A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Photo taken by Chris Talbot

For Ben's first Halloween we purchased a baby Yoda costume. He looked absolutely adorable in it and I wasn't wiling to give it away since I knew we wanted to have another baby. So for Sam's first Halloween, he too gets to be baby Yoda. But this year the costume comes with accessories: Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia.

At first I decided to make a simple Jedi costume for Ben using scrap fabric I had in my sewing box and thought Obi-Wan was appropriate because his name was also Ben. He was so patient as I dusted off my sewing machine and tried to remember the basics that my mom taught me so long ago. I did have to call her and find out the best way to attach sleeves but then it went fairly well. One costume for Ben soon turned into costumes for the entire family!

I was very resourceful when it came to fabric and accessories for Brian and my costumes because I didn't want to spend much money and didn't want to have to make a trip out of town. I hit the local thrift stores and bought off-white and white sheets, and some odd-ball belts. I spent less than $20 but felt good knowing that the money from the thrift stores goes to local agencies. I tried to buy an actual Star Wars costume pattern but found that the one from the 80's is no longer being made and I missed out on bidding on eBay. So, I sketched, cut, stitched, ripped out stitches, and stitched again and came up with costumes for Brian and I. Using pictures online from the Star Wars movies I got the basic gist of the styles. I did buy the wig online since my hair wasn't quite long enough and bought the light saber at a local costume/party supply store which also gives a percentage of their proceeds to local charities.

The boys first modeled their costumes at the library Halloween party on October 14th but Brian and I waited (mainly because I wasn't finished sewing) to debut ours at the Tahoe Children's Foundation annual Harvest Party held last night.

We created quite a stir when we arrived fashionably late. (Really we were late because I was having issues with my trademark Leia wig and getting two little ones into costumes and out the door was a bigger job than we had anticipated.) We took a couple of pictures with our camera but were very lucky to have some more taken by another TCF dad who also happens to be a photographer. Thanks, Chris Talbot! http://talbotimages.com/