Tag Archives: costume

5 Years of Halloween Costumes

October 31, 2016 Pamela Stephens

I have always loved Halloween and I think working on and wearing some sort of costume is so much fun! Since today is Halloween and this year marks mine and Matthew’s 5th Halloween together, I thought we should all take a quick trip down our memory lane of costumes. Grab yourself a pumpkin spiced latte – or more realistically – some of your kiddos Halloween candy, and enjoy a few pictures of our various shenanigans from the last 5 years!

2016
Matthew was the World’s Strongest Man – including that killer mustache and new tattoo sleeves – and I was the Ringleader.
Earlier this year, I also dressed as a red pepper for a “Boiling Point” themed real estate conference event.
Ringleader and Worlds Strongest Man Halloween Costume

2015
My tennis partner/friend and I attended our work party shortly after things had gone awry on the court…. Matthew and I wore some pretty fun wigs to the Wiggin’ Out event and dressed up for a friend’s 1920’s themed birthday party!
green afro and rainbow wig

2014
First, Matthew and I were Frankenstein and his Bride. (And sadly, this might be the only photo from that night.) Then, we attended another party as Little Red Riding Hood and the Lumberjack!

2013
I hope my dates aren’t off here. I blogged about the fun 90s Party we went to in 2014. However, I’m pretty sure the event actually happened in the fall of 2013. Either way – we love the 90s! And look like babies!

2012
We were pirates! This was our very first Halloween party to host together and I still love these costumes and pictures. I also dressed as Audrey Hepburn for our work party.

And that rounds out most of the costumes we’ve worn for the last 5 years – both for Halloween and other occasions! I do love to dress up and I’m glad Matthew and our friends enjoy it too.Do you enjoy dressing up too? What are you planning to be this year??

1920’s Prohibition Party

June 5, 2015 Pamela Stephens

One of my sweet friends turned this big 3-0 recently and we enjoyed a themed party to help her celebrate. As soon as I received the invitation, I was pumped because I love an excuse to dress up. I was also thrilled to see what she had planned, because I am hoping to have a big 30th birthday party too!

I loved this party for a few reasons.

We dressed up. Seriously, what’s not to love about putting on period attire and partying with friends?? At first I was thoroughly disappointed because I’d passed on THE perfect dress for $15 (!!) on the sale rack just weeks before receiving the invite. Nonetheless, Matthew and I pulled some outfits together and had a blast. I even wore lipstick! That never happens.
The hosts had a LEGIT bar in their home. I have never seen anything quite like it. We thought we were entering a random living space. Nope. It’s was a full-fledged bar with everything that you might expect at a legitimate pub. Matthew and I were in awe and 100% impressed.
It was perfectly themed. There was 20’s music, a 20’s drink menu, a password to enter, mugshots, and everything you might expect from a typical party in a hidden bar during the Prohibition era. I love a good theme, and this one was done perfectly! (Great job, Meghan and friends!)

I’d be amiss if I didn’t tell the full story of how this evening played out. This Saturday was one of those days where there were 15+ things that Matthew and I had been invited to and would have loved to do. Our final plans included a wedding for a sweet friend/former employee at 6:00 and then this birthday party at 8:00. We decided that we could make both events by leaving the wedding reception a tad early and arriving to the birthday party a bit late. I spent alllll day on Saturday searching for an outfit that I could wear to both events….something that was fitting for the party, yet not too “costume” for the wedding. We finally made a decision, and Matthew and I would add accessories in the car between events (hats, pearls, vest, etc) to make our outfits a bit more costume-worthy. In an interesting turn of events, we ended up going to the wrong wedding.

Yes, you read that correctly. Matthew and I arrived and parked at what ended up being the wrong wedding. You see, the bride and her best friend are both getting married this year and I had confused the venues in my head. Rather than being where we should have been, we were at the location for the friend’s wedding that will take place in November! Can we all just be thankful that I noticed the names on the sign and Matthew and I didn’t actually walk inside?!

This seems like it might have been a simple mistake with an easy fix. Wouldn’t we just drive across town to the correct location?? It wasn’t that easy. The actual location of this wedding was about an hour away. Even though we had arrived a few minutes early, there still wasn’t time to make it to the actual event. I felt terrible!

Now, Matthew and I had two hours to spare before heading to the birthday party. What do you do when you’re slightly dressed in costume, starving, and have time to waste? Dinner, of course! We sat at River & Rail for a bit and talked about how completely silly I was to confuse the events. We also started making some loose plans for my 30th birthday party (!!) which was very exciting.

Our evening didn’t go quite as planned, and we had a 50% success rate of showing up where we were supposed to be. That’s not too bad, right?? If anything, we ended up with some great stories to tell about an awesome bar in a new friend’s home AND of showing up at the wrong wedding. Part of me wishes we would have just attended that other ceremony and pretended to be so-and-so’s cousin. We could start our own version of Wedding Crashers! We might could have pulled it off if we weren’t in half-costumes. Prohibition Party (3) Nonetheless, it was a fun-filled evening that we’ll likely remember (and talk about) for years to come. I think the moral of this story is that if you invite me to your wedding, remind me to double check the invitation!

Have you ever showed up to the wrong event? You should tell your story in the comments so that I feel better about myself! 😉

Interested in more costumes? Check out these posts!
1990’s Party! / Pirates! / Audrey Hepburn!

Photos provided by Meghan Olinger and Pamela Petrus.

4 Comments Fashion 2015 - costume - friends - husband and wife - What I Wore

Halloween Decorating Ideas

October 2, 2014 Pamela Stephens

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Costumes, decorations, the cool fall air…it’s just so much fun! Matthew and I hosted a Halloween party shortly after we were married in 2012, but I never shared any pictures from that night. (We ended not having a party last year.) When preparing for Halloween 2014, I thought it would be fun to share a few photos from the 2012 party. We didn’t get pictures of all of the guests, but how fun are these costumes?!

Here are a few quick and easy decorating ideas from the 2012 party.

1. Giant spider web: Use masking tape to put a spider web design on the floor. I did mine coming out from under the food table. Note: Be careful using masking tape on hardwood floors. It didn’t leave a lasting web impression on the floor or anything. I’m definitely warning you from past experience.

2. Hanging ghosts: Cut scary ghosts from butcher paper and hang from the bottom of doorways. I added a little caution tape from the Dollar Tree to give it something extra.

3. Giant hanging spider: Tape black streamers to balloons and hang from the ceiling to make a giant spider. We used push pins to secure it to the sheetrock ceilings. This is a great idea to take up a large space…you could make it as big as you’d like!

4. Apothecary jars: Use plastic bones in water with green food coloring to create a lab-like vibe.

5. Food labels: We made Halloween themed labels for the food and included names like Petrified Popcorn, Witches Stew, Black Cat Cakes, Poisoned Punch, Casper Crunch, etc.

6. Faux spider webs: You can never have too many spider webs. This is a cheap and easy way to make any space look more festive. Stretch them over everything!

7. Invitations: It’s no secret that I have a slight infatuation with stationary and paper products. We printed invites on fall-colored paper, cut them out, and glued them to Martha Stewart Halloween paper (similar to these). I mailed them in black envelopes and wrote the addresses with a white marker. I also drew a little spider web in the corner. I loved it! I might have to use this idea again this year.

Whether you’re doing a small get together or something larger, these ideas can be incorporated into practically any space or event. I’m getting pretty excited about this Halloween, and I know that I better get busy! I’ve been pinning quite a bit of Halloween and fall décor ideas lately. If you’d like an extra dose of inspiration, go check out my Halloween/Fall Board on Pinterest!

3 Comments Projects 2014 - costume - DIY - fall decor - Halloween

What We Wore: ’90s Palooza

January 30, 2014 Pamela Stephens

Little excites me more than ’90s music, so when Amanda invited us to come along to a ’90s Palooza last fall, we jumped at the opportunity! To make this event even more amazing, ’90s attire was required. Costumes and ’90s music…what could be more fun??

As usual, I waited until the night before to start getting my outfit together. Turns out, I had a much harder time than anticipated. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw the disaster in my closet. I eventually settled on something and created a ’90s look from high-waisted cutoff Levi’s (that didn’t actually fit me) and a velvet crop top…oh, how I love velvet! I was rather brave to show my midriff, especially without a tan, but when a ’90s event comes around, you gotta make the most it! I’ve been looking for an excuse to wear that sequined choker…this was the perfect moment!

Matthew ripped up some old jeans, wore a flannel shirt unbuttoned, and a hat backwards. It took me a long time to get used to his new look…it was like I was back in middle school! Also, be sure to notice that hemp necklace I snagged at Goodwill. Amanda looked a little more “put together” than me. She wore shorts with tights and combat boots, a denim vest, and flannel…the epitome of ’90s grudge.

One of the highlights of the night was running into the Spice Girls!! You would have thought that they were the real deal if you saw how excited Amanda and I got over them. The Spice Girls are definitely on the top of the list of things I miss from the ’90s.

Matthew, Amanda, and I are known to have a barrel of fun together, but we certainly enjoyed this evening at the Dixie Center for the Arts. We’re already planning for next year and can’t wait for more ’90s attire, good times, and fun music!

This sound like an event you’d enjoy? Feel free to join us this year!
Warning: you’ll leave with a sore throat from screaming your favorite songs. It’s all part of the experience.

2 Comments Fashion 2014 - Amanda - costume - friends - husband and wife - What I Wore

Happy Halloween!

November 4, 2013 Pamela Stephens

This year’s Halloween plans were rather tame. However, I made sure to take full advantage of our Halloween event at Keller Williams. We had a potluck lunch and costume contest at the office, coupled with a baby shower for two of our agents.My first instinct was to go as a mermaid, but I decided on Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s…it would be much easier to work in after the party. Do you know anyone who has their hair professionally done for a Halloween costume? Yeah…probably not.

I should point out that it was literally FLOODING on Halloween morning. Of course it would be, considering I had a legit hair appointment for this costume. I had my hair done first thing that morning which means I wore a shower cap and sweat pants to take my mom to treatments. It was a lovely sight! Then, I rushed home and changed. It was tough not to look like a drowned rat by the time I made it to the party, but somehow I pulled it off!

My new assistant started her first real day on the job, so she joined us as a pretty ballerina. Doesn’t everyone wear a tutu to their first day at the office?? There were witches, a banana, a pirate, Captain America…you name it! Courtney made the most adorable homeless person…her sign really made the costume. It read, “Homeless. Need rich husband.” What a fantastic solution!

Brett Michaels even made a star-studded appearance! I should mention that his vest and leather pants were from my garage sale stuff. No joke. My Mom made that zebra vest for my senior prom date to match my dress. Again, not joking. This was before zebra print was everywhere…I was making a statement!I think my most significant accomplishment this Halloween was mastering cat eyes with liquid eyeliner! Makeup is not really my thing, and I was terrified of that liquid liner. Now I think I might rock it everyday! For inspiration on Audrey Hepburn make up, this 12 minute video was pretty detailed! You can also try the scotch tape trick, but I failed at this one…I taped my eye shut!

If you want to see what Audrey Hepburn looks like in the morning, click here!

So, how do you think I did?? I simply love dressing up!

2 Comments Business - Fashion - Other Stuff - Projects 2013 - costume - Halloween - Keller Williams