Halloween with a toddler is mostly logistics for bits of fun, and continued social distancing measures have really changed how Halloween looks this year. It’s taken some reframing on my part for sure.
I had LIVEDDD for couples costumes with David for date parties and such in college.
And I had been looking forward to spooky season with Asher since he was just a dream. Our last DINKy years, I even got a little sulky about how much more fun Halloween is with kids, I was so excited for it.
We normally do a big pumpkin patch party at Mr Bones, which is a whole Halloween experience here in Los Angeles. We took my mom and the sweetest sleepiest fresh Ashe when he was just a few weeks old, and went again last year.
So I decided to fuss around and spook Ashe’s room a bit (just bats, cobwebs, and the skulls from out front), and taking these photos is probably one of the high point of our Halloween festivities.
We’ve continued to socialize minimally with only our closests, so there won’t be any big costume parade or trick or treating or like I would have imagined. I knew they’d probably have some kind of toddler shenanigan at his new baby school, so I picked up this inexpensive onesie for him to wear to that.
Really, it was cuter than I’d expected when it arrived, and I decided to challenge myself to a parent pressurecooker- I pulled costumes for David and I from our wardrobe and made makeup happen simply, with the makeup I normally have on hand. Y’all know I’m environmentally minded and have a harder time with waste than I used to, especially when we’re not actually “going” anywhere, so I couldn’t bring myself to execute the big elaborate family costume I’d planned in advance, and had fun with this instead.
One of my favorite black dresses (y’all, I have a LOT) is this one from my friend Quigley’s collection with amazon. The smocked bodice is super comfy, the length modest enough for toddler chasing, and the sheer sleeves added just the right pop of style. A moonstone necklace from this Santa Fe trip upgraded the bone vibes. This blazer is the current version of David’s. His cane is vintage, and it actually pulls out into a hidden dagger😬 so not really something we let Asher play with.
With makeup, I wanted to keep it obviously spooky, but fairly simple- I didn’t want to scare Asher, or have to deal with a major mess wiping onto any of us and ruining the effect- he’s all over the place lately! I’m also thoughtful of cultural appropriation so wanted to avoid emulating Catrina, sugar skulls, Dia de los Muertos, as much as Coco is our favorite Halloween movie. A hosted drivein viewing of it last week with Disney+ was so fun for our family (at least till Asher melted 30 minutes in and we went home🤣)… can you spot Miguel and Dante in our pics?
Inexpensive white cream eyeshadow and eyeliner provided most of the bone effect with ease. Shades of grey eyeshadow (blend blend blenddddd with a clean, fluffy brush) and black eyeliner, both pencil and liner, helped sketch on those skeleton vibes, and I added a little sparkle with black glitter liquid shadow. I blotted mac caviar lipstick down on David, but wore it full force and lined with eyeliner on myself.
All together, it took minimal effort and less than an hour to get us all spookified, and it would work with just about whatever black and white clothes you have, or skeleton pajamas, or bust out masking tape on plain black… so many ways to expand on this! Keep this tucked away or pin it till you need it, and of course, always tag me if you try!
love, Ravayna
