang in her dorm room at her new college and my Alma mater: Purdue!