This is Halloween

Oh well, it’s been a while since I last wrote here. It feels awesome to be back after a long slumber! I miss blogspot, I miss my friends who read my post and I miss sharing my thoughts. I was just so overwhelmed by working at home that for a few months I prefer to spend my idle time doing chores instead of sitting in front of the computer and writing about anything and everything under the sun, as I used to do back in the old office. Well of course I kinda miss the office, too. I miss how we used to eat dinner together and those Angel’s foodtrip, shake, sandwich and whatnots.

And of course, what better timing to be back than Halloween. It has always been Siouxsie’s favourite time of the year! It is somehow the start of holiday festivities.

For this year, Siouxsie chose to be Joker. Ironically, she has always regarded Batman as her best superhero. She has been dressing up as Batman for the longest time and has more Batman figures than any other toys she owns.

I guess due to her fascination of Batman that his arch enemy would be the perfect villain, thus making a wonderful Halloween character. As we can see, she’s really in character as she stepped on the stage to present her costume.

As parents, we’ve been so excited and it took us a long time to come up with the Joker theme. Though we thought about it a few months ago, we’re hesitant whether our little Batman would agree to be Joker. Another thing is her long hair, unlike her previous characters that have long hair; Joker should have hair no longer than shoulder length. A haircut is not an option as Siouxsie’s long straight hair is the only girly thing that she likes. So we initially ditched the Joker idea but thought about Ricky dressing up as Joker instead. Two days before Halloween we still can’t think of something, then one afternoon while walking inside a mall, Ricky noticed the small plastic switchblade knife similar to that of Joker’s. We bought the toy and that’s when we decided to make her Joker.

Preparation time is too short as well as the budget. So just as what we always do for the past three Halloweens, we made a costume out of whatever resources that we have.

Good thing Siouxsie owns a collared shirt, purple pants and black boots. Then I have to reverse one of my purple tank tops and put some cardboard buttons to make it look like a vest. Julius, my brother, has a Batman tie, and I find it funny and cool for Joker to wear that tie. And what completes the look is the plastic switchblade knife similar to what Joker uses.

The tricky part is the hair do. I have to tease Siouxsie’s hair and tie it in a loose pony tail so that it will appear shorter. And because there isn't much time, I cannot go to the supermarket to purchase a spray-on green hair color. I bought a colored hair gel instead. The same one that I used to style her hair so that it will somehow resemble 

Joker’s side swept locks. Not satisfied with the result of the applied gel, I dust her hair with bright green eyeshadow powder. Oh I guess, I made a wonderful job at that.

Siouxsie enjoyed her villain look while trick-or-treating with the other kids. She just loved her costume! It took a while to convince her to go home and change her clothes.

I can say that Siouxsie is a Halloween kinda kid. She’s always excited to join the neighbourhood trick-or-treat, not just because of the candies and treats she can have but more because of the costumes that she wears.

I wish I could dig up some old photos but they are saved in my now broken laptop. Siouxsie’s first trick or treat was 2006 when she was just a year and two months old, she wore a bumble bee costume. It was actually a Pikachu romper, a black bonnet with two tiny plastic antennas, and a pair of bee wings out of worn stockings and some wire. She wore them with her leggings and black shoes. She’s just so lovely on those!

       On the next year she wore a Chuckie (from Child’s Play) inspired outfit. Denim jumper paired with red and white striped long sleeves shirt. When she’s three we bought her a skeleton suit, however she still refused to be made-up. But the following year, she used the same suit only she agreed to be face-painted. That is when she fully appreciated wearing a costume and dressing up for Halloween. She was so happy at the attention she and her costume is getting. It was a delightful experience for her and from then on, she’s uber excited for Halloween.

On her 5^th Halloween, we decided to dress her up as Captain Jack Sparrow that is because that time she’s really crazy about Pirates of the Caribbean and she has a few pirate stuff that we can use for her costume. As always, we improvised the costume with whatever’s available. That’s when she became very popular among kids and grown-ups in our village. Then last year we dressed her up as Edward Scissorhands using cardboard boxes and aluminium foil to make her scissor fingers. My dear friend Cherish Marasigan, who’s a free lance makeup artist, did a wonderful job on her makeup.

She’s just so into costumes! So, even if she doesn’t feel like dressing up girly, we convinced her to join the church presentation for Easter Sunday and a school presentation for United Nations.

I guess her fascination with Halloween is natural and also influenced by her dad. She’s a big fan of the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, and is always fascinated with anything with skull patterns. On the other hand, her dad has been active with the community activities regarding Halloween. For a few years he’s been leading a team of young people decorate the vacant lots of our subdivision every Halloween. They use junk and recycled items. And I try to be supportive by donating some clothes or stuff that they may use for the dummies and props. Not to mention that I don an exaggerated makeup as well.