Until this year, Halloween was all cute: Octonauts, Pokémon, dinosaurs and police officers. Then the kids announced they wanted to be scary. Not “a little spooky.” Scary.
So we went along with it, and this is our first year of full horror. For the first time ever, people asked to take pictures with me and complimented my makeup. Sally was a hit!
Look back: My First Custom Tailored Halloween Costumes 2023 * Halloween Costume 2020
🧵 Me: Sally. Red yarn wig, blue-white face, stitches drawn across my cheeks, on a ruffled-neck top, and running down the shirt and gloves. The patchwork dress of yellow plaid and swirls came from Target. The face took real time in front of the bathroom mirror, and I have never been so proud of my spooky makeup😁
🏴☠️ Husband: Pirate. Tricorn hat, skull eyepatch, and a striped vest (also Target). Add a drawn-on mustache and goatee, plus one painted scar for menace. Below the waist: denim shorts and sandals. Minimum effort (some would say lazy😒), maximum confidence😂
💀 Kids: Grim Reapers. Tattered gray robes, a scythe each from Amazon, and half-skull face paint. One side is a grinning skeleton with a blacked-out eye socket; the other side is still their own face. Half kid, half reaper, and honestly, still cute to me☺️
The makeup kit was simpler than it looks. Scary faces mostly come down to two colors, black and white, with a little blue tint for Sally and the Reapers. This was my first year using oil-based face paint and crayons, instead of water-based, and the difference was clear. It went on smoother, lasted all night, and didn’t smudge every time someone touched their face!
White Black & Light Blue Face Body Paint for Halloween Sally & Skeletons (Oil-based)
The box of face paint crayons came in handy, and a few colors earned their place. Red, black and orange are easy to hold and control, so they worked well for drawing shapes and filling small areas. Red was saved for the scratches and scars that set the horror mood.
Blue Squid Face Paint Crayons for Kids - 18pcs XL Non-Toxic (Oil-based)
Since the Reapers wore their hoods down, colored hair wax carried the look up to the top: two colors on each boy’s head (next day, the Halloween day).
Rain pushed this year school’s trunk-or-treat indoors, but the theme, “Monster Mash-Ups,” survived the move.
Our setup carried over props from years past and added a few new ideas: blue blinking skeletons and neon chains wrapped around the chairs.
Look back: First Trunk-or-Treat 2023
The monsters were an inflatable dinosaur in a wizard hat, a giant green octopus and a furry spider, three creatures that have no business being together, which was exactly the point.
Scary costumes deserved scary pumpkins. I stuck with my rotary tool, which is perfect for shading. Instead of cutting straight through, I shaved the skin in layers, so the light glows through the thin flesh.
The result: a wide toothy grin, slanted eyes, and little carved gourds as sidekicks.
New trick this year: a coat of Aquaphor on the cut edges keeps the pumpkin from shriveling before the big night and gives it a nice shine.
It’s a little bittersweet to watch them grow out of the cute costumes. Mostly, though, it was fun to be scary with them. If they want to haunt the neighborhood, we’ll haunt it together.
Same time next year, Reapers or Zombie-like.
