A Mighty Girl's 2015 Halloween Highlights

When a co-worker friend of mine gave me her own daughter's hand-me-down costume, I took the opportunity to teach my own Mighty Girl, Esther, age 8, about the Suffragette Movement.
She was so proud to wear this and said, "Votes for Women!' instead of "Trick or Treat" at every house

Rosie, 2.5 years old, was Marie Curie for Halloween this year. Here she is proudly showing off her two Nobel prizes. Note the vials of Polonium and Radium in her pocket! Poor Marie still had a few crucial things to learn about the health hazards of being exposed to radioactivity!

We love to have our little Rosie dress up as strong women for Halloween. When we found out that she was going to be born with Down syndrome, we didn't know what the future would look like for her. Once she came into the world, she showed us how hardworking, loving, and mischievous she was! We know that our Rosie's future is bright and full of potential! Her Halloween costumes are one way that we like to challenge society's expectations for individuals with Down syndrome!

Female athletes are role models.

Felicity (4) wanted to be a WASP pilot because she was inspired by all the stories she hears at a local WWII plane collection. She loves planes and thinks that these women pilots (and the Night Witches) are so cool.

Esmé, 18 months old, is Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space!

So much more than cute. Zoe, age 2, loves monkeys so Dr. Jane Goodall was the perfect choice this year.

Julia Child! Whipping up some fun!

Emme, age 4, dressed as Audrey Hepburn and raised $196 trick-or-treating for UNICEF. As a family, we were "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - mom was a fried egg, and dad was bacon!

Meet my mighty girl Victoria,9 years old, as Alice Stebbins Wells...the first woman police officer in the LAPD with arresting power. :)

Maya, 10, wanted to learn more about Malala so her dad reserved a junior version of the book, I Am Malala, at the library. After reading it, she was inspired by such a mighty girl and kept talking about her. She came up with the idea to dress as Malala for Halloween.

Anna, 8 years old, dressed up as Lindsay (nee Eaves) Hunter, one of the amazing scientists who found Homo naledi, a new species of near-human homonid.

At every house my nine-year-old was asked if she was a princess. And at every house she replied, "No, I'm Sophie Germain - an early female mathematician." People's faces when she said this were priceless. Many asked her more about Sophie and my daughter would tell them little tidbits about her and her theorem. After one such encounter, my daughter walked back to me and said, "I haven't just learned a lot about Sophie and the subject [math] that I love. I think, in a way, I'm fighting for women's rights by telling them I'm not a princess, I'm a mathematician. And then people who never heard of her now know a little bit about her."

Her school has a policy where each child must pick a costume in some way related to their grade's curriculum. Instead of going with an obvious choice, like a character from a story they read, she wanted to do something with mathematics. We looked up the Smithsonian's list of ten female mathematicians you should know, and Lily debated between Hypatia and Sophie. In the end, Sophie won out because although she wasn't permitted to attend university as a woman, she spent so much time reading, just like Lily.

In this picture, she's holding an old book to represent this, and some old "letters" me made to represent her correspondence with famous mathematicians of her day.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Our sweet April has a rare chromosomal condition called Pitt Hopkins Syndrome. She is such a strong little girl that it seemed fitting for her to portray a strong woman for Halloween!

Avery, age 7, chose to be Mary Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. She admires Mary's character and courage.

Jaidan, 10 years old, as Misty Copeland. Jaidan aspires to be the first African American female president and she was excited about Ms. Copeland achieving a first as and African American female as well! We took photos at the Historical African American Heritage Park in Alexandria, VA.

Amelia Earhart: Mabel, 16 months, New Orleans
My husband and I love making costumes for Halloween and Mardi Gras. We're so happy to now have our adventurous daughter join in on the fun.
Mabel had a blast riding around town in her airplane. She had her best friend who was dressed as a cow riding in the backseat most of the evening (we told everyone that she picked up the cow while barnstorming).

This is my daughter Esmé. She is 4 1/2 years old. We dressed her as Frida Kahlo this year because, like Frida Kahlo, Esmé has struggled with a number of health and physical challenges, which she has faced with courage, creativity, and undeniable fierceness. Esmé does not speak, but we felt this costume perfectly characterized what she has shown those around her--that there is beauty to be found in the middle of difficulty, that frail bodies can hold tremendous strength, and that you must always be true to who you are.

Raegan,9, dressed up as her favorite president, Theodore Roosevelt.

My almost 11 y/o mighty girl Claudia, never ceases to amaze me! She fiercely defends what's right on a daily basis and stands up for everyone.When she was 7 she told me she wanted to be the first minority female president of the US (she's biracial like President Obama) and I have faith that she could do it!

My daughter (Sadie, age 3) was inspired by the book "My Name is not Isabella," and chose (on her own) to be Elizabeth Blackwell.

My 6 year old Phoebe surprised us all by choosing to be Serena Williams for Halloween this year. Here she is holding a book about Serena for the "book character parade" at her school (they don't officially celebrate Halloween at her school so the kids are asked to dress up as a favorite book character and bring the book to school). My favorite part about her costume was when she would tell people who she was adults would do a double take and say, "oh, you're a tennis player!" and she would say, "No, I'm Serena Williams. The best tennis player in the world!"

My beautiful daughter Tess, dressed up as one of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League's Rockford Peaches. She even had the baseball-playing swagger! Photo courtesy of Jacquelyn Phillips Photography.

Gigi channels her inner monarch

Rosie the Riveter: Sailor, 16, believes "We can do it!" Sailor is passionate about women's rights and equality. She is currently organizing a school and community collection drive for feminine products for local women's shelters and she just finished writing a proposal to start her own women's service club in her senior year of high school. She plans to double major in sociology and women's studies in college and put her smarts and skills to work empowering women everywhere!

Cleopatra: Punipuao, age 10, wanted to be the Queen of the Nile because she likes history and because she was the queen of the cats, too.

Sally Ride: Sloane, age 3 months. Mommy chose and made her costume because it is important to us that her role models are strong, smart, compassionate and brave women.

Marlee is 6 and while reading The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge she mentioned that the wanted to be Ms. Frizzle for Halloween because she wants to be a fun teacher like Ms Frizzle when she grows up.

Noelle (5) and Jacqueline (2) dressed as Kiki and Jiji from their favorite movie Kiki's Delivery Service. Kiki is an independent little witch that must go out and find her own way in the world. I love that my girls look up to this entrepreneurial witch.

Keira, age 9, wanted to be Arrietty because she is brave and adventurous.

Sadness from Inside Out

Maleficent (Maya age 11) and Aurora (Haeli age 13) are sisters who love to dress up and step into the world of characters with inspiring and beautiful stories. They love this version of Maleficent's story and what true love actually is.

Ava, 17 months old. Doc McStuffins is her favorite cartoon. She took her role very seriously, making her her grandpa was in tip-top shape.

Mulan is one of my daughter's favorite characters because she fought for her country and helped her family by doing what was right even if it was against the norm.

Dina was looking for a Mulan warrior costume and figured that Disney would have a costume available. Unfortunately, Disney only carried the "Princess" version of Mulan - but she was bummed that the costume Warrior Mulan was dressed in for most of the movie wasn't available in any store. :(

So with a few items from our closets, a couple of cotton tees, and some sewing items, here we have Mulan the Warrior!

Thanks A Mighty Girl for inspiring girls everywhere to find the Warrior in them! :)

Frozen: Macy asked her dad to be Anna for Halloween! Macy was Elsa!

Harper, age 11, as Ursula the Sea Witch. Ever since Harper was little girl, she has said that princesses aren't always perfect, and sometimes the villain is just misunderstood!

Kaitlyn has always chosen strong female characters such as Shirley Temple and Dorothy Gale for Halloween. This year was no exception, choosing Hermione Granger and asking her daddy to be Hagrid. Her little brother was Dobby but wouldn't leave on his ears.

Audrey (8)as Harry & Josephine (6) as Hedwig - from their favourite books!

Caitlin, 9, adores Harry Potter and her favourite character has always been Fleur Delacour but she couldn't find a costume to buy, so she asked her Grandma to help her make one instead. They picked the fabrics together and Caitlin helped her sew it. She is so proud of it and would wear it all the time if she could!

My 5 year old daughter wanted to be Voldemort (bad guy from Harry Potter) since the day after Halloween last year. A year later, and she was all about acting out this scary part!

Olivia, 12

Sarina, 8 years old, asked to be Ruby Rose after watching R.W.B.Y. on Netflix this Spring. Her character is kind, clever, and driven to become the best Huntress ever.

Alex, 5 showing her tough as nails look in her Astrid outfit From How to Train Your Dragon!

Merida: She might be a Disney princess, but she wants your brains!

One of our favourite movies is E.T. so Maeve decided that she'd like to be Gertie while her little brother Elliot dressed up as Elliott.

Ripley, 10, loves rolling everywhere in her Heelys, so Go Go Tomago was a natural fit for her Halloween costume.

Caitlin, age 4, wanted to be Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6 "because she's so smart and awesome! And I want to be a scientist like her when I grow up."

Lundyn, age 4, as ninja Elsa. She adores Elsa and enjoys kicking bad guy butt with the ninja turtles (specifically Leonardo). Her costume choice this year was the perfect combination of two of her favorite characters.

Ellie (5) and Hazel (2) dressed up as Princesses Celestia and Luna, rulers and defenders of Equestria. They love these "Princesses" because they are sisters like them, who control the sun and moon, and can fight!

My daughter Keaton loves Skye from Paw Patrol.

She watched all the Call the Midwife episodes with me. She's had the costume idea picked out for nine months and now wants to be a midwife when she grows up.

My daughter Harley, age 8, as Rocket protecting the Galaxy

Gamoras: Josephine (4) and Francesca (6) ready to guard the galaxy

Serafina, age 3. Serafina decided several months ago that she wanted to be Wall-E for Halloween. She beats to a different drum and we encourage her creativity And imagination.

Allie (age 5) asked me if girls could be Ghostbusters for Halloween, too. With a leap, I said, "Of course!" Little Brother James was more than on board to slime everyone! She is living proof that it's fun to enjoy several different interests in life - princesses, ghostbusters, basketball - and Mighty Girls can do it all!

Ainsley, age 11, as The 11th Doctor. Her parents are the "scenery" that traveled with The Doctor all night!

We were all dressed as Doctor Who characters and A. knew she wanted to be the TARDIS. She was so excited to wear it!

My child is a huge Dr. Who fan. She wanted to be a Weeping Angel because "no one suspects an angel".

Sophie, 4, decided she wanted to be Sarah from Labyrinth. She liked that Sarah was brave enough to save Toby on her own!

Inspired by Book of Life & the Mexican tradition of Dia de Los Muertos.

Riley (10) and Dani (9) have never let gender dictate who they want to be, for Halloween or in life. The future Astrophysicist/Pilot/Engineer and Field/Marine Biologist decided they were going to be Legolas and Smaug this year, so we made it happen.

Lulu, 2. Introducing Luella de Vil! Just like Cruella, except without the whole being evil and hating puppies thing. :)

Neve is almost 2 yrs old. She loves to dance with Ellen in the morning!

Carys age 3.5. She felt Minions were very funny and full of energy...like her ;-)

She originally dressed as Captain Picard (complete with bald cap!) for a costume contest, but for trick-or-treat she decided on this version: "I feel more like myself—except now I have the command."

Mr. Spock, a highly logical choice for a Halloween costume!

My daughter loves the Tinkerbell movies but shares my frustration with the marketing. You can buy a Tink hair dryer but not a tool kit. This Tink wears a tool apron with a hammer and pliers as well as some vials of pixy dust.

Krystinia, age 15. made the costume herself one piece at a time from the local thrift stores and hardware store for the snake. She loves to dress up and act as strong characters.

My mighty girl Aubrey and her brother!

Brady, 7, saw Hocus Pocus a few months ago and just had to be Winnie for Halloween. She just thought the character was great and liked seeing all the things she could do, even though she wasn't exactly successful :)

Sally: For the weeks leading to Halloween, our daughter was sure to be Rapunzel. Cue the 3rd watching of "Nightmare Before Christmas" 8 days before Halloween, and she turns to her mother and says, "I want to save Santa like Sally. I want to be Sally."

I showed my four year-old daughter The Addams Family movie for the first time and she told me that even though Wednesday doesn't wear pink or purple (my daughter's favorite colors) she thinks she is a funny girl, who has some awesome braided pigtails. She said she wanted to dress like her and see how she felt dressing in black with cool braids. She said it would be different to make a scary, straight fave since I am always laughing and smiling. I found it cool that she wanted to try experimenting with a very different personality just to experience it.

Evelyn (age 2) absolutely loves the Thomas the Tank Engine series. Her favorite train character is Percy, so her parents dressed up her wagon as the little green engine and she got to be his engineer! She had a blast "driving" Percy around the neighborhood!

As a 9 year old...this year was all about Girl Power! And who could dispute the power of Princess Leia?!

We're a Star Wars-loving family, and the force is strong with 5-year-old Shelby! Shelby got to stay up past bedtime to watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it premiered at halftime during Monday Night Football. She was so excited when she saw that one of the new characters, Rey, is a strong, resilient, and MIGHTY fierce woman. Shelby is also the star of her own series of homemade short films called "Adventure Girl". Maybe she will be on the big screen one day!

Esmé, at 14 months, had a little help choosing her Ewok costume from Star Wars Return of the Jedi, but she really enjoyed helping her mom to make it (pulling out the stuffing of a large teddy bear).

My daughter Celia (age 5) shares a love of all things Star Wars with her dad and uncles. She decided to be Queen Amidala (also known as Padme Amidala) from the Star Wars movies for Halloween this year. Celia's grandmother sewed the dress, and I created the headpiece. She was so proud to wear it, and she had a blast trick-or-treating with her two little brothers (who dressed as Chewbacca and an ewok).

What do you do when your girl wants to be a fierce Jedi Knight, but they don't make girl jedi costumes? You make one for her. This is year 2 of daddy making Nasreen's costume.

Beth went as her favorite Star Wars Rebels character!

Liell - two months old - hasn't had the chance to express an opinion just yet. But she got in to the role of R2D2 like a champ, hopefully she will be a happy droid looking at the picture a few years from now.

Faith (age 7) loves the Princess In Black books by Shannon Hale. She chose to be Princess Magnolia for Halloween and show off her princess ninja skills!! Go Faith!

Addy, 6.

We were going to dress up her baby brother as Curious George and their dad was going to be the Man in the Yellow Hat. When I told her she said "I want to be the GIRL in the Yellow Hat!" She was so very excited when she thought of it and helped plan out her costume. She helped shop and make her hat and scarf.

Little Red Riding Hood: Penelope is one and her absolute favorite thing in the world is books. She loves to listen to them, look at them, play with them, carry them, chew them, wear them as hats, use them as musical instruments...you name it! If it involves a book, she's in! So when it came to choosing a Halloween costume this year, we knew we needed to pick a character from one of her favorite books!

Here is Cordelia, 3 years old, dressed the character from her favorite book, Interstellar Cinderella. Her favorite part is her Supersonic Socket Wrench!

The Paper Bag Princess: "I'm the hero of this story. Don't need to be saved"
2 yr old Lily slays dragons with her brain.

My 5 year old daughter, Anya, LOVES to read and Zita is one of her favorites!

Gracie and Clementine decided to go with an Alice theme, after listening to the audio book of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland this year. Clem's birthday us the next day, and they plan to reuse their costumes next week at her Mad Tea Party!

Elli (age 11) is a huge fan of Coraline, one of her most favorite books/movies.

Sweet Madelyn being Mary Poppins! She told us she wanted to be Mary Poppins in June but with an October Disney trip planned - I said we wouldn't choose our costumes until after the trip. "I am NOT going to change my mind," she told us. And sure enough, she didn't!

Callie (age 2) loves Mary Poppins, and Bert is her favorite character! She is a singer, dancer, and good friend, just like Bert. She loves performing "Step in Time" for friends and family. When asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, Bert was her immediate choice!

Five-year-old Melanie enjoys reading books! One of her favorites are the Madeline books written by Ludwig Bemelmans which follows this brave little girl along her many adventures. Since she adores this character, she wanted to dress up as her.

10 year-old Jala was inspired by the powerful female channelers of magical energy in Robert Jordan's epic fantasy Wheel of Time series.

Georgia (age 2) reads Rosie Revere, Engineer at least once a day and it's become a family favorite. Rosie teaches us all that the most important thing is to "be a tryer!"

My beautiful wildthings (handmade costumes by their Mighty Mama)

Katniss & Effie: Olivia and Anika, sisters and best friends

We love reading about Heidi with her relentless positivity; resilient, generous spirit; and her unwillingness to act against her beliefs even when they're challenged by those who are bigger and more powerful than she is.

My mighty girl loved the novel Rapunzel's Revenge and how strong Rapunzel is. She was super excited to recreate the theme from items found at thrift stores and our home.

My little Lolo Longstocking is equally adventurous, positive and a leader in any situation!

Classic Literature Is ALWAYS Cool! Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth, from The Scarlet Letter!

She chose this idea completely on her own!

McKenna (age 3) requested to dress as Paddington Bear. She specifically wanted to keep a marmalade sandwich under her hat - in case of emergency.

Abigail (age 9) has attended camp Kennedy Space Center for 2 years. This year's costume is inspired by her dream job, Space Shuttle Systems Operator.

Ella, Age 5. She asked to be a scientist months ago. We didn't want to go the white lab coat route, so we took inspiration from steampunk.

Just like my dad girl power !!!

Lyla - age 7. She decided to dress as her future self - a pediatric gastroenterologist. She knows exactly what this is because she's had one she's looked up to since she was 8 months old. And, she can say pediatric gastroenterologist faster than most adults can say, "Doctor".

Ava is a 2 1/2 year old rough and tough cowgirl. When asked if she was dressed up as a cowboy she replied, "No, I'm a cowgirl.".

Ruby,4, LOOOOOOVVVEEESSS bugs! When we asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween , she enthusiastically said, A BUG SCIENTIST! It's also her future career of choice. Since learning that a bug scientist is called an Entomologist, she loves to use the proper wording and explain to anyone who doesn't know, what an entomologist does. She just doesn't understand why anyone wouldn't love bugs, especially spiders and her most favourite bug of all - BEES. We had lots of fun making her costume and placing each bug just so. My Mighty little bug Girl.

Lucy, 7, dreams of becoming an Airline Pilot, so this year, there was only one choice of costume :)

Addy age 9. She was inspired after checking out an LED light her grandfather had. At first she didn't think she could be a coal miner because she was a girl. But after a quick search on the internet she realized girls can be anything!

Charlotte, 3 years old, officially announcing her candidacy for President! #2048
Thank you a mighty girl for all the inspiration!

These almost two year olds love trains, ringing bells, and wearing their boots. So it was easy to pick this year's costume - engineers!

This is 3 year old Cecilia. She chose to be a chef over a princess. We were very proud.

Madison, 2 1/2 years old, loves looking at construction sites and points out all of the excavators we see! An excavator was the 1st thing she thought of when we asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween!

Sadie, age 3, decided she wanted to dress up like a firefighter this year for Halloween. She was told by a fellow classmate at preschool that "girls can't be firefighters" so she was adamant to prove otherwise.

Madeline, age 14, chose her 2015 Halloween costume because of her love of Art.

Annie, age 11, wanted to dress up as a girl doing something cool! She made the costume herself, and the rainbow influence represents the diversity of us all. Plus, she just likes rainbow colors. Maybe she'll fly into the sky one day and see one up close. Annie wanted to go out with flying colors this year because she said it was her "last Halloween." She worked hard to accomplish her vision. She hopes that this costume inspires girls to be themselves and get creative.

Charlee, 5y/o She asked to be a NICU RN to save babies like her momma.

Ready for her next adventure under the sea.

My 2-year-old daughter dressed up as a CERN "nuclear scientist in training"

Astronaut: Illy aged 5 is fascinated with space travel. The night before halloween, she wanted to stay up talking about her costume. "Some people believe in fairies. I think that is fun sometimes. Mostly, I believe that we have been to the moon and that Saturn's rings are made of ice."

Aditi, aged 6 chose to be a Cardiologist like her mommy this Halloween. She is wearing personalized white coat and scrubs with her name on it. This was the last gift she she got from her beloved aunt who fought a brave battle against ovarian cancer

Juliana, 2.5 years old

She loves watching football with Papa, throwing a football and drawing on a clipboard, ergo football coach. The only current option for a visible NFL career as a girl is cheerleader. Despite their highly physical performance, appearance pressure and crazy work hours they don't even get paid enough to make a living.

Jen Welter was an intern coach for the Arizona Cardinals for 5 weeks but there currently is no female NFL coach.

Kate, Age 1 1/2
Our girl loves adventure, and loves animals, so the pony was her favorite part of the night (we skipped the candy and went to a local orchard's festival instead)! In a sea of Elsas, she definitely stood out, and we got a lot of great comments, including our favorite, which was from an older girl who rides competitively and thanked us for promoting such a positive, healthy activity for our daughter!

Isabelle, who is 5, choose to be a police officer for Halloween. We have a neighbor who is a Highway Patrol Officer. Isabelle also enjoys pretending to write her sister tickets for speeding on her bike.

Geovana, 6, is doing her part to save the world as the new Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan.

Our 9 year old daughter dressed as the superhero Squirrel Girl.

Word Up - It's Word Girl!

Ariana is only 6 months old and was born with bilateral clubfoot. Obviously, her "boots and bar" had to be a part of her outfit. She is already far surpassing expectations, crawling and even pulling up even though we were told to expect delays. She is DEFINITELY a real live Super Girl.

Janai Grace is 4 years old and interested in helping others. She believes "If my dad can be Bat Man, I can be Bat Girl".

Our mighty girl, Rosie (5), created her own super hero, Superpanda. Rosie explained that Superpanda's sharp teeth can chew through bamboo, giving her strength and courage.

Girl Power!

Addison, age 8. She chose to be Thor this year because she likes how he fights and how he is so strong!

On her 5th birthday, Lila told us she changed her name to Wonder Women so we should call her that from now on!

Shannon - 11 loves the sarcastic wit and complexity of heroine Artemis of the TV show Young Justice about teenage sidekicks of our favorite Justice League heroes. She requested thus costume and worked hard in the design. Together we created her vision for Halloween 2015.

Wee Rayna, has come to adopt many nick names in her 3 years of life, Ray-na-Terror, The Tank, etc. but the one consistent is that she is pretty much fearless.
So when she initially had a Rapunzel costume in hand, it didn't seem to faze anyone, however as we walked through the store, the transformation that went over her face as she saw the Cpt. America costume was comical and amazing. She dropped the Rapunzel costume like it was burning her, and scrambled up to get the Cpt. America costume into her arms and would not let go. Despite many options presented to her in the rest of the store, many of which she would have naturally gravitated to in the past, Cpt. America was going to be hers, and nothing was going to stop her.
I was so proud of her, and wouldn't have stopped her for the world. She made the most adorable Cpt. America EVER.

Camila 5 years, she picked Violet invisible girl from the Incredibles

Eleanor age 3. Princess SMASH.

"Step aside boys, the girls will do the saving now." Kadie "Hawkeye" McDonald, age 7

This is me as Peggy Carter/Captain America!

My daughter loves the intelligence, creativity, strength, and compassion exhibited by Garnet, leader of the Gems in Steven Universe.

Sienna, age 9, has been a comic book fan for years, she has dressed as Batgirl, Supergirl, Poison Ivy, Thor, and this year Harley Quinn. She was having a lot of fun getting into character for her photo shoot as the mischievous villain.

Cetani, 12, as the best superhero, Hawkgirl.

Hazel - Age 4 just getting into her crime fighting ways as Owlette from PJ Masks! Her love of owls combined with an empowering character really inspired her this year so Mommy got out her sewing machine to make it happen!

Rebekah was already going to be Wonder Woman. I asked her if she wanted to add scary makeup and she was excited about that idea.

Madeleine, age 11. Natasha Romanoff is strong and smart. When Madeleine found that Black Widow wasn't being included in The Avengers toy sets - though a major super hero and a huge part of the team - she made sure to let store managers know that wasn't ok. She hopes for a time when boys and girls will be able to buy and play with ALL the Avengers, not just the men.

My almost-3-year-old daughter loves Flamingos. She helped to design all of our costumes to support her theme. Mama Flamingo on a nest (featuring her soon to be baby brother), Bird Watcher, and Maggie the Flamingo Chick.

Our mighty girl, Cailin - 4, loves to learn about ocean life. She wanted to be a "hungry" purple jellyfish, and her homemade costume lit our path for safe trick or treating!

Her wings will take her where she needs to go!????

Lily is 8 years old and loves birds! This is the 4th time she's chosen to dress as some type of bird for Halloween. She's also been a peacock, a parrot, and a blue macaw. She was inspired to become a Bald Eagle after she spotted one while camping.

Isla (age 5) and Luna (age 3) love being unique and silly, so when we suggested nearly a year ago that we all be narwhals, they were thrilled with it and talked about it for months until Halloween came around.

Morgan loves dangerous creatures

Olive, age 7, has been planning her trilobite costume since last Halloween. Her passion for science - paleontology in particular- is an endless source of inspiration for her.

Abby (11) designed and constructed the costume on her own, including all EL wire soldering. She had a few design and construction challenges along the way, but she worked through everything and rocked Halloween!

Clementine (age three) learned about and played with sea anemones at the beach and the aquarium this summer and decided she wanted to be "an orange emperor sea anemone" for Halloween. We tried to convince her to go as an easier sea creature to create, but alas her mind was made! Few people knew what she was, but we love and support this smart girl's originality!

Alia, age 6, as the Butterfly Queen.

Kavya, age 5. We modeled this handmade costume after her treasured ornamental dove friend (a thrift store find). She's an animal lover who adored dressing "fancy" while representing nature. She got even more excited when I told her the bird represents peace.

Zia, age 5, has always been a lover of insects and animals of all kinds. She has a special love of bugs. No princess costumes for this kid!

Genny, 8, decided to be a phoenix this year. She was inspired by Harry Potter Series' character Fawkes. You can't see because it's so bright in the picture, but her wings light up!

Hear me ROAR!

Maya 3 yrs old - She was initially scared of an The Octonauts episode with walruses, but 24 hrs later she decided they were her favorite animal. Maya also informed us that they eat clams, and tried them one night for dinner. Pictured she is opening her bag of clams for a snack, and showing us how she props herself on her flippers.

Sophia (4yo) doesn't like it that dinosaurs are always portrayed as "boys". She wants to represent the girl ones, which are "faster, bigger and better" :)

Both of my girls love bats. So when Halloween was coming up, that's what they wanted to be. I made their costumes and they had a blast running/flapping their wings.

Amelia, 5, wanted nothing more than to be a snail for Halloween. She definitely has a mind of her own! Every year her costume has been hand-made. This year was our favorite because we were able to do it together. She was very proud of her homemade snail costume. And I'm very proud of my Mighty Girl!

Our daughter loves your site for music, books and movies. This year she made her outfit and went as Mighty Girl! Thank you for the inspiration!

Kathryn, age 4, is obsessed with outer space. She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up.

Breanne,6, wanted to be teen wolf. So why do wolves always have to be boys? They absolutely don't! She's the updated version of teen wolf!

Niyati, age 9, wanted to be a knight for Halloween. Her dad made most of this costume using kitchen placemats for armor, plastic beads for chainmail, and an antique paint finish to unify the whole thing.

Katie dreams of being a Biomechanical Engineer when she grows up, so each year she schemes for a science based costume. Past years have included Beakman and an Allergist. This year she went scary with a Flu Virus complete with "H" and "N" proteins... And she was ready with a biology lesson for anyone who would listen!

Allison 12yr old is a 5th year Girl Scout and figures she will be in uniform when zombies attack!

When she was 3 we had carte blanche to dress her up. But now that she's 10 she has her own ideas. She wanted to dress as a monkey because it's her zodiac sign. We thought it would be hilarious to add her stuffed Frida to make it full circle.

When it rains it pours Morton Salt

My daughter, the Mona Lisa, and her friends formed their own art gallery, also featuring The Scream and The Son of Man. So proud of our ladies for finding a way to mix culture and candy!

Our Mighty Satyr and Greek Goddess

Sadie is 13. She's loved art since the first moment she was given finger paint. She writes poetry, loves science and wants to find a cure for cancer!! She expresses her love for visual arts through sketching, painting, make up and fashion.

They are empathetic animal lovers just as much as space explorers, so,"can Bunny & Deer go to space?" I for one will stand in the way of anyones ambition, astronaut bunny & astronaut deer it is! Might as well add Moon mommy & Rocket daddy while we're at it, per their request.

Riley, age 10, believes girls can do anything they set their minds to. Here she is wearing a rocket-propelled jet pack to explore the final frontier.

LilyClaire age 3

A love of hamsters was the inspiration for Evangeline's imagined character, The Hamster Queen. (Evie - 6 yrs.)

My daughter and friends decided to do a group costume with a medieval theme. She opted to be a knight and very much enjoyed carrying the sword and shield!

Mina, age 5, could not decide between Queen Elsa or a ninja, so she invented Elsa the Ninja!

Lauren, age 6. When discussing what she wanted to dress up as for Halloween, Lauren said to me, "Mom, a lot of my friends are going to be princesses for Halloween, but that's boring. I want to be something scary AND pretty. I know...a werewolf princess!"

Argh Matey! This fearless pirate got her sea legs trick-or-treating for the first time ever without being in mom and dad's arms. Shiver me timbers! That's my brave girl!

Dale loves history and the Egyptians. When I was making her costume we talked a lot about embalming and how science made it possible for the bodies of the Pharoahs to survive for thousands of years.

My almost 12 year old, Emma, decided to combine her dream job with her love of zombies.

"Wow, Marie Antoinette was a pretty neat lady": my 7 year old, Evelyn. Here she is with one sweet little cupcake, her 4 year old sister, Violet.

Anaïs visited the The Big Island of Hawaii last month and saw a real active volcano. She read about Goddess Pelé and how much the Hawaiian Islands mean to her. Anaïs couldn't get enough information on this Goddess. All that fire and power sealed the costume choice.

Lily Anna as death.

PJ Schurmann celebrated her second Halloween in a costume inspired by the film "The bride of Frankenstein." The film opens with an exchange between Lorde Byron and Mary Shelley's character played by Elsa Lanchester. It perfectly explains the inspiration for PJ's costume:
Lord Byron: Look at her, Shelley. Can you believe that bland and lovely brow conceived of Frankenstein, a monster created from cadavers out of rifled graves? Isn't it astonishing?

Mary: I don't know why you should think so. What do you expect? Such an audience needs something stronger than a pretty little love story. So why shouldn't I write of monsters?

Watching their Mommy kayak local rivers, these sisters Lily (7) & Maizy (5) wanted to do the same!

Madeline is 20 months and Everly is 16 months. They are our adopted "almost" twins! A friend sent me this little old lady costume idea from Pinterest and I had to do it!

Alice, age 7
Made this out of recyclables and spray paint. Includes working lights and a built in candy collection bucket on the top.

Mia age 4
Dusty Crop Duster
Wants to be a pilot when she grows up.

This mighty 9 year old girl stands a full 5' tall. As the tallest student in her class she has embraced her stature by becoming one of her favorite historical landmarks, The Eiifel Tower! Standing tall is important, especially when you stand out!

Amelia is an avid reader and loves Greek mythology. She recently started reading the Percy Jackson Heroes of Olympus story and this cemented her decision to dress as Athena for Halloween.

This girl loves her sports!