[Dadja]

Aw man, I wish I was kid again. Just dress up in costumes, playing as if it was real life, not caring what anyone thinks of it...

oh wait, I still do...

Mark, it all looks amazing. Wish I had the time to go all-the-way this year, but unfortunately, Halloween always seems to be on the same date, in a time of year I have too much work

I really love the shield, and everything matches beautifully together. It's little details like that, that make a 'medieval theme' feel almost like the real thing... without the starvation, pillaging, rape, war and plagues that is...

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Another day, another prop, costume or decoration from Mark. When will you stop? Probably when the holiday arrives, as then we are all out of time.

I've been blown away by all the work you've put into this theme. Your party guests will surely be in awe of your efforts. Thanks for sharing the pictures here, we look forward to seeing how it all concludes.

Will you be my dad too? I still need some help with my costume. Maybe some coffins built too.

[Raven]

Wow! Amazing work on everything!

[mesmark]

Thanks for the nice comments. It's getting there ... we still have 7 days ...

Here comes the court jester!





And here she is!





This might be the last picture. I'll post the costumes in full with head pieces and accessories after the party. I'm not sure Mom and Dad's costumes will get finished completely but we'll get something together. The base for mine and my wifes costumes are done. It's just the crown, cloak, head piece, etc. that might not get done.

The kids costumes are the priority.

[Dadja]

Hahaha, that's brilliant!

[mesmark]

Hahaha, that's brilliant!

Thanks! I thought it was pretty funny She does have a hat!

When I first floated the idea by my wife, she said NOooo, I couldn't make thother girls into princess and then make the third into a clown. But I told her it would be cute, funny and complete the theme. The other ideas were to make the baby the executioner or dungeon master

[nosferatu]

Baby executioner with a cute face like that? Perfect.

However, clown is equally good and the costume looks incredibly well made.

[CombichristGirl]

omg such a cutie. i was tryin to get mission to dress as a jester but i dunno what she wants to be lol. i cant wait to see mroe pics:)

[mesmark]

the costume looks incredibly well made.

Thanks! My wife has been hitting the sewing machine hard.

I asked her to add the colar and she just made a little doughnut with elastic on the inside, almost like a bib and it worked out great.

Unfortunately we have to make 400-500 cookies this week for the party. That might put a little pressure on us and the costumes. But I'm trying not to stress about it

No matter how well we do it still won't be good enough for me, so I might as well get over it now

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

What a great wife you have, with such patience to help with all these costumes, cookies, etc. With the kids helping out, you have the whole family involved now. It's a lot of work, no doubt, but you're making memories and traditions. Making their childhood more fun, while allowing you to relive some of yours.

I know what you mean about it not being good enough for you, I always feel that way. Such lofty goals, and yet, there never seems to be quite enough time. The bright side? A) you have more ideas to use next year and B) even if your efforts feel incomplete, you're still blowing the average person out of the water with your Halloween creativity.

[JMP919]

Wow your kids are really lucky! Most of my costumes came from K-Mart when I was a kid.

[mesmark]

Wow your kids are really lucky! Most of my costumes came from K-Mart when I was a kid.

Yeah, me too, if that. I got dressed up in a lot of my sports uniforms as a kid and went as ... me on Saturdays

I know what you mean about it not being good enough for you, I always feel that way. Such lofty goals, and yet, there never seems to be quite enough time.

It's definitely a blessing and a curse I always try pretty hard.


Well, I said no more pics until the whole thing is done, but it turns out I lied.

We're heading down to the wire and here's one of those things that I'll probably wish was done better but we don't have time to be picky.

My wife and I (mostly her) worked on a crown for the king.





and here it is decorated slightly with dollar store jewels



a $4 crown!

We would have liked to done more with the crowns but since we're not really kings and queens and these are props, that most will never really look at, it should work. In the end, these will just get put in the old costume pile anyway


I've been trying to grow a beard for the past 6 weeks. I thought it might look better for the king to have a beard. I'm not so sure it really does anything for the outfit, but it does make me look a bit older.

We still need to do my wife's head piece and finish a cape for me. If that can get done in the next couple days, we'll make the deadline!

[mesmark]

OK, never settle for this will do.

I stayed up till 2:00 with my wife fiddling with costumes and decided I needed to do something about the crown.

I added some small jewels to the top and bottom of the large band and I think it makes a big difference



I want to do more on the sides of those things going up but maybe it's not necessary and I often get the quit while you're ahead feeling with stuff.

[Zombie Pumpkins!]

Crown looks great to me, the smaller lining of jewels does make a difference. Looks more "real" and less "homemade." Now quit while you're ahead, I'm sure you have other things you could be preparing.

Beard looks good, by the way. I too have been experimenting with facial hair recently (related to my costume).

[mesmark]

Well, here it is! The group shot in front of the dungeon set. 8 weeks of preparation (well 8 weeks and i was preparing during that time ...)

ta-da!



and here we are in front of the coffin corner set.




the king and queen





and this might take a bit to load but here's a gif with pictures of a bunch of the guests