<p>Now I’ve got the Aerosmith version in mine!</p>
<p>Well at least earworms are better than giardia:). There was an outbreak in the Bay Area when my kids were little.</p>
<p>Dreadful.</p>
<p>Anything is better than head lice.</p>
<p>Dontcha like pulling them little nits out of the soft fine hair of 8-year old girls? We never got it but D’s entire class was infected and the moms joined ranks and searched every kid before they went into the classroom in the morning. Ah, the California sun, the golden-haired children, the glowing orb of the nits…</p>
<p>I look at Sinner’s Alley periodically…rarely ever post here cause I just can’t keep up with the pace of the posts…but, Alumother’s post about her son’s origami costume brought back wonderful memories…don’t think I have ever shared these ideas here…soooooo because I love the high-concept costume idea …we did a similiar thing here for my oldest many years ago…black sweats and turtleneck and a tophat…and got glow in the dark numbers (like the ones you can put on a mailbox) and stuck them all over his shirt and pants and the tophat, and voila, he was a “mathemagician”… he even had a couple of extra numbers he pulled out of his hat for the neighbors with the best candy… </p>
<p>the other great costume we did was having a large check made up at Kinko’s… and a bunch of balloons and he wore a suit (left over from a wedding we went to) and he then went around the neighborhood as the Publishers Clearing House Man…well, Publishers Clearing House Kid!! the check was made out to Wonderful Neighbor for 1 Million Good Wishes!! </p>
<p>Chosing not to comment about head lice, other than to say, been there, done that after a very exclusive summer camp for one of our kids…uggghh lice take no prisoners at camp…all’s fair in scalp wars…</p>
<p>I was the Pasadena Freeway one year - black pants, black shirt, electrical tape and sew on a few Matchbox cars. And I made a little green exit style hairband thing. One year dh and I came as Yin and Yang. We did it like sandwich boards. Easy but not so fun to dance in.</p>
<p>There was a Caltech professor who used to come to Halloween parties in amazing costumes - Ed Lewis I think his name was - the most amazing was when he came as the Magritte painting of the birdcage with a cape and a hat.</p>
<p>Are we going to have a Halloween Costume bake-off? :D</p>
<p>I am loving all of the high concept entries (Alu’s origami, maineparent’s mathemagician and PCH kid, mathmom’s freeway). Mathmom, I’d nominate your yin and yang too, but I can’t quite visualize it 
.</p>
<p>Don’t ask me to be on the Judge’s Panel, though. Too many conflicts of interest. Perhaps we could have 1-800-CALLCC01, 02, 03 etc. ala American Idol.</p>
<p>My daughter went to a Halloween party at church one year where everyone was asked to wear a costume with a Biblical theme. I had an oversized polo shirt covered in a leaf pattern, so I threw it on her and made a “crown” of flames…she went as the burning bush. At the last minute, I was asked to chaperone (as in 40 minutes before the party was to start) and had to come up with a costume. I cut the letter “C” out of red felt and pinned it to my shirt; I thought it was pretty obvious but had a number of people scratching their heads for awhile.</p>
<p>Sure beats this year…my daughter called me two weeks ago begging me to make her a costume for a masquerade ball at school. She’d even gone online and picked out the pattern for me (what a sweetie…!?). I just got the costume to her this weekend; a medieval dress with underskirt and corset and headpiece. Now I just hope it fits; she clearly has forgotten the amount of time I’ve had her try things on while I was in the process of making them. And I thought my sewing days (for her) were done!</p>
<p>“I cut the letter “C” out of red felt and pinned it to my shirt; I thought it was pretty obvious but had a number of people scratching their heads for awhile.”</p>
<p>ROFL. It took me a few seconds, but I love it!</p>
<p>It took me longer than mathmom, but now I’m adding you to the list of nominees :).</p>
<p>–We luckily escaped head lice but some people had them twice! :(</p>
<p>Halloween costumes–my older son always comes up with something so subtle no one gets it. One year he hung toy boats around his neck and went as the Moor of Venice…younger son likes simplicity, such as wearing a black t-shirt over the head Ninja-style.</p>
<p>The most work I ever put into a costume was to sew about 30 shiny CDs to a black top. It was amazing–very high tech looking. Finally–a use for all those free AOL CDs!</p>
<p>One of the lowlights of my childhood was a lice outbreak than snagged me and my five brothers and sisters. Can still remember the feel of the metal fine toothed comb on my scalp.</p>
<p>Son went as a waffle, with a pat of butter on his head, carrying a bottle of syrup. The syrup leaked, and things went downhill from there.</p>
<p>College D is going as Little Bo Peep this year. Luckily, she can sew. Even took her machine with her to college.</p>
<p>when my little one was 5 she wanted to go as tinkerbell, well, a week before Halloween, there it was the perfect tutu on the wall of a goodwill store.</p>
<p>I asked to buy it and was told they don’t sell the costumes that are used to “decorate” until the day before halloween and I should come back</p>
<p>Well, needless to say, I was not leaving that store without that tutu, (after having searched and was not thrilled with making one when there was a prefect one ten feet off the ground)</p>
<p>After listening to “well, that is our rules” I requested quite sweetly (okay, my H kept me from getting really cranking), and asking the staff to make some phone calls, I got my tutu (it was $10)…</p>
<p>And my D looked adorable, it was SO worth it</p>
<p>And the margaritta later tasted ever to good after my victory over bureocracy</p>
<p>Last year, I went as a catholic school girl and my hubby was a priest (his fave costume because its a folded business card over a mock turtle neck shirt and black pants</p>
<p>
I LOVE IT! 
</p>
<p>CGM, you could have also done tarts & vicars, but I guess the Catholic school girl theme is similar. 
</p>
<p>I feel positively dull next to the Sinner’s Alley crew! I’ve been Amelia Earhart, which was at least different. My little sister made me dress up as Minerva McGonagall when she went as Hermione (yes, she’s adorable!).</p>
<p>Another great costume - friends who came as Fussball. Two sets of four of them in soccer uniforms and a long stick and a soccer ball of course.</p>
<p>Concept costume for a couple: </p>
<p>I remember a party in college where a couple came as a venitian blind & a blind Venetian</p>
<p>My favorite costume was done by a friend in grad school (we were in a psychology grad program). She wore a full length slip with a sign on it that said “Freudian”. Yup, she went as a Freudian slip.</p>
<p>The year that Cristo put up the giant yellow umbrellas in the southern cal mountains, H and I made costumes that were umbrellas…yellow from head to toe with those ridiculous umbrella hats on. Then a woman was killed when one of the umbrellas fell over on her. We went with the umbrellas anyway and were totally not PC that year.</p>
<p>This is <em>totally</em> not PC, but I live in the same city (generally-- I should say the same metropolitan area) as Evander Holyfield. The year of the “bite” fight, I answered the door to give out candy with a rubber/gummy ear in my mouth-- “dressed” as Mike Tyson.</p>
<p>My kid, whose nickname is Bob, glued a colorful mosaic of sponge pieces (including ones cut into B O B shapes) on a mock turtle, paired it with a pair of plaid pants and went as SpongeBob Squarepants.</p>